The City of Oklahoma City uses Special Zoning Districts as a tool to maintain the character of many neighborhood communities.
Downtown
Downtown Oklahoma City itself is currently undergoing a renaissance. Between the mid-1980s and 1990s, downtown was unchanged and largely vacant. It was the scene of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on 5th Street between Robinson and Harvey Avenues, caused by convicted domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh; most buildings within a radius were structurally damaged by the explosion, including the old Journal Record Building (now home to the National Memorial museum). Many other buildings, such as the unique international style YMCA building, supposedly one of few remaining in the United States were damaged or destroyed.
White flight during the 1950s and 1960s left much of the inner city abandoned. During the Urban Renewal days of the early 1980s, controversial urban planning allowed for the destruction of almost 50 historic buildings and skyscrapers. Examples include the Biltmore Hotel, which was imploded to make way for the I. M. Pei-designed Myriad Botanical Gardens, the only major Urban Renewal project completed as planned. Many of the buildings which were not destroyed in the Central Business District were covered by new façades or left to Class-C office space. The removal of historic structures left downtown without much retail presence.
In stark contrast to the promise of Urban Renewal, Downtown had not seen a new skyscraper or any sort of major construction project for many years. The last major skyscraper built downtown was the First Oklahoma Tower in 1982 and the Leadership Square complex built in 1984. Leadership Square was originally intended to be a single 60+ floor skyscraper but was later scaled down to two connected towers due to economic downturn.
Downtown and surrounding areas such as Bricktown and Midtown have seen a significant revival in the wake of the MAPS program, which created new venues and attractions in the downtown area. Today, as Downtown and the Central Business District continue in their economic revival, there are numerous condo and apartment developments being built around downtown, along with older buildings that are being converted into apartments and hotels. Leading this charge is the renovation of the historic Skirvin Hotel, where numerous presidents and dignitaries have stayed. The historic Colcord Building, Oklahoma City's first skyscraper, was also converted from office space to a boutique hotel in 2006.
Devon Energy, which had previously been occupying space in five separate downtown buildings, revealed plans in August 2008 for a new , -tall skyscraper at the corner of Sheridan and Hudson, a space originally planned for a "Galleria" mall under the Pei urban renewal plan. The building is expected to bring new life to the west side of downtown, which has seen less growth compared to Bricktown on the eastern edge and Midtown to the north. The Devon Tower, which became the tallest building in the state of Oklahoma at , was completed in 2012.
Other development projects, which are either in planning or have since been completed, include: $100 million in proposed improvements to the Ford Center were approved by voters in March 2008. The improvements allowed for offices and new locker rooms for the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team, new restaurants and bars, rooftop terraces, a new grand entrance, and a family fun center. Block 42 is a high-end condominium project offering luxury condos with a modern, urban aesthetic. The project was completed in the summer of 2008. The Hill is a project with almost 200 town homes being built on a hill overlooking the Deep Deuce district and Bricktown. The project is currently under construction. The Triangle (encompassing the Flatiron District and some of Deep Deuce) is a project by TAP Architecture that will include 700 loft units, office and retail space. The Central Avenue Villas which has 30 loft units. A new Hampton Inn and Suites in Bricktown.
The area due south of the Paycom Center is anticipated to become OKC's latest downtown district following the long overdue move of the I-40 Crosstown bridge that is in the process of being completed as of 2013. The master plan for the "Core to Shore" area shows a boulevard running through downtown – where the original alignment of the Crosstown bridge was located, as well as a large new city park stretching from the Myriad Botanical Gardens down to the Oklahoma River. It is also assumed that the Central Business District would be extended south, and new highrise construction will take place there.
Bricktown
Bricktown is an entertainment district located on the east side of Downtown Oklahoma City.Travelok.com, Bricktown Entertainment District (accessed June 24, 2010). Before a recent renaissance, the area was a warehouse district that had begun to get run down.Blackburn, Bob, "History of Bricktown ", Bricktownokc.com (accessed June 24, 2010). Today, it is bustling with restaurants, dance clubs, live music venues, upscale retail shops, and offices. Top attractions include the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and a navigable Bricktown Canal, both the result of the city's MAPS projects.DowntownOKC.com, "Bricktown" (accessed June 24, 2010).
The Bricktown Canal stretches one mile (1.6 km) through the district toward to a new park past the Oklahoma Land Run Monument. When completed, the Land Run Monument will be a series of 77 giant statues stretching over an area the size of two football fields on the south canal, and will be one of the largest sculptural monuments in the world.
Lower Bricktown (a newly constructed area south of existing warehouses) boasts a brand-new 16-screen movie complex and several upscale retail establishments and restaurants. The Centennial on the Canal is Bricktown's first new residential construction, and contains three levels of high-end condos with retail on the canal and street levels. The area also includes the corporate headquarters of Sonic Drive-In.
