PARKING PLOT
Code enforcement just may nudge development of empty Bricktown lot
With hotels, apartments and retail popping up all over east Bricktown, the fate of one prominent property in the middle of it all remains a question.
Until a couple of years ago, Sheridan Avenue east of Joe Carter Avenue in Bricktown consisted largely of metal buildings that once were home to Stewart Metal Fabricators. Redevelopment began a couple of years ago with Gary Brooks leading the way in turning the north side of Sheridan Avenue into the Steelyard Apartments, retail, an AC Hotel and a Hyatt Place along with structured parking.
The south side of the street sold as well, with one property becoming The Criterion music hall and yet another built up into a Springhill Suites.
That left one gap in this transformed urban corridor. The owner of the property, attorney Joey Chiaf, already owned the southeast corner parking lot at Sheridan and Joe Carter avenues when he bought the adjoining lot at 420 E Sheridan in 2014 for $2.4 million.
The lot consisted of a crumbling former concrete foundation of a metal building that was once part of the sprawling Stewart Metal Fabricators complex.
Chiaf hired engineer Tim Johnson to run plans for replacing the remains with a parking lot. But when approval was given by the Bricktown Urban Design Committee, Chiaf skipped the required improvements and instead erected a couple of light poles, painted spots on the foundation, and started parking cars.
The city’s permitting folks at first indicated Chiaf was in the clear doing so. The ordinance and approval by the design committee, however, dictated the improvements had to be done first. Citations were issued, the paid parking stopped.
And that, it appears, was all that was needed to make Chiaf rethink his plans to expand his parking lot, put it up for sale and see if he can
draw buyers who might want to develop the property into something more than parking.
In the late 1990s, Chiaf might have gotten away with minimal improvements to use the property for parking. Credit former Mayor Kirk Humphreys for declaring the days of the “old wild west” were over for in the entertainment district as he confronted property owners’ attempts to operate gravel and dirt parking lots along the Bricktown Canal.
Since then, the standard required by the city has been consistent for Bricktown — proper paving, striping, light and landscaping are needed before anyone can open up a surface parking lot in the district.
The city still provides an incentive, however, to go with paid surface parking over development of either a garage or other higher or better use. To this day, the Oklahoma County Assessor has a value for the property that is far lower than Chiaf’s purchase price. And the existing surface parking lot is hit with far lower business improvement district assessments than surrounding developed properties.
So the waiting game is on for what will happen with the Chiaf lots (both are for sale).
David Dirkschneider, a broker with Price Edwards representing Chiaf, said the property has drawn some interest, but so far Chiaf has yet to receive any offers that match what he believes the property is worth. So for now, Dirkschneider says, the property remains for sale until at some point Chiaf decides to move forward with his plans to build the additional parking.