A proposed Oklahoma City skyscraper is now slated to go even higher in its push to become the new tallest building in the U.S.
If — and that’s a major if — all goes according to plan, two Hyatt brands are slated to be a part of the broader complex, dubbed the Boardwalk at Bricktown. A 480-room Dream Hotel, a brand Hyatt acquired early last year, is one part of the project, along with a 1,907-foot residential tower that would be the tallest building in the country.
A 14-story Unscripted hotel — a sub-brand within JdV by Hyatt that has another location in Durham, North Carolina — was previously attached to this project, but it isn’t mentioned on the Boardwalk at Bricktown architecture website. Instead, renderings show the Dream and Hyatt brand logos and residential components for each hotel brand.
Hyatt did not respond to TPG’s request for comment, nor did AO, the architecture firm tied to the project.
The developer of the project, Scot Matteson, has no website for either of his companies cited in a press release from earlier this year. Those outside the real estate orbit might know Matteson best for being an ex-boyfriend of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Shannon Beador.
Nevertheless, the Oklahoma City Planning Commission approved Matteson’s project this week, according to the Daily Mail. However, there are doubts regarding the feasibility of the tower and whether it will ever be built. At 1,907 feet — an homage to Oklahoma’s 1907 founding as a state, per The Wall Street Journal — the tower would be 1,063 feet taller than Oklahoma City’s current tallest tower: the 844-foot Devon Energy Center.
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Oklahoma City is certainly an example of a Sun Belt city with an economic tail wind, but something so tall is easier to pencil out financially in a global gateway city like New York.
The $1.6 billion project would have to command hefty condo prices that make the project profitable. The most expensive home currently on the market in Oklahoma City is $6.5 million, according to Zillow.
By comparison, penthouse condos in Boston’s newest Four Seasons tower have traded for more than $30 million — and that’s in a tower not even half the height of what is proposed for Oklahoma City. Admittedly, land prices in Boston are significantly higher than in Oklahoma, but even condos at the Four Seasons in Nashville went on the market for as much as $25 million. It’s hard to fathom units in the Oklahoma City tower going on the market at bargain prices.
There are also those poking fun at the Boardwalk at Bricktown’s overall look: Renderings show the super-tall tower flanked by three smaller towers. Some have labeled it the “Redneck Burj Khalifa,” after the world’s tallest tower in Dubai.
Oklahoma: Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain … and might eventually encounter an out-of-place skyscraper.
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