We first came up with the idea of finding a condo or apartment in downtown OKC earlier this year. Just an idea, really. Nothing we actually pursued, just discussed. We did drive around to see what might be available but that was it really.
Then somehow we ran across a condo in Block 42 that we looked at but the owner had been leasing it and really wanted to sell it. We just didn’t want to buy – the whole idea behind moving downtown was to get out from under a mortgage so that when we decided to retire and run away to the beach (in less than 5 years!), we’d be free to do it without worrying about trying to sell a home. It was fun looking at the condo but we knew we weren’t interested in buying so we just let it go. We did, however, fall in love with Block 42.
Fast forward a few months and here we were again thinking about downsizing and moving downtown. (it seems that once we get an idea in our head it tends to take root!) Now our youngest was in college and we became official empty nesters. It seemed like an ideal time. So we started looking. Couldn’t find anything in Block 42, try as we might, so we searched other places. LOTS of other places. Apartments, condos, converted hotels, lofts, you name it, we looked at it. The good news is there are now LOTS of places to live downtown so there are many options.
We found an apartment we liked over near the Civic Center in Legacy Arts (now Avana Arts) but we didn’t have our house on the market and we didn’t want to have two payments so we let it slide, deciding that once we got our house on the market, we’d look again, starting at that complex. To go along with the good news I mentioned in the last paragraph, the bad news is that if you find something you like downtown you have to jump on it fast or you risk losing out to someone who is ready to act. This is what we found at Avana – when we went back to look now that we were ready to act (we were ready, weren’t we?), they had nothing available that fit our needs. Hmpf. Back to square 1. Well, not really square 1 because we had a long list of places we already knew we weren’t interested in – but Avana and Block 42 were really the only two we liked enough to consider. As luck would have it, sweet hubby discovered there was a lease about to expire in Block 42! Could it be? Yes, yes it could!
We made arrangements and met up with a lovely young woman named Jenna who showed us the condo. It was nice of the current tenants to allow us to see it while they were still living there and it was obvious they’ve really taken care of the place. And the condo was exactly what we were looking for – 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, good size dining room, nice kitchen and big windows. Almost perfect (I say almost because hubby really doesn’t care for the concrete floors… but it wasn’t a deal breaker.)
Here's where it's located. You can see block 42 right at the top of the map, just north of Deep Deuce and Bricktown:
The view is not a downtown view because the condo looks to the north. However, there’s lots of green space and it’s literally only a couple of blocks from Bricktown. From there we can walk to almost anything downtown we’d like to see or do. And the unexpected kicker? It’s fully furnished. Really nice furniture. We did NOT expect that.
Now we have a house full of furniture that we love (we love it so much that our condo in Gulf Shores, Alabama is furnished the same way!)… and we haven’t figured out yet what we’ll do with it all… Give it away? Sell it? Store it? Hmmm, decisions, decisions. But our lease doesn’t start until mid-December so we have time to decide.
What we do not have a lot of time for is going through all of our stuff, sorting what to keep and what to get rid of and how to get rid of it… now THAT is going to be a project.
We like to think we’re minimalists (and I'm certain compared to most people we really are) and we’re both very organized but I know we still have a lot of stuff to go through. Files, Christmas decorations, and photo albums. Oh, my... the photo albums. Back in the days when cameras actually took film I'm convinced I should have owned stock in Kodak. I must have over 15 photo albums completely filled with photos. Now THAT will be a job. Ah, well, there IS a big difference in a 2500 sf house and a 1200 sf condo!
So, with a little more than 7 weeks until move in, the adventure begins! J
