Vacancy surplus
Hotels canceled, others put on hold as development stalls in Bricktown
Three of several planned hotels in Bricktown are “officially dead,” while others are postponed and just one is set to move forward “soon.” Bricktown and the immediate surrounding area has seen a hotel building spree with nine of 10 hotels opening in the past decade. That spree has ended. Champ Patel, owner of Champion Hotels, has a for sale sign posted at the 4.8acre property at 100 Charlie Christian Ave. Patel and partner Fred Mazaheri purchased the site for $8 million in 2015. They cleared the land with plans to build three hotels, including a ninestory 147-room Canopy by Hilton. Other hotels were to include a La Quinta and Cambria hotel. Jeff Penner, regional manager of Champion Hotels, said the decision was made in response to Bricktown's growing hotel room supply and construction of a 605room Omni just west of Bricktown. “For now, they are officially dead until Champion Hotels sees an uptick in the market,” Penner said. “There are so many new rooms that have entered the market. And with the convention center and 600 new rooms coming, I don't want to sound pessimistic, but that is a lot of rooms to absorb. And it is Champ's thinking to sit back and see how things work out.” Penner said three other hotels planned along the south side of Oklahoma City Boulevard across from Harkins Theaters in Lower Bricktown are on hold but not canceled. “We are optimistic on that site, and we want to start that,” Penner said. “It's closer to the new convention center and we like that site.” Andy Patel, meanwhile, said he is still moving ahead with plans for a 10-story Renaissance Hotel he first announced two years ago for the southeast corner of Sheridan and Oklahoma Avenues. He bought the surface parking lot for $2 million in 2014 and originally planned a Canopy until the flag was snagged by Champ Patel. Andy Patel originally said he would start construction in 2017 on the 182-room, full service Renaissance. He has repeatedly delayed the start schedule and a recent announcement by Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership that they plan to restore the landmark flag pole at the site led some to presume the project is on hold. “Our project is not postponed,” Andy Patel said. “We're still moving. We're going through some minor items. We should be starting soon.”