Downtown losing another 500 workers.

[TheArtist]

"""Blue Cross parent plans Tulsa service center

From The Journal Record - 12.04.07

Quote
TULSA  The parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma intends to consolidate several of its Tulsa customer service units into a regional center for greater efficiencies.  The vacant Wal-Mart at 41st and Memorial Drive in Tulsa recently sold to Health Care Service Corp of Chicago for $4.2 million.  Developed from a model Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp. has successfully employed in Amarillo, Texas, and Waukegan, Ill., Sponsler said the 112,173.5-square-foot former Wal-Mart Supercenter on Memorial Drive will provide ample room for Blue Cross to gather all of its customer service and claims people into one location for greater productivity.
While it will focus on Oklahoma, providing not just customer service calls but claims processing and enrollment processing, like many call centers the new facility also will be able to back up HCSC's Texas and Illinois centers should their workloads require aid.

The move reflects efforts to improve customer service in a rapidly growing market.
Were up to about 600,000 members in Oklahoma, said Sponsler. Weve grown by over 100,000 since the beginning of 06.

Sponsler said about 500 of the 1,100 downtown Tulsa workers will move to the new facility at 7777 E. 42nd Place when complete in the fourth quarter of 2008. Renovation and outfitting details remain under development.
Tulsa County courthouse records indicate Health Care Service Corp. paid $4.2 million, or $37.44 per square foot, to Wal-Mart Realty Co. of Bentonville, Ark., for the structure.

Thats a very standard price for an older, existing single-tenant building, said Darren Currin, the vice president and research director for OKC Property Research LLC.

That 10.37-acre plot took advantage of two busy retail corridors: Memorial Drive, which the store faced, and 41st Street. After operating there since 1986, Wal-Mart closed that location last year to relocate operations to a new 203,818-square-foot center at 6625 S. Memorial Dr., just north of Woodland Hills Mall.
Since nearly all of its customer service business is handled over the telephone or Internet, Sponsler said Health Care Service and Blue Cross hope this consolidation will allow the staff to better manage the customer increase while giving them more elbow room. She expects two growing departments to benefit the most: health care management, where a group of nurses help people manage diseases such as diabetes via web inquiries and phone calls, and marketing.

Our business is really good right now, she said. We have a great product, we have a great brand."""




I also think this is a small loss for any future rail transit between BA and Downtown.  The Wal-Mart location was seen as one possible node, or station, for that system.  I think they need to start thinking ahead and buying up the few properties that they have already seen as being good locations, in this case they could have probably bought and rented. By purchasing at a low price when properties are available, or when properties still do not have anything built on them, they will save a lot of money and hassle in the long run when they do decide to go ahead.  This location could have been a great spot because of its high traffic potential and connectivity to dense, busy areas and bus routes, and because its a large property that could have enabled a lot of cars to park there.

[sgrizzle]

That was good spot but the $4.2M price tag probably would put it low on the list. There are other cheaper spots just west (railwise) from there.

While this is a downer for downtown (pun unintentional) I have heard the BCBS was very split/mixed up downtown so being able to consolidate offices is a plus for them, plus it's good that there is no job loss.

[perspicuity85]

I have a family member who works for Blue Cross. They currently operate between three or four different downtown buildings, and the plan is to consolidate down to two downtown buildings, with this suburban location to house claims and some other back-office functions.  The downtown offices   are the headquarters for the Oklahoma subsidiary.  The type of jobs in this suburban location are not the type you would find in any downtown area.  Most billing/claims and inbound call center jobs are not found in downtown offices.  This is actually a good thing because it allows the company to run more efficiently, which could possibly allow for expanded services-- in turn leading to possible corporate-level job expansion.

[TheArtist]

All good points. Still sad to see that many "boots on the ground", leaving downtown regardless of the type of job or payscale.

[Conan71]

Man, I about crapped when I saw there was a "loss of 500 jobs."  Thank goodness it's just a venue change, but it is a shame there's not adequate space to consolidate all their operations in downtown.  

Too bad OneTech wasn't for sale for $4.2 mil, eh?

[cannon_fodder]

I with Conan.  I'd probably be more alarmed at the moment if I had not just gone from 500 office jobs lost to 500 jobs moved from downtown.  I'm in a "phew" stage right now.

But TheArtist is correct, we need PEOPLE downtown to make it work.  500 moving is not good for downtown.  Though, for Tulsa as a whole it is probably better as it creates Class-A office space and frees some more up downtown.

That's my positive spin anyway.

[mrB]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

Blue Cross parent plans Tulsa service center
From The Journal Record - 12.04.07

...Sponsler said about 500 of the 1,100 downtown Tulsa workers will move to the new facility at 7777 E. 42nd Place when complete in the fourth quarter of 2008...

Looks like they're getting close. They've redone the parking lot and landscaped. Added 'wrought iron looking' fencing. Good reuse of a Wal-Mart box!

[AngieB]

I think we're looking at a mid-November move-in.

[FOTD]

Some other employees are being placed in the vacancies downtown that move (old news) will create.

[carltonplace]

I wish BCBS would free up some of the surface parking they have in uptown by building more stacked parking.

[AngieB]

quote:Originally posted by carltonplace

I wish BCBS would free up some of the surface parking they have in uptown by building more stacked parking.

Many of the lots in which BCBS employees park are not owned by BCBS.