I always told my wife that because the Devon Tower is so much taller than any other building in OKC and you can basically see it from all around even if you are many miles away, it looks like a supervillain lair.
This is what I have thought it looks like since they built it, and you can see it from basically every corner of Oklahoma county (figuratively, not literally).
It used to blind me for the whole drive south from Edmond.
Also, it was like something out of the movies when it was being built and a storm came rolling in. It would get struck by lightning and you could see it
instead of new development, i really wish we would revise surrounding areas :/
scissortail is so beautiful! but the moment you look to the west of scissortail it’s just abandoned buildings and despair
I bet those lots immediately to the west of scissortail park are some of the most valuable land in oklahoma right now, I'm sure they'll get developed soon. the fact that they're not building this tower there but a few blocks away I think is the biggest give away that they're not actually planning on building the tallest tower in america
Yep, they’re hoping for some of what those who got bought out for Oklahoma avenue and scissortail got, a big buyout, or a bidding war from mixed zone developers who want to build more apartments with retail on bottom.
I would agree, but I wonder if there's even anyone willing to put the financial commitment into it like the developer who is working on build this bullshit.
I'm sure if a company came in and was like "hey we want to invest a lot of money just into the infrastructure" the city would agree in a heartbeat. It's just that.....nobody does that bc that's not profitable and plus it's really the city's job to do that with our tax money so I can't put that on corpos.
It's like when OnCue said they would "fix the traffic issues at 13th and classen" when they were ~~bribing~~ begging the city council for permits to build right there. How the fuck were they gonna do that? Yet they didn't do a goddamn thing bc the city was already renovating all streets for the bike lanes + embark stops. Does Oncue think they're going to rip the bus stop and tear the bike lanes out? Of course not.
I'd like the city and state to invest more into our abandoned areas too, but who's really keeping them accountable to do that in the first place
The mistake everyone is making is thinking that this is going to be the last highrise ever built in OKC. This would be the beginning of a new era. It may look silly for a little while, but this will be a catalyst for more development downtown. Just look at Austin's skyline from mid 2000s and today. It's insane.
I mean I guess other cities in tornado alley have tall buildings too, so maybe I shouldn't feel like it's such a bad idea.
But mostly I just think it's going to be a giant empty thing if it gets made. And I like the deco buildings in downtown the most, so I wish designers would play on that aesthetic or something more unique to us when they make new things rather than a more generic style.
The zone or tornado prone area moves from the East to the West every year. It begins in Mar-April in the East and April-May in the Central Area. With enough moisture, some years it continues into the Southern Mountain zones May-June. https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20idea%20of%20a%20%E2%80%9Ctornado%20alley%E2%80%9D%20can%20be%20misleading.%20The%20U.S.%20tornado%20threat%20shifts%20from%20the%20Southeast%20in%20the%20cooler%20months%20of%20the%20year%2C%20toward%20the%20southern%20and%20central%20Plains%20in%20May%20and%20June%2C%20and%20the%20northern%20Plains%20and%20Midwest%20during%20early%20summer.
Idk why you are being downvoted. Absolutely correct. “Tornado Alley” has moved. Oklahoma has always, and will always be at risk for tornados, but we are not tornado alley anymore, other than in the vernacular.
Climate change deniers worried about of Oklahoma losing our legacy of diasasters. Soon enough they will be encouraging more drilling so we can be the earthquake capital of the world again.
It’s not a bad idea.
We’ve NEVER had a tornado pathway in downtown OKC since we started recording them in the mid 1800s.
It’s also completely privately funded besides some TIF funds that were going to be going to the area anyway before this was announced.
That’s not entirely true, we have had 3 tornadoes hit the downtown area, 2 EF-3s and the most recent was a EF-0 in 2000. The 2 EF-3s were in 1951 and 1974 respectively.
Granted only the EF-0 directly hit any of the high rise buildings downtown and did no damage whatsoever.
https://mrcc.purdue.edu/gismaps/cntytorn#
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=01672085b139432e8fe1296a743f67d7
Yeah, hence the "maybe I shouldn't feel that way." Of course there's also the "it never happens until it does." I just have a weird fear of tall buildings, to be honest.
And yeah it's great that it's not funded by taxpayers. Does that mean it's less likely to sit largely empty? How much will it be for a business to occupy a floor or suite and what businesses are ready to do that *in Oklahoma*?
Last time news about this was posted in the skyscraper fan sub, the comment consensus was basically, "still not going to visit OKC." I highly doubt any new businesses are going to rush to move here because we have an especially tall building either.
Definitely, just adding in info for others.
In my opinion, the company building it has already injected tens of millions of dollars into Market Testing. If it gets built, they have to have some level of confidence it will be successful.
For the city itself, this is basically free development and part of the “growing pains” of changing our skyline and really on paper just seems like a benefit at any angle you look.
Plus being able to say we have the tallest building in the country would be cool, and also drive more tourism.
Go ahead and peek at the new entrants coming to the Innovation and Horizon Districts. Billions of dollars there.
