The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Williams is buying out Access Midstream, which is based in Oklahoma City and was spun off from Chesapeake Energy when they were crashing. Williams will be merging the company with its own midstream subsidiary and it will be based in Tulsa.

So BOk is rumored to be looking into a building a new building downtown, could this by why? Is Williams going to be needing more space soon as employees relocate?

Is this the origination of the rumor?
George Kaiser thinks Tulsa needs to recapture the tallest bldging in the region title?
If there were a new tower DT where would it go?

BOK owns the city block of surface parking across from the BOK center
also whole blocks @ 1st & Boulder & 3rd & Cincinnati

No, its been on here a couple of times. I think Townsend first posted it on another thread and I thought of the 1st and boulder lot where the old autobank was but he said south downtown. I had discounted it, but, the real estate guy that owns OKtalk backed it up.  Apparently BOk is looking at being part of a new tower in OKC and wants to own a new tower in Tulsa.

First and Boulder would be seem to be a perfect space for a new tower. It would add to the skyline and keep the scrapers all in the CBD.

An expansion of Williams' pressence in dowtown is great news.  It is doubly great news if it also leads to a new BOK bulding.  I would prefer to see several 30-40 story buildings built rather than an attempt to out do the Devon tower.  In addition to avoiding the risk of hubris that such a vanity project can bring to a company, I'd rather see the skyline expand than just see one building towering over the rest.

You mean your not a fan of downtown OKC giving everyone around it the middle finger?

I'd almost rather see 3-4 mid rises, either in the parking lot district south of 7th or the south end of the East Village along 6th, than one single new tower.  If you've been to Pittsburgh I'd like to see a version of what PNC Bank has done with their downtown in multiple large buildings with mixed use around a public square.

That'd work for me too...not that I have any say in the matter.  It'd be preferable to me though.

And wouldn't it be nice if there were some actual thought put into the design process??  We have a wonderful skyline and then that big stick thing.  If there are going to be new high rises, they should be required - yes, I know it is a dirty word, but tough! - to at least pay homage to the era when the rest of downtown was built.  Surely there must be an architect out there with at least a little bit of imagination left....on how to make today's new construction blend/merge/complement/be-compatible-with the old!  Move forward with an eye to the past. 

And don't even get me started again on the big gold plated phallus-like thing in south Tulsa!

But then I see all the new McMansions around south Tulsa and realize that architecture today is solely based on the garage door as THE major architectural element of design!  (Perhaps Home Creations has too much influence in this area...??)

Indeed.  It goes without saying that I hope any new building(s) would have some architectural character and interest.

Some cities give tax incentives if new construction uses a fancy architect.

I don't agree however that they should pay homage to an era (much of our downtown growth was in the 1970's)

I like a mix of old and new, different eras.

I don't like souless, artless crap like the Cimarex Building.

+1, it makes one long for the towerview apt building.

The only thing to like is that it is no longer a parking lot.

Pretty much my point exactly - "That 70's Show" sucks.  As evidenced/exemplified/personified by the Williams building.

I disagree entirely. The BOK Tower and the two Williams Buildings (I assume that’s what you are talking about) are all great buildings for the style they represent. They just aren't quite old enough to be nostalgic yet. In 10-15 years they will be considered iconic, especially the BOK Tower with it's ties to the World Trade Center.

This is how it works. Everyone likes new shiny buildings (unless it’s cheap crap like Cimarex) and don’t like the aging buildings that the new ones are replacing. The previous generation of buildings look old and out of date next to new ones. But, once a building hits about 50 years old they start to become “classic”. It’s why buildings that are 30-40 years old and functionally obsolete are always in so danger of being torn down, they are old and out of date but not yet old enough to be classic and worthy of saving.

We need to learn to appreciate good buildings from any era.

I can see that.... I go to antique stores on occasion looking for tools and in the last 5 to 10 years have noticed how things have become classic that I used when a kid into my 20's.  Some things I still have and use - 5 gallon oil metal oil cans!!  I have seen 3 DX bulk 5 gallon oil cans in the last couple of years with prices of $40 to $60 on them....the one I use for lawn mower gas is better shape than any of them!  Have one red one, with a blue one as spare in case the red goes bad.... Top row, first 3 in the row;

https://www.google.com/search?q=dx+5+gallon+oil+can&client=firefox-a&hs=FZN&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=VragU4GMPNSqyASWhIGADg&ved=0CB4QsAQ&biw=1402&bih=728

I bought a couple of plastic cans to start using instead....

