Login

Oklahoma City Tower Developers Now Aim to Create Tallest US Building

Developers Raise Proposed Height of Planned Tower to 1,907 Feet, Taller Than New York’s One World Trade Center
Boardwalk at Bricktown is a proposed mixed-use development in downtown Oklahoma City that may include a 1,907-foot-tall tower. (Matteson Capital)
Boardwalk at Bricktown is a proposed mixed-use development in downtown Oklahoma City that may include a 1,907-foot-tall tower. (Matteson Capital)
CoStar News
January 23, 2024 | 9:32 P.M.

Ranking second apparently isn’t good enough.

Matteson Capital and Centurion Partners, affiliated companies that are the developers behind a proposed supertall tower in Oklahoma City, applied for a variance to construct a 1,907-foot-tall building in the city’s downtown district. That’s taller than the tower's previous design for a 1,750-foot-tall building.

At 1,907 feet, the Oklahoma City structure, tentatively called Legends Tower, would best New York’s 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center as the tallest building in the United States. The new height honors 1907, the year Oklahoma gained statehood.

The tower is far from a done deal, and many project details have not been released. A building permit application submitted to Oklahoma City indicates the tower will be at 4 E. Reno Ave., but that address does not exist in local property records.

article
3 Min Read
January 09, 2024 04:54 PM
Centurion Partners' proposed 1,750-foot-tall building could join new downtown basketball arena.
Andy Peters
Andy Peters

Social

“Oklahoma City is experiencing a significant period of growth and transformation, making it well-positioned to support large-scale projects like the one envisioned for Bricktown,” Matteson Capital CEO Scot Matteson said in a news release.

That statement does not indicate when Matteson Capital's application for a height variance will be reviewed or voted on by the Oklahoma City Council. An agenda for the council’s next meeting has not yet been posted. Representatives for Matteson Capital didn't immediately return CoStar News' requests for additional comment.

The proposed supertall tower for downtown Oklahoma City would be visible for miles due to the area's flat terrain. (Matteson Capital)

While it's still just a concept on paper, Legends Tower is planned for the broader Boardwalk at Bricktown mixed-use project that would be located near a proposed arena for the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, though it has not yet started construction.

Designed to total roughly 5 million square feet, the development, which is set to also include three shorter buildings, is proposed to include a 480-key Dream Hotel by Hyatt with 85 residential condominiums in the Dream Tower; a 350-key Hyatt hotel with 100 condominiums in the Legends Tower; 1,776 residential units; and more than 110,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Plans for the top floors of Legends Tower include a public observatory, a restaurant and a bar. The design also includes a 17,000-square-foot lagoon and water feature surrounded by a boardwalk.

An estimated cost for the construction of Legends Tower has not been disclosed. Oklahoma City officials last year approved $200 million in tax increment financing and $3.5 million in sales tax rebates for the Boardwalk at Bricktown project.

If built at its new proposed height, Legends Tower still wouldn’t be the world’s tallest tower. That designation belongs to Burj Khalifa, a 2,722-foot-tall tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

At 1,907 feet, the Oklahoma City tower would rank No. 6 among the world’s tallest buildings, just behind Ping An International Finance Centre in Shenzhen, China.

Matteson Capital’s development portfolio includes the Residences at the Little Nell in Aspen, Colorado; Sapphire Tower condos in San Diego; and Hotel Icon in Houston, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection.

ThinkBox Construction Group and Legends Capital Management are development partners with Matteson and Centurion.

For the Record

AO, a Los Angeles-area firm, is the architect of record and design architect. Hensel Phelps is the general contractor. Thornton Tomasetti is the structural engineer. Siemens is providing fire-safety engineering services. BCREM and Global Economic Strategics are financial advisers to Matteson. Greenberg Traurig is legal counsel.

IN THIS ARTICLE