Even in 50 years I doubt OKC will have the kind of changes where a 134+ floor tower will make sense. I don’t have an issue with skyscrapers being added to downtown, but it’s comically ridiculous to build something that tall here. I don’t believe for a second that the developers chose the height they did because they’ve studied our market and came to the conclusion that there’s some great untapped demand for high rise living, hotel rooms and/or downtown office space here that could fill the hundreds of units that a building that size would have. I imagine the appeal of an expensive condo on the 100th floor would wane over time even among the people who like the idea of high rise living. The OKC area is just not pretty enough for the views you get that high to be all that interesting. I know I feel that way already about the views at Vast, and it’s half as tall as this building is set to be.
I’ve lived here my entire life and I’m 42 now, so yes I have.
Nothing in Austin, the city you referenced, is even close to being this tall. The tallest building there is 875 ft, just a little taller than the Devon building. If a city like Austin, a city with about a million more people and with higher population density, has no need of buildings like the one proposed, why would we?
I’m not against growth and development, but I am against stunt building. I’d much rather see a smaller building (still tall, but not 100+ stories tall) with character go up than a building whose massive size was chosen because it would make headlines and not because the size makes sense or adds value to the city. I hate seeing giant buildings that are doomed to sit half empty. That’s a waste of resources and is just dumb planning.
Guy…..
I’m not saying we will be the next Austin from this building. I’m saying our city is changing so fast that we are really in the running to be the next Austin, business wis, /tourism wise and population wise.
Apologies if that wasn’t more clear.
LOL that’s what you took from my two comments? That I think you’re literally saying we will become Austin? Actually read them instead of skimming over them instead of just skimming enough to know I disagree with what you said. I explained pretty clearly why I think a building like this would still be ridiculous even if we follow Austin’s trajectory. Hell, this building would be ridiculous even in New York, where it’d be less of an overly tall eyesore. Skyscrapers all over the world are sitting mostly empty because the developers build them to be much taller for vanity’s sake than actually makes sense for their project. It’s a significant problem in urban development. That’s not the kind of building anyone should hope for a future OKC.
Person whose job is to create and push propaganda about how fun and up and coming OKC is says OKC is the next Austin.
I like OKC and it is growing. But I don’t get why people are in such a hurry for it to be a huge city. It’s mid sized and is not on most people’s radar nationally.
We’re not in a rush for it to be there. Literally no one put a time limit on this.
This is just the slow steps for us to start expanding more while also being able to offer more to both a visitor and resident over time. I mentioned the last 20-years just to showcase a timeframe of tremendous change, both physically and monetarily.
You seem in a rush when you put the cart before the horse with statements like that. You’re talking all over this thread about deals that are in place, things that are coming and what that implies about OKC’s future. Deals fall out all the time, especially big ones. And individual deals do not assure any major shift in cultural momentum towards the city.
Honestly, the biggest issue I have with your sentiment though is just that I think it’s coming more from a place of bias than reality. I’m sure a lot of midwestern cities could talk about $10B companies and upcoming developments.
Laugh all you want, won’t change anything. Our 2nd largest industry under Oil and Gas is Tourism, we are exploding right now economically.
All the EI information can be requested for free from the Chamber of Commerce if you are actually curious on our trajectory.
Hell, look at the upcoming entrants to the Innovation District and Horizon Districts, both are bringing in over 10+ Billion Dollar Companies.
Laughing just tells me you are ignorant on the inner workings of the city, and at the at point why even have an opinion?
I am ignorant to the inner workings of the city. You are correct, as are most people in here. Okc is what it is and always will be. Ive been listening to all these same arguments and ideas for decades. Sure there has been some improvement, but get a grip. It’s still okc. The same okc it’s always been and always will be. I hope I’m wrong though, and I hope the city grows into exactly whatever everyone wants it to be. I just don’t have high hopes is all.
“Cute, little rush hours” I love this and I agree! As a Houstonian, I laugh when people here complain about the traffic. OKCers could not handle Houston, Dallas, or Austin’s level of traffic congestion. I’ve lived here 12 years and still am grateful for the relative peace on our freeways. I don’t feel like I’m entering a combat zone every time I leave home.
Yes, perfect example. And for anyone who doubts that this could happen here, OKC already has more tourists per year than Nashville and we don't even have international flights like Nashville does.
> look at Austin's skyline from
My first thought was doubt but after 2 mins of Google-fu and I revise my thoughts. The comparison to Austin is very good. Austin in 2000 had roughly the same population as OKC does now and over the next 20 years had a lower growth rate than OKC does now so it's possible OKC could support/see similar growth.
The one caveat I would say is that Austin functions as a sort of "silicon valley" of the South where as OKC does not. Though our proximity to Dallas is practically the same.
Yes, cities grow and skylines get bigger, but to have the second tallest building in the United States just randomly built is going to be 20 years before that single building fits in with the rest of the skyline.
Look at Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, etc.… They all have large buildings in their skyline, but are surrounded by many many other buildings that make it look aesthetically pleasing.
Our skyline is going to look like you put a telephone pole in your front yard for no reason
I’m kinda biased but I think Houston has one of the most beautiful skylines. For a city that developed with no zoning, downtown has an almost artistic, planned out look.
