Oklahoma City wants to hear from anyone who lives, works or hangs out downtown before it finalizes a sweeping strategic development plan that envisions a car-free stretch of Park Place, a reimagined Santa Fe Station and enough new housing to more than quadruple the district's current 6,000 units by 2060. City officials opened the public comment period on August 6, and feedback will be accepted through August 30 before the draft heads to city leaders for further review.
The draft Downtown Strategic Development Plan, first reported by News 9, covers the area bounded by the Oklahoma River, Western Avenue, NW 13th Street and Interstate 235, and is built around six guiding principles translated into immediate, short-, medium- and long-term strategies. According to the city, the request for input applies broadly to residents, business owners, employees and visitors, not just downtown property owners. The plan projects downtown housing could grow from roughly 6,000 units today to 22,500 by 2060 — a 375% increase — addressing a housing target that has also driven recent tax-increment financing moves, including the tax deal converting empty offices into lofts.
Behind the plan is Yard & Co., the urban design firm that landed a $750,000 contract with the Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust in September 2025 to produce the draft, following a competitive bidding process the trust launched earlier that year, according to the Journal Record. The document is designed to build on planokc, the city's comprehensive land-use framework adopted in 2015 that has guided a multi-year overhaul of development codes toward denser, mixed-use zoning, according to the City of Oklahoma City. Geoff Butler said the new downtown plan presents a generational opportunity to set a compelling vision and collectively work toward accomplishing it, per the same News 9 report.
Immediate Moves: A Downtown Grocery Store and an Entertainment Loop
Among the plan's immediate strategies is the introduction of neighborhood-serving amenities such as retail, recreation, mobility, employment and education options, per the draft. The plan also aims to introduce a centrally located downtown grocery store — notable given that the closest existing options are the Homeland at Northwest Classen Boulevard and 16th Street and a Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Store, the report notes.
The draft also calls for immediate creation of an entertainment loop tying together the Stadium District, Bricktown and the redeveloped Paycom Center site, complete with new street connections, a reimagined Santa Fe Station, public-realm enhancements and new retail. The loop is meant to have cohesive wayfinding, signage, public art and public-realm design throughout. That entertainment corridor arrives as the city pours money into anchor venues nearby: the $900 million Continental Coliseum arena broke ground on March 26, according to the Oklahoma City Free Press, and the $121 million MAPS 4 Multipurpose Stadium in lower Bricktown broke ground in June, per the City of Oklahoma City.
Cultural Spine and Riverfront Bridges Planned for the Short Term
Short-term strategies in the draft include creation of a cultural spine that would transform Robinson Avenue and Ron Norick Boulevard with a multi-modal trail, connecting downtown's cultural assets. Also slated for the short term is development of public land, part of a broader public land strategy that includes prioritizing downtown property for redevelopment and ongoing conversations with the county, state and ODOT about public land use.
The plan's riverfront component includes pedestrian bridges over the Oklahoma River along with expanded programs, activities and food options for all ages. Closer to Bricktown, the canal strategy includes programs to decrease vacancy along the canal edge and upper floors of existing buildings, while broader plans call for improving connectivity within and to the district.
Rail Crossings, Transit Lanes and a New Neighborhood West of Scissortail
Medium-term strategies include improvement of BNSF railroad crossings, with upgrades emphasizing ADA accessibility and safe, comfortable crossings. Specific fixes include reconstruction of the Southeast 4th Street underpass and at-grade improvements at 10th Street and 13th Street. That work dovetails with a regional push: ONE Transit secured a $400,000 federal Railroad Crossing Elimination grant with a 20% state match in April to study grade separations across 52 at-grade BNSF crossings between Edmond and Norman, a project detailed in Hoodline's earlier coverage of the commuter rail push toward voters.
The plan's transit strategy also calls for dedicated bus lanes, new transit shelters and transit signal prioritization, building on a system where the OKC Streetcar currently serves downtown and Bricktown loops. Oklahoma City Boulevard is envisioned to become a transit-oriented roadway accommodating all transportation modes, with a center-running bus or light rail system and pedestrian improvements. Medium-term goals also include expansion of education and employment opportunities, with a strategy that envisions a new higher education ecosystem focused on workforce development alongside a new high school within the John Rex Charter School system — a district that began recruiting a founding high school principal in February for a Fall 2027 launch, according to Executive Search Services.
Long-Term Vision Includes a New Neighborhood and Downtown Greenway
Long-term strategies in the draft include construction of a greenway through downtown that would connect the proposed east and west trail assets while linking downtown's core with the rest of the region. Also planned for the long term is creation of a new neighborhood west of Scissortail Park that would include a diversity of housing options that are, per the city, feasible to build and sensitive to market conditions.
Other street-level changes woven throughout the plan include closing Park Place to cars to create a green-space corridor through midtown, with midtown open spaces meant to provide gathering spaces, park programming and green stormwater management. Robert Kerr Avenue is planned to get a multi-use trail separated from vehicular traffic, North Broadway Circle in Automobile Alley would become a shared street extending the corridor to Campbell Park, and the intersection of Broadway, Gaylord and McGee would be simplified to improve pedestrian mobility. Along I-235, the plan calls for redesigned cloverleaf ramps and new or enhanced crossings near Harrison Avenue and Northeast 8th Street.
On parking, the draft outlines a strategy built around shared parking, dynamic pricing, new technology and improved wayfinding, paired with a financially self-sustaining management program. Notably, the plan states new parking garages will not be constructed until existing parking structures have improved utilization. Downtown retail is also slated to receive grants and other support programs, while production space and performance venues are framed as tools to diversify the local economy.
City officials say comments and feedback submitted through August 30 will be used to shape the final Downtown Strategic Development Plan, which will then be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council. The review comes as the city juggles a series of major public investments already underway downtown, including the amended Core to Shore TIF district, now authorized for up to $528 million in project costs after an April expansion into Capitol Hill, according to the Journal Record, and the debt-free MAPS 4 program, which voters approved in December 2019 and which is projected to generate nearly $1.1 billion across 16 public capital projects before its penny sales tax expires in 2028, per the City of Oklahoma City.
