KKT is honored to work with Crowe & Dunlevy, the first tenant in the new downtown building, formerly WPX

One of Tulsa’s newest downtown high-rises has landed its first company. Oklahoma City-based law firm Crowe & Dunlevy, a staple in Tulsa for more than 30 years, is expected to move in September into the 11-story office building under construction at 222 N. Detroit Ave.

Currently housed on two floors in downtown Tulsa’s Kennedy Building, 321 S. Boston Ave., Crowe & Dunlevy will take up the entire sixth level — just more than 34,000 square feet — in its new home.

Getting employees within the same four walls is among the motivations for relocating, but so is the prestige of breaking in a Class A office space, said Mac Rosser IV, shareholder/director at Crowe & Dunlevy.

“This space has worked out well for us, but the practice of law has changed a lot since we first moved in,” Rosser said by phone. “It’s a lot more collaborative. It’s not as much top-down partner to associate like it used to be.

“What we were looking for was something that would help us be more collaborative and enable us to have more casual discussions. We also wanted it to be attractive to talent. Our primary goal is to bring talented people in and make them part of our practice.”

In October 2019, WPX Energy held a groundbreaking for what was to be its new 260,000-square-foot headquarters on Detroit Avenue. But less than a year later, Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy announced that it planned to acquire WPX, dissolving the latter’s operations in Tulsa.

Crowe & Dunlevy considered other downtown venues for relocation, but the allure of its ultimate destination was too great, Rosser said. It is the first tenant to publicly confirm plans to locate in the structure.

“The WPX building location is unbeatable,” he said. “It’s right next to Guthrie Green. You’re in the Arts District, but you’re also right there in the Greenwood District.

“It’s an iconic building. It’s great to be the first tenant. I know they are going to have some good folks in there.”

Behind Bob Pielsticker, Matt Reese, Dylan Seibert and Harlan Davis, CBRE represented the law firm in the long-term lease, and KKT Architects is in charge of design.

Rosser describes it as a “warehouse, high-tech look,” featuring glass partitions and small offices that give way to large, collaborative spaces such as the “Work Cafe.”

The area also features two balconies overlooking the city.

“We pulled the conference rooms away from the windows. so the public has this lovely corridor along the perimeter, where you have access to the views,” Kate Cofer, a KKT principal, said by phone. “All the conference rooms have glass that looks out to the hallway that looks out to the views.

“The glass gives them privacy. As attorneys, they have very confidential conversations and depositions and very important meetings. They can have the sound separation that they need within those meeting rooms and still have the transparency.”

Flintco Construction, general contractor for the building, also will customize the sixth floor.

“It’s a very modern office, but it also reflects the traditional and historical aspects of Crowe & Dunlevy,” Cofer said. “They’ve been around for over 100 years, so they have a lot of appreciation for architecture and design.”

As reported in the Tulsa World last March, efforts are continuing to lease all of the square feet of office and retail space for the building, which is being constructed at the site of the former Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant.

“From a business standpoint, the (building) project represents a significant investment on our part,” WPX spokesman Kelly Swan said in late September 2020.

“We obviously want to optimize this investment, which means finishing the project in some way — either in its original or a modified form — to create a premium, marquee property for which the community is proud,” he said.

Read more at tulsaworld.com