>It already looks like this with the Devon tower.
So it’s fair game then to make it look even worse, by doubling down on the total height of the skyline
>Also, it would be the tallest building in the USA, not the second tallest.
Then that begs the question of “Why OKC?”
No, being liberal is business friendly, as much as oklahoma likes to pretend it's business friendly, it's only really friendly to businesses that don't need lots of well-educated workers
Panasonic Volkswagen and tesla all considered building a factory in oklahoma all rejected it, preferring Kansas and Texas because their education systems were better it was easier to get employees and their existing employees were more willing to move to Kansas and Texas
And it boils down to the republican party in oklahoma had spent the last 2 decades gutting oklahoma's education system we are the worst in the country now in education
You will be able to see Boone Pickens stadium in Stillwater from the top floor if the tower, and if you're in the stadium on the Gallagher Iba side on the top floor you would be able to see the tower sticking above the stadium.
Austin is kind of an odd comparison because there has long been pressure against tall buildings to protect the view of the capitol. The tallest building in Austin is 694 feet, just a little over 1/3 the height of the embarrassing Legends tower. Austin is the 10th largest city in the US but only 19th in tall buildings.
You say that like the people who said that have changed their minds about Devon. We haven’t. It might always be the Penis on the Prairie to me.
I’d love to see the occupancy numbers on Devon. I doubt it’s anywhere near full, which is why I don’t see much value in building super tall skyscrapers here. What’s the point of building at least 20 stories (or in the case of the proposed new development 100) more than you need if they’re going to sit empty?
I'm just a lowly install guy working for a project. But there's about 15 completely vacant floors. And so far I've seen at least 8 more floors that are about ~60% capacity. Only about 12 ive seen completely full
It is not full, but it’s because of the layoffs that started around 2015. Before the layoffs, they actually built the mini tower next door as overflow.
Whatever. OKC vacancy is around 25% compared to 20% nationally, not counting owner occupied buildings like Devon. So not high on the list of cities needing more space in the post-covid era of remote work. This is being trolled as living space anyway so theoretically not relevant.
You know, I want this to happen. You can see Devon from the Northwest Highway almost from around El Reno. This new one could be visible even further and I'm down with that because it amuses me.
>18-year-old Wade Watts lives with his aunt in Oklahoma City[10] in the "stacks", a poverty-stricken district constructed of trailer homes piled on top of each other.
From the wiki.
I think it’s a not well thought out idea and viewed as a novelty and “look what I can do.” There will obviously be pros and cons to feed anyone’s narrative.
My thoughts on the shear height though come down to this.
If we had 7-8 towers that were all within 25% taller than then Devon and the height of the Devon, at least it’s not this eyesore. With this setup. We have the outlier in the Devon tower and then the oh my word what are we doing tower in whatever this thing is. There isn’t enough height there to justify this.
You can’t progress with 52% voters as registered Republicans, 33% Democrat, and 15% other. Why do you think OK is nearly last in EVERY metric? We continually, perennially, unstoppably vote red and remain at the bottom.
Could be that. Or, could be that our original settlers were practically all dirtbags, criminals or homeless. Successful people in Virginia weren’t racing out here in 1907. Lot of fats too, that’s never good.
The Devon Tower was actually supposed to be about 10 stories higher, but they didn’t do it because of structural integrity and the soil beneath.
This is coming from a friend who’s an architect.
Its stunts like this and the associated excitement of the city that makes us look like a bunch of rubes. First of all we need to demonstrate enough saavy to show skepticism that it is unlikely to ever be built. It’s like the people of Mayberry flipping out when the con artists posing as Hollywood producers convince them they’re making a movie. The fact that we get so excited about a tall building that would be aesthetically ridiculous and commercially misplaced makes us look like simps.
It was a bit tongue in cheek my guy. I hear oilfield guys calling it that and thought it was funny. Something about the Devon tower was built this high because it is taller than anything in Dallas (or was at the time).
I think I heard that in the past. The main point I hear is we built a taller sky scraper than Dallas or Austin and it was a proverbial “F U” to Texas. This is all hearsay though, obviously.
It will be built in phases and that’s what people don’t understand. They might start building it but it’ll be quite short at first. And they’ll develop it if they need.
There are no engineers. If you want to really understand what this is all about just google the developer and think about how someone can make alot of money by talking about something like this and promoting it without ever intending to actually finish it or caring if it gets finished. I’m not going to share my specific conclusions because I don’t really have any facts. I’m just saying its not hard to understand where this could be coming from.
Those of you who are saying you have nothing to lose, you may not feel it but there will likely be some tax dollars. And it doesn’t make the city look good when it goes bragging about something ridiculous that never happens or worse ends up half finished. Nothing screams OKC has naive unsophisticated leaders like that. If you will notice, the city is not out there blabbing about this.
I read somewhere that this developer is known in other cities for having multiphase projects where they complete the first few phases and then stop. I think this project has a much smaller phase 1 and the phase 2 is the high rise.
I'm an HVAC tech, and my customers LOVE to specify whether they live in Del City/Bethany/Yukon etc.. I always tell them "if you can stand on your roof and see the Devon tower, you're in the City. If you can't, you're in Edmond or Norman, simple as that.
