The Half more than halfway complete as two more anchors set to begin operations

When Greater OKC Chamber member American Fidelity purchased their current headquarters in late 2012, officials weren’t sure how they would proceed with developing more than 50 acres south of their building. But as they moved forward with renovating and relocating to their current space, leadership realized the potential of the location as not only a place for employees to work, but also to provide a set of walkable amenities fronted by attractive water features for them to play, shop, eat and even live as well. Combined with the desire to create a place that helped recruit employees, the development’s location between downtown OKC and Edmond and accessibility lent itself to bigger possibilities than it might have in other circumstances. Thus, the idea for The Half was born.

Fellow Chamber member Hogan Property Company and American Fidelity Property Company have combined in a unique development with five seemingly disparate anchors sited so far: American Fidelity itself, Chicken N Pickle, Flix Brewhouse, Dolese’s new corporate headquarters and a 324-unit apartment complex to be developed by Gary Brooks' Cornerstone Development --all Greater OKC Chamber members as well--with more to come. And if the success of Chicken N Pickle is an indicator, with crowds regularly filling the restaurant-and-pickleball venue, the future looks bright for the rest of the project.

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Developer Randy Hogan said a desire to help recruit new employees and create a larger version of his East Wharf project on Lake Hefner spurred not only American Fidelity to begin work on The Half, but also Dolese to decide to join them in relocating their corporate headquarters.

“[American Fidelity] felt like having a development like this would be a walkable amenity for their employees and they felt like that would give them an advantage as they were hiring new young talent. So that, that was a fundamental from the very beginning. And ironically, our first meeting with Dolese could not have gone better because that's exactly what they were looking for -- they also wanted to be in a walkable development with amenities that would help them hire younger talent. They were kind of in the same boat, so to speak,” he said.

“The walkability is just going to be a real asset.” – Randy Hogan

Hogan also noted the development’s location and desire to create a new entertainment pocket was fundamental to his company’s involvement. “Bill Cameron, the CEO of American Fidelity, communicated early on to me that he wanted to create a new pocket of amenities in Oklahoma City. He felt like in this location--so centrally located between downtown and Edmond-- we could literally bring another added set of features to the market, especially highlighting restaurants and entertainment. So those were probably the two biggest reasons why we got involved.”

A look at a master plan for The Half prepared by Johnson & Associates, also a Greater OKC Chamber member

While Dolese’s former headquarters location in Automobile Alley obviously offers walkable amenities, according to Kermit Frank, Dolese’s V.P. of community relations & communications, the need to expand beyond their current buildings’ capacity, a desire to have all their administrative employees in one building instead of four, and opportunity borne from potential other uses of the downtown land made The Half an attractive proposition.

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“Literally for 100 years our administrative services have been located in four buildings. For almost no time [over that period] have all the people in our corporate office been in the same building,” he said. “And in a modern business, that’s not really conducive. These buildings are nearly 100 years old, and we’ve been retrofitting them--even putting people in closets. So we just outgrew the functionality of the buildings. And meanwhile, the valuation of this three and a half city blocks we have here in downtown Oklahoma city started to present options making it plausible to turn that asset into a single corporate office building.”

The economics of the situation combined with American Fidelity’s plans and involvement led Dolese northward.

“It wasn’t our intent to move from 13th and Broadway, but it was [ultimately] more attractive to find another place that made development a little less expensive. And the opportunity to find our little corner of happiness at The Half seemed like a really good fit. We think a lot of American Fidelity, another long-time, excellent corporate citizen, and I think they were pleased to have a company such as ours as a cornerstone project at the southeast corner of the development, with some [construction] activity early in the process,” Frank noted. “And we’re excited all of our corporate support services are going to be in one place and have a far more collaborative environment.”

In addition to the co-location benefits, the design of Dolese’s building, by architects Hans and Torrey Butzer, has drawn raves from both architecture and construction fans through the use of Dolese’s products for both the built environment and design inspiration.

“Hans and Torrey truly embraced the foundational importance of the products that we produce all day, every day for 119 years—concrete, rock, things of that nature. So it's a concrete structure and, in every regard, concrete is exposed and used in a number of different forms. It is most definitely a showcase for all things concrete and aggregates,” said Frank, noting how the walls include blocks from the south OKC Dolese plant, hallway concrete is a special mix of different types of rock from Dolese quarries and plants that is ground and polished to a terrazzo look, and the landscaping includes monumental boulders from the company’s Roosevelt quarry.

Butzer Architects & Urbanism and Dolese are also pursuing IWBI WELL Silver Certification for the project, indicating “more thoughtful and intentional spaces that enhance human health and well-being” that “aim to advance health” by linking “design, policy and built environment strategies to health and well-being outcomes,” according to wellcertified.com. The building is designed around a central “gem” that brings in light and allows for more social interaction than at Dolese’s original setup.

“The Butzers are all about light—you can stand on the lower level and look through the skylight and see if it’s a sunny day. And the building’s systems will determine how much light is available, and then adjust the overhead lights—that’s a function called ‘light harvesting, which was a new term for me’” said Frank. “All of us being in the same place for the first time in nearly 120 years, in this significantly more collaborative, open space, resonates with us as we work on taking our organization and our culture to the next level.”

According to Frank, Dolese is on track for a June move-in date. Along with American Fidelity, Dolese, Flix Brewhouse and Chicken N Pickle, OneCore Health is set to join the eclectic tenant mix with a new orthopedic facility. “They wanted to be in the middle of all the action,” Hogan said.

In addition to the apartment component and entertainment venues like Flix and Chicken N Pickle, part of making the overall “walkability” concept successful is being able to provide a variety of traditional food and beverage options and outlets, and that’s something that Hogan has recently expanded expectations for.

Chicken N Pickle opened its OKC location at The Half to numerous raves in early 2021.

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“We initially laid out a total of 25,000 square feet [for restaurants], and we may end up bumping that out to more like 40,000 square feet--and we hope to add a hotel component in the 120-room range. So we’re looking at some new-to-market concepts and some high-quality local restaurateurs, and again, hopefully will bring in some unique dining experiences. That’s part of our challenge as we sift through options,” Randy Hogan

With about $129 million in built or committed development and about 20 acres left, Hogan estimated The Half is a little more than halfway complete at about 60%, and in addition to introductions via Chamber channels, they are relying on relationships and recommendations to help fill out the space. Hogan said he has gotten some ideas from contacts with brokers and consultants in other markets, and “if there’s something of interest, we just hit the road.”