Recap on East Downtown Development

[RecycleMichael]

We have a number of threads on this topic and many of them have wandered off into nonsense, personal stories and unrelated stupor (I'm guilty too).

I thought I could post some of the coverage and plans that would allow us all a chance to have the information easily accessed. If anyone else has any more information that has been published, please add it as well.

This was the first thing I saw that caught the attention of everybody. It was the plan that UsRufnex found and posted here three days before it appeared in the paper. It is the one with a ballpark for the Drillers and three new hotels.
Global Development Partners
http://www.globaldevelopmentpartners.com/EastEnd.html

Here is the first Tulsa World story on this development.
Downtown: Development: East End project planned It would mix retail, residential uses and include ballpark

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
8/30/2006

A mixed-use, urban environment that includes a baseball stadium that would likely house the Tulsa Drillers is planned for an area of downtown to be called the East End. Mayor Kathy Taylor said it is exciting that private developers with a proven record are investing in Tulsa. The proposed development will encompass 14 blocks of what was once going to be called the East Village. The site is within the Inner Dispersal Loop from Eighth to Second streets between U.S. 75 and Elgin Avenue.

Global Development Partners of Washington, D.C., has been working with local officials for a few years on a plan to convert about 34 acres of downtown into a regional destination point, said Mitch Adwon, the president of Adwon Properties, which represents Global Development in downtown land acquisition and development.

Tulsa Partners I LLC, owned by Global Development, closed July 27 on its first tract, which is a little more than an acre. It has contracts on an additional 28 acres, which is enough property to make the development work, Adwon said. Closing on the remaining tracts is set for mid- to late fall, he said. Global Development initially considered a soccer stadium for the development, but that fell through, Adwon said. Kevin Justh, Global Development's senior vice president of finance, said the anchor would be an 8,000-seat, state-of-the-art baseball stadium. Also planned are retail, residential, hotel and entertainment venues, he said.

Chuck Lamson, the president of the Tulsa Drillers, confirmed Tuesday that he is having "substantial discussions" with the developers. "We are interested but still working out leasing issues," he said. "Nothing has been finalized." Justh said he thinks Global Development and the Drillers are very close to signing an agreement. Lamson said a project of this nature would be great for Tulsa, even if a ballpark is not involved. "But if we can come to an agreement, we would be excited about being an important part of an project like this," he said.

Justh said Global Development considers Tulsa to be a great market. "When we looked at it, we really liked what we saw," he said. Global Development is so confident about the project that is has already posted a marketing brochure on its Web site to attract retailers. The brochure states that East End will consist of more than 1.9 million square feet of mixed-use development, including more than 450,000 square feet of retail and dining experiences, 800 urban living units, three high-quality hotels, 150,000 square feet of modern office space and the stadium. Justh said Global Development planned to integrate the best mix of uses that will accommodate a large daytime population and nighttime residents.

Ideally, buildings will have commercial space on the ground floor and owner-occupied residential space above, he said. Justh would not identify specific retail vendors or entertainment venues being sought for the development. The brochure also states that by the spring of 2009, "the East End will deliver a live/work/play/stay environment to Tulsa and a destination of choice for its regional trade area."

Justh said the public would begin seeing the first phase of the development within a few years, once construction begins. The entire project is expected to take about five years, he said. Although the marketing brochure is on the Internet, Justh said, "it wasn't intended to be the press announcement for the project. It's still a little premature." Global Development also isn't prepared to release the expected cost of the project until it submits the financial structure to Taylor. Justh did say that the group will ask the city for the creation of a tax-increment financing district.

In a TIF district, some of the property and sales tax revenues generated from a development can be used to fund infrastructure improvements that normally would be the responsibility of the developer. The city has several TIF districts downtown. Its newest one is in southwestern Tulsa, where the Tulsa Hills shopping center is being built. Justh said it is important to have a private-public partnership to make this project work. The firm doesn't plan to seek sales tax funding. Taylor said she met with the developers to talk about Tulsa and their vision and about the possibilities for the Drillers. She said one appealing aspect of the East End project is that Global is working with a local group that knows what the scene should be downtown. "This is very exciting. This is a start to getting Tulsa on the radar screen," she said. She added, however, that it is premature to know what the public funding role will be until she has seen the financial data and plans. Taylor said having this type of investment in downtown provides a confidence level that is needed to help move downtown forward.

Here was an update late last year that said going is slow and repeated that they were not looking into any public dollar assistance.

East End project slow-moving
P.J. LASSEK TulsaWorld Staff Writer
11/26/2006

Developers are highly optimistic the plan will be another jewel downtown. The East End downtown development project is still moving forward, just not as fast as some had hoped.
"It's a complicated project, but one that is very exciting," said Mitch Adwon, president of Adwon Properties, which represents the private developers in the land acquisition for the site.

Global Development Partners of Washington, D.C., has been working with local officials for a few years on a plan to convert about 34 acres on the east side of downtown into a regional destination point that would include a baseball stadium for the Tulsa Drillers and surrounding mixed-use developments. While the development firm has contracts on 30 acres, it has only closed on one tract that is a little more than an acre. It had hoped to complete the remaining closings by late fall.