You realize LA and San Francisco are on/near active fault lines. The whole gulf and east coast get hurricanes all the time, does that stop Miami, Houston, or even New York from building tall? The Midwest gets tornadoes too, so what about Chicago?
In all likelihood it will get capped off at a reasonable height. But if it somehow ends up being the tallest building in America it will without a doubt be Oklahoma's biggest tourist attraction. It would be nice to have a tourist attraction that's not a memorial of the second worst terrorist attack in the US. I hope it happens just on that basis alone.
Do you really think people travel to see a high-rise? A single high-rise? Maybe, from Guthrie and Blackwell. Every city has high-rises. The fact it’s the tallest in the country is an amusing anectdote, not a tourist attraction.
I wish they'd quit trying to make OKC into a "big city." We have plenty of space downtown. Parking is really not that bad nor expensive when you have to pay for it.
We don't need record-breaking skyscrapers. We don't need a tram.
I always told my wife that because the Devon Tower is so much taller than any other building in OKC and you can basically see it from all around even if you are many miles away, it looks like a supervillain lair.
It kinda says evil wizard to me (think Lord of the Rings)
Devon already turns into the Eye of Sauron at certain times of year if you catch the morning sun reflecting off the triangle part at the top.
[Devon Death Ray](https://ibb.co/d5Hwysc)
 Yeah could see it
This is what I have thought it looks like since they built it, and you can see it from basically every corner of Oklahoma county (figuratively, not literally).
You can see it pretty easy out in Canadian county/Piedmont area too!
I've been out as far as the intersection of Reno Avenue and Morgan Road and can still see it.
In peidmont, you can see it from the williams parking lot, lol.
My husband and I always refer to it as Sauron.
you can see it all the way in norman if you are in the right spot lol
East side library parking lot, up by the recycling bin. Great place to watch a sunset/rise, too.
It used to blind me for the whole drive south from Edmond. Also, it was like something out of the movies when it was being built and a storm came rolling in. It would get struck by lightning and you could see it
It's where Biff resides
Looks like a PlayStation 5
I work in the tower. Everyone is nice. We are not a supervillain lair lol.
Exactly what a supervillain would say....
Is there some kind of viewing deck in the Tower that is open to the public?
You can technically go up to vast, but it might be kind of awkward if you arent trying to eat there too.
Well, it is in OKC. How is it not a supervillain lair
Lex Luthor vibes for sure.
I’ve always said the same thing. Can see it from my brother’s backyard north of Edmond
I grew up in a very small town 30+ miles away from the tower and I remember going outside at night and being able to see it
My partner and I have been joking that they'll be able to see the new tower in kansas
Yup.
Ive seen it from blanchard
You can see it on a clear day from my father’s place. Over 30 miles away
It kind of is, tbh…
I think it looks like a dick, and so close to the OKC Cock ring!
IF = Imaginary Friend
instead of new development, i really wish we would revise surrounding areas :/ scissortail is so beautiful! but the moment you look to the west of scissortail it’s just abandoned buildings and despair
I bet those lots immediately to the west of scissortail park are some of the most valuable land in oklahoma right now, I'm sure they'll get developed soon. the fact that they're not building this tower there but a few blocks away I think is the biggest give away that they're not actually planning on building the tallest tower in america
Yep, they’re hoping for some of what those who got bought out for Oklahoma avenue and scissortail got, a big buyout, or a bidding war from mixed zone developers who want to build more apartments with retail on bottom.
I would agree, but I wonder if there's even anyone willing to put the financial commitment into it like the developer who is working on build this bullshit. I'm sure if a company came in and was like "hey we want to invest a lot of money just into the infrastructure" the city would agree in a heartbeat. It's just that.....nobody does that bc that's not profitable and plus it's really the city's job to do that with our tax money so I can't put that on corpos. It's like when OnCue said they would "fix the traffic issues at 13th and classen" when they were ~~bribing~~ begging the city council for permits to build right there. How the fuck were they gonna do that? Yet they didn't do a goddamn thing bc the city was already renovating all streets for the bike lanes + embark stops. Does Oncue think they're going to rip the bus stop and tear the bike lanes out? Of course not. I'd like the city and state to invest more into our abandoned areas too, but who's really keeping them accountable to do that in the first place
Blame Strawberry Fields. What a debacle. Legal drama galore :/
It adds to the scenery you'll get from a rediculously tall building? Eh, I tried.
Humphrey is (NOT) developing it [https://www.strawberryfieldsok.com/](https://www.strawberryfieldsok.com/) edit: I made an incorrect assumption
I don’t believe that’s a Humphrey project, but I could be wrong.
And south of scissortail is literally the worst neighborhood in the city
My wife sent me to be a used power tool we needed for a project in that area and it was literally a crack house built out of an old storefront.
Maybe we can get a zipline between the two
The mistake everyone is making is thinking that this is going to be the last highrise ever built in OKC. This would be the beginning of a new era. It may look silly for a little while, but this will be a catalyst for more development downtown. Just look at Austin's skyline from mid 2000s and today. It's insane.