The brick buildings of the district were created between 1898 and 1930 to aid in the freight operations by the four major railroad companies that used the area. Oklahoma City's first black newspaper, the Black Dispatch was officed in Bricktown at 228 E. First, along with the first local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Deep Deuce
Deep Deuce, located directly north of Bricktown, ignited the downtown urban housing boom in the late 1990s with the Deep Deuce Apartments. The area consists mostly of low-rise apartment buildings and various formerly vacant mixed use buildings. Deep Deuce was once the largest African-American neighborhood downtown in the 1940s and 1950s and was the regional center of culture and jazz music. Bands such as the Count Basie Orchestra, the Blue Devils, the Charlie Christian Band, and others resided in this downtown neighborhood. It is also noteworthy that Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was rejected for an executive position at the Calvary Baptist Church in Deep Deuce for being "too young."
Much of the original neighborhood was bulldozed to make way for the I-235 Centennial Expressway in the late 1980s. While the area was neglected during the 1990s, the downtown renaissance has made the area attractive to developers, despite how little remains of the neighborhood's earlier character and architecture. The first phase of The Triangle (a large masterplanned community between Bricktown, the elevated railroad tracks, and I-235) is the Brownstones at Maywood Park, which includes three- to five-story brownstones over several blocks of Deep Deuce, along with a park and a large sculpture. Also in the construction or planning phases are several other residential developments, including The Lofts at Maywood Park, Block 42, The Hill, Central Ave. Villas, and Flatiron Lofts. The area is also home to the Oklahoma City campus of Oklahoma Baptist University. All these newly developed properties have rental prices a minimum of 150% of the average income per capita of the populace of the state.
The Arts District
The area now known as the Arts District wraps around part of west downtown that encompasses the Civic Center Music Hall, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Myriad Botanical Gardens, Stage Center, the Ron Norick Downtown Library, several local theaters, headquarters of the American Choral Directors Association and at its northern edge, the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The district is also home to the nation's third largest arts festival, the annual Festival of the Arts. The area saw new residential development open several years ago when developers converted a former Montgomery Ward department store into condominiums, and in 2007 with Legacy Summit at Arts Central, a $40-million, 200-unit across from the Civic Center Music Hall. Also in this district is City Hall, the art-deco Oklahoma County Courthouse, and the central station for Metro Transit buses.
Film Row The Film Exchange District encompasses 42 square blocks and lies between Classen Boulevard and Walker Avenue along Sheridan Avenue. It is also bordered by S.W. 2nd Street, SW 1st Street and Colcord Drive. The district's history includes the likes of Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Fox Films starting with silent films. The first film exchange appeared in Oklahoma City as early as 1907, and in 1910, the General Film Exchange was established on West 2nd Street.
Paramount Pictures operated at 123 S.W. 3rd and by 1929 relocated to 701 W. Grand (Sheridan Ave.), now in the heart of the Film Exchange District and backed the opening of the Plaza Theatre in 1935."History of the Plaza Theatre", Lyric Theatre OKC. (accessed January 26, 2010). By 1930, most studio offices had moved along what is now Sheridan Avenue.
The 1930s came to know the area as Film Row, where theater owners came to screen and lease films for their movie houses. J. Eldon Peek, a graduate student of Oklahoma State University, and his wife Maxine opened the Oklahoma Theatre Supply Company and Missouri Theatre Supply Company at 708 W. Grand (Sheridan) in 1930. By 1988, she and her granddaughter Sharon Allen were still operating the business, which closed in 2004."Theatre supply company sees changes", The Journal Record, September 6, 1988. (accessed January 27, 2010) The Peeks landed contracts to install sound systems in former silent theatres across Oklahoma and relocated to their newly constructed building at 628 W. Grand (Sheridan) in 1946.
In the 1950s, cable television first came to Oklahoma in Bartlesville, where the "Telemovies" system was started by Video Independent Theatres."Pay Television", The Museum of Broadcast Communications. (accessed January 27, 2010). Television and the advent of new technology and introduction of inexpensive air freight, hurt the film exchange business and by the 1970s and early 1980s, film row became a haven for bars, prostitution and drugs. Several of the historic buildings in the district are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2003, a part of downtown Oklahoma City was developed into the new Film Row, to honor its roots as a film exchange district.Wynn, Bradley. "Guest Blog: The Incredible True Story of Film Row", NewsOk.com. (accessed January 26, 2010).
In 2003, a part of downtown Oklahoma City was developed into the new Film Exchange District, to honor its roots as a film exchange.Wynn, Bradley. "Guest Blog: The Incredible True Story of Film Row," NewsOk.com. Retrieved January 26, 2010. In August 2011, Oklahoma City: Film Row was published under Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series. The book was written by historian Bradley Wynn.
In 2025, the last remaining film exchange building in Film Row re-opened as the Oklahoma Film Exchange.Viriyapah, Matthew. ","KOSU.com. Retrieved December 1, 2025.
Midtown