Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Don't start celebrating yet...
The news today must have gotten some people excited. Tom Ward, having bought out Amarillo's Riata Energy and moved it to OKC's Valiance Tower, is saying the company is going to grow out of its suburban home quickly.
He says a downtown headquarters or a suburban Chesapeake sort of campus are both possiblities within a couple years.
This is where people surely begin plotting for McGee Tower, of Dowell Center, to become the new Riata hq.
Don't be too sure. Tom Ward is a campus kind of guy. And unless downtown people can come up with a large swath of land where 5-6 story buildings will fit in, and have room to grow, look for Riata to look somewhere in the suburbs.
This is a nice problem to have.
Downtown isn't out of the running. But I doubt Riata is the answer to existing, empty office space. But just south of Interstate 40 there will be hundreds of blighted acres needing redevelopment when the new highway opens in 2009. Of course, that might require eminent domain, and we've all been told time and again how evil that can be.
So never mind Riata coming downtown. I'm sure there is some nice pasture land at Northwest Expressway and the Kilpatrick Turnpike just waiting for another corporate office park.
He says a downtown headquarters or a suburban Chesapeake sort of campus are both possiblities within a couple years.
This is where people surely begin plotting for McGee Tower, of Dowell Center, to become the new Riata hq.
Don't be too sure. Tom Ward is a campus kind of guy. And unless downtown people can come up with a large swath of land where 5-6 story buildings will fit in, and have room to grow, look for Riata to look somewhere in the suburbs.
This is a nice problem to have.
Downtown isn't out of the running. But I doubt Riata is the answer to existing, empty office space. But just south of Interstate 40 there will be hundreds of blighted acres needing redevelopment when the new highway opens in 2009. Of course, that might require eminent domain, and we've all been told time and again how evil that can be.
So never mind Riata coming downtown. I'm sure there is some nice pasture land at Northwest Expressway and the Kilpatrick Turnpike just waiting for another corporate office park.
# posted by Downtown OKC @ 7:40 PM 