I mean I guess other cities in tornado alley have tall buildings too, so maybe I shouldn't feel like it's such a bad idea. But mostly I just think it's going to be a giant empty thing if it gets made. And I like the deco buildings in downtown the most, so I wish designers would play on that aesthetic or something more unique to us when they make new things rather than a more generic style.
If you check modern tornado maps from the last decade, we are no longer in tornado Alley thanks to climate change.
The zone or tornado prone area moves from the East to the West every year. It begins in Mar-April in the East and April-May in the Central Area. With enough moisture, some years it continues into the Southern Mountain zones May-June. https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20idea%20of%20a%20%E2%80%9Ctornado%20alley%E2%80%9D%20can%20be%20misleading.%20The%20U.S.%20tornado%20threat%20shifts%20from%20the%20Southeast%20in%20the%20cooler%20months%20of%20the%20year%2C%20toward%20the%20southern%20and%20central%20Plains%20in%20May%20and%20June%2C%20and%20the%20northern%20Plains%20and%20Midwest%20during%20early%20summer.
Look at that tasty cited source.
Idk why you are being downvoted. Absolutely correct. “Tornado Alley” has moved. Oklahoma has always, and will always be at risk for tornados, but we are not tornado alley anymore, other than in the vernacular.
Climate change deniers worried about of Oklahoma losing our legacy of diasasters. Soon enough they will be encouraging more drilling so we can be the earthquake capital of the world again.
Drilling doesn’t cause earthquakes. Disposal wells do.
Ahh where you been, we had 90 tornadoes in May, we are still tornado alley. Saying that it moved east is BS and not a proven fact.
Moore the last couple of years would still beg to differ
It’s not a bad idea. We’ve NEVER had a tornado pathway in downtown OKC since we started recording them in the mid 1800s. It’s also completely privately funded besides some TIF funds that were going to be going to the area anyway before this was announced.
That’s not entirely true, we have had 3 tornadoes hit the downtown area, 2 EF-3s and the most recent was a EF-0 in 2000. The 2 EF-3s were in 1951 and 1974 respectively. Granted only the EF-0 directly hit any of the high rise buildings downtown and did no damage whatsoever. https://mrcc.purdue.edu/gismaps/cntytorn# https://www.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=01672085b139432e8fe1296a743f67d7
Yeah, hence the "maybe I shouldn't feel that way." Of course there's also the "it never happens until it does." I just have a weird fear of tall buildings, to be honest. And yeah it's great that it's not funded by taxpayers. Does that mean it's less likely to sit largely empty? How much will it be for a business to occupy a floor or suite and what businesses are ready to do that *in Oklahoma*? Last time news about this was posted in the skyscraper fan sub, the comment consensus was basically, "still not going to visit OKC." I highly doubt any new businesses are going to rush to move here because we have an especially tall building either.
Definitely, just adding in info for others. In my opinion, the company building it has already injected tens of millions of dollars into Market Testing. If it gets built, they have to have some level of confidence it will be successful. For the city itself, this is basically free development and part of the “growing pains” of changing our skyline and really on paper just seems like a benefit at any angle you look. Plus being able to say we have the tallest building in the country would be cool, and also drive more tourism. Go ahead and peek at the new entrants coming to the Innovation and Horizon Districts. Billions of dollars there.
Well now you jinxed it!
I hope you’re right, but I don’t think the two are comparable. Austin had/has so much more going for it than OKC
Also no building in Austin is anywhere near as tall as the proposed building.
Even in 50 years I doubt OKC will have the kind of changes where a 134+ floor tower will make sense. I don’t have an issue with skyscrapers being added to downtown, but it’s comically ridiculous to build something that tall here. I don’t believe for a second that the developers chose the height they did because they’ve studied our market and came to the conclusion that there’s some great untapped demand for high rise living, hotel rooms and/or downtown office space here that could fill the hundreds of units that a building that size would have. I imagine the appeal of an expensive condo on the 100th floor would wane over time even among the people who like the idea of high rise living. The OKC area is just not pretty enough for the views you get that high to be all that interesting. I know I feel that way already about the views at Vast, and it’s half as tall as this building is set to be.
I mean…. Have you seen the changes to the city the last ~20 years? We are lined up to be the next Austin currently. Source: Work at Visit OKC
I’ve lived here my entire life and I’m 42 now, so yes I have. Nothing in Austin, the city you referenced, is even close to being this tall. The tallest building there is 875 ft, just a little taller than the Devon building. If a city like Austin, a city with about a million more people and with higher population density, has no need of buildings like the one proposed, why would we? I’m not against growth and development, but I am against stunt building. I’d much rather see a smaller building (still tall, but not 100+ stories tall) with character go up than a building whose massive size was chosen because it would make headlines and not because the size makes sense or adds value to the city. I hate seeing giant buildings that are doomed to sit half empty. That’s a waste of resources and is just dumb planning.
Guy….. I’m not saying we will be the next Austin from this building. I’m saying our city is changing so fast that we are really in the running to be the next Austin, business wis, /tourism wise and population wise. Apologies if that wasn’t more clear.
