Neighbor group wants hotel plan for OKC Bricktown to include

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City),  Jul 10, 2008  by Kelley Chambers

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Urban Neighbors likes a proposed hotel planned for Bricktown, but wants the developers to be mindful of foot traffic as the project moves forward.

Other interests in Bricktown also want the hotel and property to be developed in a way that makes it friendly to pedestrians and makes it easy for hotel guests to access the entertainment district across the street to the west of Lincoln Boulevard.

Last month, a proposal for the hotel development for Dihren and Amit Patel, as Shri Krishnapriya Hospitality LLC, came before the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority to apply as the redevelopers for the site and to purchase a piece of the land owned by Urban Renewal.

The site, about 120,000 square feet, is at the northeast corner of East Reno Avenue and South Lincoln Boulevard on the east side of Bricktown. Pieces of the parcel are owned by the developers, Urban Renewal, and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

The plan calls for a seven-story, brick-clad Candlewood Suites.

But existing storm drains on the site will likely cause the hotel to be pushed back from the street, which has caused some concern that the area might not have an urban look and feel, and not be pedestrian-friendly.

Fred Quinn, of Quinn & Associates, an architecture firm, represented the developer at the Bricktown Urban Design Committee meeting on Wednesday.

The site falls under the jurisdiction of the Bricktown committee.

Quinn said a second phase of the project could include some out- parcel buildings along Lincoln Boulevard to provide a more urban feel to the project and lend itself to sidewalks.

"We hope that we can provide that along Lincoln," Quinn said. "But at this time we have not developed that."

Avis Scaramucci, vice chairwoman of the committee and a Bricktown merchant, said as Bricktown continues to grow, it must be pedestrian- friendly, especially to guests at the proposed hotel.

"The goal here, I believe, is to expand our community ever mindful that the whole community still needs to work together closely," she said. "I do see it as very pedestrian because it is important that those people at the (Candlewood) suites feel comfortable and are welcome to cross over and come into Bricktown."

Jeff Bezdek, a board member of Urban Neighbors, a group of downtown residents, said Urban Neighbors commended the developers for creating a nice bookend to Bricktown on the east, but encouraged them to keep pedestrians in mind, especially as the area can be a link to the Oklahoma River as Lincoln Boulevard connects on the south end with Byers Avenue.

Bezdek also encouraged the developers to work with ODOT about sidewalk master plans for the area, which he said is currently not pedestrian-friendly.

"Pedestrian issues are very big on our priority list," he said. "That area is a pedestrian deficit to Bricktown."

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