Headlines of the Week

Arrival of Continental Resources expected to boost downtown housing, office market, restaurants and retail
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Oklahoman

When Joe Jungmann and his partners opened up the Whole Enchilada Cafe a year ago on the first floor of the Santa Fe Parking Garage, they knew they were taking a risk.

The retail space had seen one restaurant operator after another open and close in quick order. To make matters worse, more than half of the surrounding workforce was set to move further west along Sheridan Avenue upon completion of Devon Energy Center late next year.

Jungmann's manager at the restaurant, Melissa Dixon, estimates about 40 percent of their daily customer base consists of employees from the current Devon Energy Corp. headquarters across the street and in the neighboring Chase Tower.

“We were hoping that we would get them hooked with us before they move and they would still come back,” said Dixon, who added her restaurant also does occasional catering for Devon.

Jungmann and Dixon both are celebrating news that Devon's headquarters won't go empty for long with Enid-based Continental Resources Inc. set to make the 19-story building the company's home next year.

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Recent actions provide glimpse of downtown Oklahoma City, 2020
Steve Lackmeyer
Oklahoman

No decisions are finalized, but some key moves in recent weeks by various MAPS 3 and MAPS for Kids committees provide a hint on the future development of downtown.

Indeed, four sites are still in contention for a new convention center. But even those sites, when listed with the preferred route for a streetcar system and preliminary site for a downtown elementary school, show density may be winning out over sprawl.

One downtown observer, urban designer Blair Humphreys, commented early on in this latest version of OKC Sim City the choice was to either make downtown bigger or better.

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Oklahoma City monitoring company on track for growth
BY RICHARD MIZE
Oklahoman

US Fleet Tracking is on the move to an upgraded corporate headquarters five times bigger than its present location.

The company, which provides GPS-based tracking devices and services to trucking companies and for special events such as the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and Final Four, officially opened its new 18,000-square-foot residential-style office building Wednesday. Carriage Homes built the $2.3-million building. The company will move in next month.

Gov. Mary Fallin and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who was in Oklahoma to visit with lawmakers and business leaders on behalf of his Foundation for Excellence in Education, and numerous local and state dignitaries helped owners Jerry and Cindy Hunter unveil the new digs for their growing 5½-year-old business at 2912 NW 156 just west of May Avenue.

US Fleet Tracking is leaving some 4,500 square feet of leased space in Quail Creek North, an office building constructed at 11032 Quail Creek Road, northwest of Hefner Road and N May Avenue. Commercial Assets Inc. handles leasing for the 36,124-square-foot building, which was listed as 98 percent occupied counting US Fleet Tracking.

Cindy Hunter recalled working “back to back” with her husband making sales calls from their home office when they started the business. She told Mayor Mick Cornett before a ribbon-cutting ceremony that they moved to leased commercial space at first mainly to get access to commercial-grade fiber optics.

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Oklahoma City Museum of Art to feature ‘Passages,' an exhibit of rare biblical texts and artifacts
BY CHRIS CASTEEL
Oklahoman

WASHINGTON — The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will be the first stop for a worldwide traveling exhibition of historic biblical texts and artifacts collected by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, who announced here Thursday that the exhibition, marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, would open May 16.

“It will have some of the most incredible rare biblical artifacts in private hands in the world,” Green said. “It will tell the story of the history of the English Bible.”

Green unveiled plans for the traveling exhibition at the Vatican Embassy, where business, government, academic and religious leaders gathered to view some of the items that will be in Oklahoma City next month.

The interactive exhibition, called “Passages,” will encompass 14,000 square feet and be the worldwide debut of the Green Collection, one of the world's largest privately held collections of biblical texts and artifacts.

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