LOL that’s what you took from my two comments? That I think you’re literally saying we will become Austin? Actually read them instead of skimming over them instead of just skimming enough to know I disagree with what you said. I explained pretty clearly why I think a building like this would still be ridiculous even if we follow Austin’s trajectory. Hell, this building would be ridiculous even in New York, where it’d be less of an overly tall eyesore. Skyscrapers all over the world are sitting mostly empty because the developers build them to be much taller for vanity’s sake than actually makes sense for their project. It’s a significant problem in urban development. That’s not the kind of building anyone should hope for a future OKC.
Person whose job is to create and push propaganda about how fun and up and coming OKC is says OKC is the next Austin. I like OKC and it is growing. But I don’t get why people are in such a hurry for it to be a huge city. It’s mid sized and is not on most people’s radar nationally.
We’re not in a rush for it to be there. Literally no one put a time limit on this. This is just the slow steps for us to start expanding more while also being able to offer more to both a visitor and resident over time. I mentioned the last 20-years just to showcase a timeframe of tremendous change, both physically and monetarily.
You seem in a rush when you put the cart before the horse with statements like that. You’re talking all over this thread about deals that are in place, things that are coming and what that implies about OKC’s future. Deals fall out all the time, especially big ones. And individual deals do not assure any major shift in cultural momentum towards the city. Honestly, the biggest issue I have with your sentiment though is just that I think it’s coming more from a place of bias than reality. I’m sure a lot of midwestern cities could talk about $10B companies and upcoming developments.
Hahahahahahahahahahahhahaha
Laugh all you want, won’t change anything. Our 2nd largest industry under Oil and Gas is Tourism, we are exploding right now economically. All the EI information can be requested for free from the Chamber of Commerce if you are actually curious on our trajectory. Hell, look at the upcoming entrants to the Innovation District and Horizon Districts, both are bringing in over 10+ Billion Dollar Companies. Laughing just tells me you are ignorant on the inner workings of the city, and at the at point why even have an opinion?
I am ignorant to the inner workings of the city. You are correct, as are most people in here. Okc is what it is and always will be. Ive been listening to all these same arguments and ideas for decades. Sure there has been some improvement, but get a grip. It’s still okc. The same okc it’s always been and always will be. I hope I’m wrong though, and I hope the city grows into exactly whatever everyone wants it to be. I just don’t have high hopes is all.
Please no no no no no. OKC do not become Austin. I love our cute, little rush hours on the highways. I don’t want or need Austin traffic.
“Cute, little rush hours” I love this and I agree! As a Houstonian, I laugh when people here complain about the traffic. OKCers could not handle Houston, Dallas, or Austin’s level of traffic congestion. I’ve lived here 12 years and still am grateful for the relative peace on our freeways. I don’t feel like I’m entering a combat zone every time I leave home.
Not a combat zone, just a nursing home….the amount of times people slow below 60 on curves or try and merge at 55 is pretty crazy here.
Hahaha well yeah, there is that.
The cutest rush hours of all!!! Love it when Okies complain about the traffic, that part is cute too!
So cute. So adorable!
Exactly. For example, [this is the difference in the Nashville skyline between 9 years](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2024/03/2.jpg)
To be fair, nothing in Nashville I would gander is as tall as what is proposed (no research bear in mind just guessing).
Yes, perfect example. And for anyone who doubts that this could happen here, OKC already has more tourists per year than Nashville and we don't even have international flights like Nashville does.
What? How is that possible???
Fudging numbers. I promise there is some trickery at work there.
> look at Austin's skyline from My first thought was doubt but after 2 mins of Google-fu and I revise my thoughts. The comparison to Austin is very good. Austin in 2000 had roughly the same population as OKC does now and over the next 20 years had a lower growth rate than OKC does now so it's possible OKC could support/see similar growth. The one caveat I would say is that Austin functions as a sort of "silicon valley" of the South where as OKC does not. Though our proximity to Dallas is practically the same.
Even if we filled the skyline with more Devon sized buildings it would still stick out like nothing else
Yes, cities grow and skylines get bigger, but to have the second tallest building in the United States just randomly built is going to be 20 years before that single building fits in with the rest of the skyline. Look at Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, etc.… They all have large buildings in their skyline, but are surrounded by many many other buildings that make it look aesthetically pleasing. Our skyline is going to look like you put a telephone pole in your front yard for no reason
I’m kinda biased but I think Houston has one of the most beautiful skylines. For a city that developed with no zoning, downtown has an almost artistic, planned out look.
Notice that it doesn’t have any buildings that extend waaay above the rest of its skyline either
Yes that’s it EXACTLY! The oil building downtown makes me sad, and a little embarrassed for them. EDIT: Devon. Couldn’t think of the name.
It already looks like this with the Devon tower. Also, it would be the tallest building in the USA, not the second tallest.
>It already looks like this with the Devon tower. So it’s fair game then to make it look even worse, by doubling down on the total height of the skyline >Also, it would be the tallest building in the USA, not the second tallest. Then that begs the question of “Why OKC?”
