Hotel and high school coming to The Half with expansion to include boutique retail

The Half, the $200 million life-style center developed as part of the American Fidelity campus, is nearing completion as plans progress for a hotel and an indoor go-kart racing, arcade and bowling entertainment center.

Construction also is set to begin on the Belle Isle Enterprise High School immediately east of The Half, which will include a gymnasium, along with football and baseball fields.

And as the area is built out, American Fidelity is set to start developing land south of The Half, extending it to Wilshire Boulevard where plans area already underway to build an OnCue store.

Sherry Krauss, senior real estate manager at American Fidelity, said the boutique Skyline Hotel will be built next to the 325-unit BroadVue Apartments, which is set to open in 2024 overlooking a lake between The Half and the American Fidelity headquarters.

The 140-room hotel, likely to stand at seven to eight stories, will be tallest building in the development.

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“There will be a groundbreaking in the second quarter of 2024,” Krauss said. "It's going to be a good fit. There will be a conference center, and they may have a restaurant and coffee shop.“

Krauss said talks have begun with a restaurant group to open a location at The Half that will be “Unique — something different from what Oklahoma already has.” Construction also is set to begin next year on Andretti Indoor Karting and Games, a 100,000-square-foot entertainment center with high speed “super-karts” on multi-level tracks, an arcade, bowling, laser tag, restaurant and bar.

Randy Hogan, who is developing the lifestyle center with American Fidelity, said three of four restaurants are signed up to be built to the west of the hotel, also opening along a waterfront boardwalk.

"We have a nice niche for bringing these entertainment retail concepts people are after," Hogan said. "We want to bring more to keep the momentum going with Chick N Pickle, Andretti and Flix Brewhouse."

What to know about Belle Isle Enterprise High School planned to be built next to The Half

Belle Isle Enterprise High School, while not a part of The Half, is set to be built immediately east of the lifestyle center.

Belle Isle Enterprise High School, with a projected cost of $76.16 million, was included in the $955 million bond package approved by Oklahoma City school district voters last November. In May, the district's Board of Education approved allowing Superintendent Sean McDaniel to buy the 65-acre property for the school. A land purchase agreement dated June 1 requires the district to pay Wilshire Development LLC $7,361,640 for the land. District spokeswoman Crystal Raymond said the purchase won’t be completed until after the zoning application is approved and the city council has approved the deal.

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The school is projected to open for the 2026-27 school year. It will be a so-called “application” school, for which students are required to apply for admission. Such schools typically are more academically rigorous and have more parent involvement. Belle Isle would be the district’s third application high school, along with Classen School of Advanced Studies and Southeast High School.

District officials say many students who attend Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School at 5904 N Villa leave the Oklahoma City district after completing the eighth grade because there is no optimal pathway to remain in the district. Such students, who now often attend private schools, charter schools or schools in other districts, will be able to stay in the Oklahoma City district, Raymond said.

Krauss said the school will be a welcome addition to American Fidelity, which employs about 1,200 on the campus adjoining The Half, as well as those who work at the Dolese Bros. Headquarters and residents at the future apartments overlooking the lake.

“It will be a benefit to the whole area,” Krauss said. “That area (the school property) was different to do something with because it so far back, so having the school use it will make it far better.”

Krauss said that the final pieces of The Half are set to be leased to a medical clinic and ophthalmologist, which will finish the master plan for the 52-acre destination. Development by American Fidelity and Hogan Property started in 2019.

That timing led to an opening of Flix Brewhouse, a combination of a multi-screen cinema, and Chicken N Pickle, a restaurant and pickleball complex, during the early months of the 2020 pandemic. Krauss said both have thrived since the pandemic ended, with Flix exceeding projections.

“We will continue Oklahoma Avenue to Wilshire. On the south half (south of Wilshire), we’re looking at boutique retail, some more restaurants, a garden-style apartment complex, and a hotel more on the lines of a Hampton or Courtyard by Marriott. It’s all exciting, because for our employees there wasn’t a lot of options for lunch or things to do.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: The Half in northwest OKC to include hotel, Andretti indoor karting