Those buildings could/should have been built somewhere else - there are/were plenty of places to put them that would not have required destruction of the buildings they took place of.  Out by Eastland would have been good - solid rock base to put them on!!

Wow!
I am thrilled to hear BOk is wanting to build another tower!!
I am torn on size though. I think it is significant to the community and national perception to have the tallest tower in the area but...
Multiple 40 story buildings would really add more to downtown from a functional perspective.

I love our skyline, especially from the south and west. It's OK from the north but I don't care for the view from the east.

Regardless of what they do, 2, 30-40 story buildings or a new 50-60 story tower, it will be a great thing for downtown!

Not a certainty by any means, just rumors at this point.  I do think either BOK or Williams will need more space soon, and whether that's a significant new downtown tower, a smaller building adjacent or leasing more space in an existing building, remains to be seen.

When was the last tall building downtown done?  ???

Tall is subjective but I think Cimarex was completed in 2013.  17 Stories

I mean't as opposed to wide.  ;D

One Technology Center (2001) and Cimarex (2013) are the only 10+ story towers built downtown since the mid-80's.  Was the Mid-Continent addition the last 20+ story building downtown, completed in 1984?

Wow, had never thought of it that way before   :-\

We have probably torn down one or two during that time as well.   Inching forward though.  Is millimetering forward a word/phrase?

Mid-Continet, was mid 80's but there was also OneOk/ONG that was also built in the 80's I believe.

I know. I really love the thought it is rumor enough for mention.

As for Williams and BOK. I don't know. Williams is running tight on space but also has empty floors in the tower that are theirs that they seem more interested in leasing than utilizing for themselves. They are growing but if WPX can't recover from their rough start that could open up a lot of space.

BOK should be build their own BOK Tower IMO ;o)

WD,

Other than space in the Dirty IceCube, I've been told by friends at both BOK and Williams that they are out of space and renovating under utilized areas for more cubicle space.  These people aren't strategic planners or anything... Are they mistaken? 

Just the fact they are disciples of Action Office II (cube farmers) tells you they are not that clever....well known Fail for efficiency, productivity, etc.  

I can't speak for BOK, but that's true on the Williams part.

We completely renovated the WRC (Williams Resource Center -- where the ice rink and what-not used to be) a few years ago and are in the process of renovating a lot of our floors in the tower.

I wouldn't say we've completely filled our space in the tower, but it has to be close.  The last I heard, the entire "Williams Center" which includes the tower, the WRC and lobby-level tenants was like 98% full.

As for the Access Midstream acquisition, it could potentially create some modest growth in the Tulsa office, depending on how any consolidation of corporate functions play out, but my personal guess is that our Tulsa growth will just follow a more steady trajectory of business growth as it has for the past 10 years or so. 

The fact of the matter is that we have three big office locations that all include some "corporate" type functions - Tulsa, Houston and Salt Lake City...  they generally include the support for some big aspect of operations that are generally tied geographically to those offices... 

Salt Lake is Northwest Pipeline and some Western U.S. gathering and processing; Tulsa is HQ, plus Western gathering & processing, and some NGL & petchem services (mid-continent storage and transportation); Houston is Transco pipeline, Gulf of Mexico gathering/processing and some NGL/petchem.  We have growing office locations in Pittsburgh and Calgary that support our operations in the NE U.S. and Canada, respectively.  OKC would logically include support functions for the ACMP assets, which are primarily mid-continent.  (But they also have some assets in the Northeast and the West, so it will be interesting to see what happens there.)

** Just for clarification sake -- none of the above isn't based on any inside knowledge -- just my opinions ***

I'm not afraid of heights,.....I'm afraid of widths!!

I guess it's all a matter of perception. There are some floors woefully under utilized that I have not heard anything about remodeling on.

The remodeling that is being done on some floors certainly maximizes floor space and is very nice though.