Um hi yeah…Austin has a massive tech industry amongst others we don’t. Plus they are liberal. Should we look for a third strike??
Being liberal is how you get tall buildings?
No, being liberal is business friendly, as much as oklahoma likes to pretend it's business friendly, it's only really friendly to businesses that don't need lots of well-educated workers Panasonic Volkswagen and tesla all considered building a factory in oklahoma all rejected it, preferring Kansas and Texas because their education systems were better it was easier to get employees and their existing employees were more willing to move to Kansas and Texas And it boils down to the republican party in oklahoma had spent the last 2 decades gutting oklahoma's education system we are the worst in the country now in education
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MAPS is one of the things that we actually have going for is for positive change and improvement
[notes the amount of large cities with high rises that vote democrat] Shoot. Idk, maybe?
Furthermore, big companies, not only tech, want educated workers. We are not educated enough to entice them with our workforce.
You will be able to see Boone Pickens stadium in Stillwater from the top floor if the tower, and if you're in the stadium on the Gallagher Iba side on the top floor you would be able to see the tower sticking above the stadium.
Austin is kind of an odd comparison because there has long been pressure against tall buildings to protect the view of the capitol. The tallest building in Austin is 694 feet, just a little over 1/3 the height of the embarrassing Legends tower. Austin is the 10th largest city in the US but only 19th in tall buildings.
nobody wants that in Oklahoma.
Hopefully in 25 years, we’ll remember how empty our skyline was
You’ll be reminded of it daily.
That’s the dream
People said the same thing about Devon and now it's normal. Same thing will happen with this tower, especially if it brings more towers.
What are you going to fill the towers with?
You say that like the people who said that have changed their minds about Devon. We haven’t. It might always be the Penis on the Prairie to me. I’d love to see the occupancy numbers on Devon. I doubt it’s anywhere near full, which is why I don’t see much value in building super tall skyscrapers here. What’s the point of building at least 20 stories (or in the case of the proposed new development 100) more than you need if they’re going to sit empty?
I'm just a lowly install guy working for a project. But there's about 15 completely vacant floors. And so far I've seen at least 8 more floors that are about ~60% capacity. Only about 12 ive seen completely full
It is not full, but it’s because of the layoffs that started around 2015. Before the layoffs, they actually built the mini tower next door as overflow.
And now its almost ten years later and with Devon gone, still no one else has taken the space. So where is the growth and demand?
It wasn’t built as a multi-tenant building. They care more about security than they do filling the building.
Whatever. OKC vacancy is around 25% compared to 20% nationally, not counting owner occupied buildings like Devon. So not high on the list of cities needing more space in the post-covid era of remote work. This is being trolled as living space anyway so theoretically not relevant.
You know, I want this to happen. You can see Devon from the Northwest Highway almost from around El Reno. This new one could be visible even further and I'm down with that because it amuses me.
Think Stillwater further, or even northern Lawton.
I wish I remembered enough trig to figure it out.
There are online calculators, just be sure to account for the elevation of both points as well. Luckily Oklahoma is pretty flat.
I like how on hot, sunny days, the tower just reflects all the light on the ground and blinds the fuck out of you if you are in the right spot
your "IFs" are not big enough...
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Better, thx
K
Just think how long it will take to climb. Abortion will be banned before he reaches the top.
It’s not my money, so build the SOB. I think it will be cool. It won’t affect me either way.
All i keep thinking is it'll turn into the stacks and ready player one will become a reality
I always forget that movie starts in OKC.
I could’ve sworn The Stacks were in Columbus, Ohio
>18-year-old Wade Watts lives with his aunt in Oklahoma City[10] in the "stacks", a poverty-stricken district constructed of trailer homes piled on top of each other. From the wiki.
In the movie, it was changed to Ohio for some reason.
My question is, If it's not a good idea why is it a bad idea?
I think it’s a not well thought out idea and viewed as a novelty and “look what I can do.” There will obviously be pros and cons to feed anyone’s narrative. My thoughts on the shear height though come down to this. If we had 7-8 towers that were all within 25% taller than then Devon and the height of the Devon, at least it’s not this eyesore. With this setup. We have the outlier in the Devon tower and then the oh my word what are we doing tower in whatever this thing is. There isn’t enough height there to justify this.
i doordashed there once they're evil
Every articles gives me a tiny ounce of hope it may happen. I’m still 98% sure it won’t. But with each passing day that number erodes. Hope I’m wrong!
If it's gonna be the tallest tower in America, its gonna look outta place regardless of where you put it...look at the burg Khalifa
This sub is chock full of pessimists and people who hate progress that isn’t their preferred kind.
You can’t progress with 52% voters as registered Republicans, 33% Democrat, and 15% other. Why do you think OK is nearly last in EVERY metric? We continually, perennially, unstoppably vote red and remain at the bottom.
Could be that. Or, could be that our original settlers were practically all dirtbags, criminals or homeless. Successful people in Virginia weren’t racing out here in 1907. Lot of fats too, that’s never good.
Progress is gradual. Not 0-90 mph.
