OKC MAPS PROJECTS – 25 YEARS
Between 2000 and 2009, the decade following the introduction of the initial MAPS projects, the study area added a total of 1,220 hotel rooms. The number of rooms in the combined business district and Bricktown area tripled relative to pre-MAPS levels. Most of the development in the period was in the business district where 869 of the 1,220 new rooms were located. Post-MAPS Lodging after 2014 . Hotel development in the study area slowed after 2009 due to the combined effects of increased room supply and the 2007-09 national recession. Construction resumed in 2013 as multiple developments broke ground in both the business district and Bricktown. Development has continued unabated through 2018. In 2014, three hotels opened in Bricktown (Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, and aloft Hotel) and one in the business district (Ambassador Hotel). 52 In 2015, new hotels opened in both the business district (Embassy Suites) and Bricktown (Holiday Inn Express and Suites). The 21c Hotel and Museum opened west of the business district in 2016 followed by two Bricktown hotels in 2017 (Springhill Suites and AC Hotels). Three additional Bricktown hotels opened in 2018 (Hyatt Place, Candlewood Suites, and Staybridge Suites). Since early 2014, twelve new hotels with 1,532 rooms have opened in the study area. Bricktown is now the fastest growing destination for new rooms, with more than two-thirds (1,148) of the 1,532 new rooms located in the entertainment district. In total, the downtown Oklahoma City study area is currently home to 20 hotels with 3,163 rooms. A slightly higher number of rooms are in the business district (1,664 rooms) than in Bricktown (1,499 rooms). Omni Convention Hotel . Most recently, the development of a new 17-story Omni conference hotel is underway adjacent to the new MAPS 3-funded downtown convention center. 53 The $241 million hotel will have 605 luxury guest rooms and serve as the city’s official convention hotel. The larger room base of a major convention hotel is anticipated to move the city into a higher tier of convention destinations, much like the Renaissance did nearly 20 years ago. In a public-private partnership, Oklahoma City will provide $85 million in financing funded through a city bond offering while Omni is investing more than $150 million. The hotel is slated to offer seven restaurants, a coffee shop, burger bar, and rooftop poolside bar. Groundbreaking took place in October 2018 and the hotel is set to open in early 2021. The new MAPS 3 convention center is expected to open just prior to the hotel in 2020. The 605 planned rooms at the Omni will push the total room count in the study area to 3,768. This is a nearly 10-fold increase over the roughly 400 hotel rooms available downtown at the start of the MAPS projects. A 2010 study of the Core to Shore area by the Urban Land Institute suggested that 4,000 downtown hotel rooms, including a headquarters hotel with 600 to 700 rooms, were needed to move the city into the same tier as other peer convention markets. 54 Given other planned hotel development downtown, the city will undoubtedly meet this long-run objective with the completion of the Omni in 2021.
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