O’Connor: OKC’s downtown housing mix continues to diversify
Cathy O’Connor
The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority recently issued a request for proposals due July 30 for residential development in a section of The Hill at Bricktown. The site, located in OCURA’s Harrison-Walnut Urban Renewal Plan Area, is available for urban residential development close to downtown, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, State Capitol Complex and the OU Research Park.
The development site consists of nearly 122,000 square feet of land and looks to welcome new families and homeowners to the area. The RFP outlines that the architectural character be consistent with the surrounding area and achieve sustainability and energy efficiency in the design and construction. Developers are asked to include a ground level that engages the streets and sidewalks to encourage pedestrian activity. The parcels of land fall within the Downtown Tax Increment Financing project area – TIF and G
Oklahoman
The Brockway Center, a longtime civil rights landmark that was once within days of demolition, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places by one of the protesters who refused to give up in the fight for its rescue.
The author of the successful application, Catherine Montgomery, wrote the center’s period of significance beginning in 1968 aligns with its purchase by the Oklahoma City Federation of Colored Women’s Club.
Montgomery said efforts to add the building at 1440 N Everest Ave. to the register date back about 15 years when the women’s club sought a listing to help obtain city assistance in making needed repairs. She said that effort was blocked by then city councilman Skip Kelly.
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O’Connor: 2021 planning lays groundwork for future economic development
Cathy O’Connor
Looking at the most significant economic development projects for our city in 2021, two that I’m most anticipating are historic preservation projects in northeast Oklahoma City.
Last summer, two of Oklahoma City’s African American historic sites, the Lyons Mansion and Brockway Center, received funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, provided through the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The funding is being used for a local planning process that includes a reuse feasibility study and business plan for each property.
We have a schedule for public input that starts later this year and I look forward to hearing ideas and needs from citizens, business owners and leadership, especially those who live, work and represent northeast Oklahoma City. Those community-driven planning processes will be complete in 2021 and we’ll soon have a new vision for how these