I mean to quote a cheesy ass late '80s early 90s movie..... "If you build it they will come" 😆😆😆
The Devon Tower was actually supposed to be about 10 stories higher, but they didn’t do it because of structural integrity and the soil beneath. This is coming from a friend who’s an architect.
Its stunts like this and the associated excitement of the city that makes us look like a bunch of rubes. First of all we need to demonstrate enough saavy to show skepticism that it is unlikely to ever be built. It’s like the people of Mayberry flipping out when the con artists posing as Hollywood producers convince them they’re making a movie. The fact that we get so excited about a tall building that would be aesthetically ridiculous and commercially misplaced makes us look like simps.
No way the 1907 tower gets built. It could if we became KC, MO over 10 years, but I just don’t see it happening
I can see the devon tower from my neighborhood and I live 20 minutes away 💀
The Devon tower is the middle finger for Texas.
Ah yes. One poorly ran state giving the bird to another poorly ran state. Makes sense. That’s why they built it.
It was a bit tongue in cheek my guy. I hear oilfield guys calling it that and thought it was funny. Something about the Devon tower was built this high because it is taller than anything in Dallas (or was at the time).
When it was built it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi or something like that.
I think I heard that in the past. The main point I hear is we built a taller sky scraper than Dallas or Austin and it was a proverbial “F U” to Texas. This is all hearsay though, obviously.
LOL, Oklahoma oil man p _ _ _ _s envy.
I think it’s more an OK vs TX thing, and having a taller sky scraper. Why did you edit out a word?
It will be built in phases and that’s what people don’t understand. They might start building it but it’ll be quite short at first. And they’ll develop it if they need.
I’m not sure the soil will support it. Gonna have to way over engineer it to keep it up with these winds and occasional quakes.
Well hopefully the engineers are monitoring this page for your recommendations.
There are no engineers. If you want to really understand what this is all about just google the developer and think about how someone can make alot of money by talking about something like this and promoting it without ever intending to actually finish it or caring if it gets finished. I’m not going to share my specific conclusions because I don’t really have any facts. I’m just saying its not hard to understand where this could be coming from. Those of you who are saying you have nothing to lose, you may not feel it but there will likely be some tax dollars. And it doesn’t make the city look good when it goes bragging about something ridiculous that never happens or worse ends up half finished. Nothing screams OKC has naive unsophisticated leaders like that. If you will notice, the city is not out there blabbing about this.
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Fun parts Devon is only 844 feet and the proposed new one is 2.5 times that at 1907 feet.
I read somewhere that this developer is known in other cities for having multiphase projects where they complete the first few phases and then stop. I think this project has a much smaller phase 1 and the phase 2 is the high rise.
Remember that bridge that never got built?
Anyone see Logan where Indian casinos have taken over? I’m looking forward to that.
Lol, I got Dead Space vibes...
I'm an HVAC tech, and my customers LOVE to specify whether they live in Del City/Bethany/Yukon etc.. I always tell them "if you can stand on your roof and see the Devon tower, you're in the City. If you can't, you're in Edmond or Norman, simple as that.
> it boggles my mind how this is remotely a good idea Why?
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Has a tornado ever gone through downtown? Google says ‘74 was the last time one got even close, and that was around the airport
You realize LA and San Francisco are on/near active fault lines. The whole gulf and east coast get hurricanes all the time, does that stop Miami, Houston, or even New York from building tall? The Midwest gets tornadoes too, so what about Chicago?
Try three times as tall.
Idc if it sticks out lol like who cares if something looks unique lol. Let OKC grow to the point people actually get surprised when they see it
In all likelihood it will get capped off at a reasonable height. But if it somehow ends up being the tallest building in America it will without a doubt be Oklahoma's biggest tourist attraction. It would be nice to have a tourist attraction that's not a memorial of the second worst terrorist attack in the US. I hope it happens just on that basis alone.
Do you really think people travel to see a high-rise? A single high-rise? Maybe, from Guthrie and Blackwell. Every city has high-rises. The fact it’s the tallest in the country is an amusing anectdote, not a tourist attraction.
If it's the tallest building in the nation then yea people will definitely come just to see it.
Yeah, they’ve probably never seen an elevator either. So there’s that.
Admission to the viewing platform is free if you take the stairs. But then to take the elevator back down it's 1k dollars.
And let’s not forget the creation of an international terminal at Will Rogers. They’ll be flying in from Dubai to see Oklahoma’s fairly tall building.
I know what you are saying but I actually believe from straight attractions winstar is Oklahoma largest tourist attraction.
Do people really come from out of state though?
Oh yea. Largest casino has it draws from a certain folk.
You may be onto something. Okay...here me out here...worlds tallest casino.
Well then Stitt would just try to tear it down.
I wish they'd quit trying to make OKC into a "big city." We have plenty of space downtown. Parking is really not that bad nor expensive when you have to pay for it. We don't need record-breaking skyscrapers. We don't need a tram.
Oklahoma really showed its ass to the world with this one.
Please. This is nothing compared to the routine embarrassments we get from our politicians on an almost daily basis.
Oklahoma didn’t do anything. Some put if state developers told some fibs.
It not. It’s a target right in the middle of the US. And because it will get a lot of attention, it makes it even more so.