Developer Scot Matteson says the Boardwalk at Bricktown is still a go, but the headline-grabbing Legends Tower will only climb to 1,907 feet if the numbers add up. The Oklahoma City mega-project is being staged so that phase one delivers apartments, hotels and retail at more conventional heights, and the sky-piercing tower follows only if leasing and sales prove the market is hungry enough. For now, Matteson says his biggest hurdle is simple: can Oklahoma City really support a vertical landmark that tall?
Phase 1 Plans and Near-Term Timeline
The opening act of the Boardwalk development is relatively grounded. Phase one calls for apartments, an underground parking garage and a dual-branded Hyatt hotel, along with roughly 150,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space in buildings kept under 500 feet, with a ceremonial groundbreaking expected later this summer, according to News 9. Matteson told the outlet that early work will center on grading, infrastructure and the below-grade parking that will serve later phases, essentially building the foundation for whatever height the market ultimately justifies.
He also said the development team is staying in contact with federal aviation officials while phase-one details are finalized, a bit of bureaucratic choreography that has become essential to the project’s long-term ambitions.
Rezoning and the Site
City leaders already cleared a major political hurdle for the project. Last year the Oklahoma City Council approved a rezoning that removed the height cap for the roughly three-quarter-block site at Reno and Oklahoma avenues, opening the door for a 1,907-foot tower within a Boardwalk plan of about five million square feet. The rezoning passed on an 8–1 vote after spirited debate from councilors and developers, who argued the property is meant to knit together the city’s growing cluster of entertainment investments, according to The Journal Record.
FAA Concerns Remain
Regulators, however, are not just waving this one through. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Obstruction Evaluation Group has flagged the proposed 1,907-foot tower as a potential “hazard to air navigation” in a lengthy aeronautical study, raising questions about approaches and departures at several nearby airports, according to Engineering News-Record. ENR reports that the FAA’s analysis runs dozens of pages and includes multiple letters of objection from local aviation stakeholders who are not eager to see a supertall tower sitting in their flight paths.
Matteson told News 9 he believes the immediate phase-one footprint is outside protected airspace and said conversations with the FAA are ongoing as the broader plan is refined.
Can the Market Absorb So Much?
Backers of the Boardwalk vision argue that the neighborhood is not being built in a vacuum. They point to a string of big-ticket investments nearby, including a planned new Thunder arena, a MAPS 4 soccer stadium, an expanded convention center and new riverside recreation, as potential demand drivers for future housing, hotel rooms and entertainment space. Architectural Record details those adjacent projects and the developer’s case that a busier event calendar could keep the Boardwalk humming over the long haul.
Skeptics, though, note that Oklahoma City is still a mid-sized market that must prove it can absorb thousands of new residential units and hundreds of additional hotel rooms before a supertall tower becomes more than an optimistic rendering.
Matteson says he plans to let the market call the shots. If the early towers lease up quickly, the full Legends Tower vision stays in play. If demand is softer, height could be scaled back. Local coverage has repeatedly emphasized that occupancy in the first towers will dictate when, and even whether, the supertall rises, a process that could stretch out as infrastructure work, FAA mitigation and financing are all sorted, according to The Journal Record. For now, Oklahoma City has a blockbuster project on the board and a real estate market that will ultimately decide just how high the skyline climbs.