"We're still on track, we just won't be able to close by the end of November," said Adwon. "It's just going to take a little longer." Adwon said the closing delays are due to the complexity of the loan paperwork. But, he said, the delay hasn't stopped national retailers from expressing interest in the site.

Chuck Lamson, the president of the Tulsa Drillers, said he is still in negotiations with the developers. "They are still getting all of the properties and I think we've reached a point that we need to coordinate between all of the parties -- us, the developer and the city," he said. Lamson said the project is exciting and he feels "cautiously optimistic" that everything will move forward in a reasonable time frame. "Everyone would like this to be sooner than later, including myself," Lamson said. "But I have found that with something of this nature you just have to be patient and work through the issues that come up."

Economic Development Director Don Himelfarb said the city is very supportive of the project and has had several conversations with the developers. "It's our hope that this development does come together. It's an ambitious project," he said. "We, like everyone else, would like to see some tangible movement." Himelfarb said if there is anything the city can do to help the developers, "we're willing to at least talk about it." He said at this point, the developers need to piece together all of the needed real estate. "If in fact, they are able to execute their full plan, I think it would have a substantial economic impact on the city, especially with job creation, property taxes and sales taxes," he said. "There is no part of the city's health that it wouldn't touch in some fashion," he added.

Global Development is so confident about their project that it has a marketing brochure touting the project on its Web site to attract retailers. The brochure states that the East End will consist of more than 1.9 million square feet of mixed-use development, including more than 450,000 square feet of retail and dining experiences, 800 urban living units, three high-quality hotels, 150,000 square feet of modern office space and the baseball stadium.

In August, Kevin Justh, Global Development's senior vice president, said the goal of the development is to integrate the best mix of uses that will support a large daytime population and nighttime residents. Once construction begins, it would take a few years to finish the first phase and five years to complete the entire project, he said.

Justh said the group plans to seek a tax increment financing district from the city. In a TIF district, some of the property and sales tax revenues generated from a development are used to fund infrastructure improvements that normally would be the responsibility of the developer. Justh has said the group has no plans to seek a public vote for sales tax to fund the project.

This is the story that first mentioned a possible Wal-Mart in around the same area.

Urban Wal-Mart possible
Developer has new plans for downtown Tulsa's East End area

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
2/23/2007

A mixed-use development that might include an urban-designed Wal-Mart is being planned on a downtown site that had been proposed for a baseball stadium. Claremore real estate developer John Williams would neither confirm nor deny that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is included in the plans for his development. Williams, the sole principal of Downtown Tulsa Developers LLC, said he hasn't "personally talked" to Wal-Mart, "but it would be wonderful to have it if it fits." Williams would not say if others have talked to Wal-Mart on his behalf, but he did say that if Wal-Mart locates a store there, it would be in an urban-style development.

He said he has talked to other retail, office and housing developers but said disclosing any details would be premature. "The project I have planned -- if it comes into fruition -- will be a tremendous asset for Tulsa," he said. "It will be done well. It will be done right, and it will be done architecturally compatible. It will be a class act." Williams said he has contracts to purchase land owned by Bill White and aerospace component manufacturer the Nordam Group, as well as a few other properties in the area called the East End.

The area is generally located between Detroit Avenue and U.S. 75 and between Eighth and First streets. Nordam owns the most parcels in the area, with White next in line. When Nordam Chief Executive Officer Ken Lackey was asked if Nordam was negotiating with Wal-Mart, he said, "It's not Wal-Mart directly."

The White and Nordam properties had been part of a larger mixed-use development proposed by Global Development Partners, based in Washington, D.C. That proposal included plans for a new minor-league baseball stadium to house the Tulsa Drillers. But Lackey said Nordam's land purchase contract with Global was terminated in early January after Nordam asked a judge to release it from the agreement."They (Global) were never able to consummate the transaction pursuant to the terms of the contract," Lackey said. He said Nordam's contract with Williams still depends on winning certain concessions from the city, such as tax increment financing.

White said Global "obviously got into financial difficulties and kept having delays." "You know, a businessman can only wait so long," he said regarding why he opted to contract with Williams instead of Global.Global Development's Tim Kissler said the level of complexity of what his company was proposing and the complexity of the financing made it a time-consuming process. "We certainly gave it a solid effort. We came up with the financing, but albeit just a little too late for the sellers," he said. Kissler said the proposed baseball field would have been on the White and Nordam properties. "So, basically, you've taken the core of it, and we can no longer do what we planned with the stadium," he said.

The city's economic development director, Don Himelfarb, said that no matter what occurs with either proposal, "the city is committed to having the Tulsa Drillers in a downtown venue." He also said the city has seen the proposed plans from both developers and that "we're confident either one would be a great addition to the East End." Kissler said his mixed-use development proposal is on a wait-and-see status. "We're still interested in doing a project like we proposed in Tulsa, and we'll be exploring our options," he said.

Tulsa Development Authority Chairman Carl Bracy said whatever is developed in the East End needs to be something that helps downtown grow.
"Wal-Mart could be a tremendous engine in terms of funds for a Tax Increment Financing District," he said. But he questioned whether a Wal-Mart would affect locally owned specialty shops intended for downtown. "We need to look five to 10 years down the road and decide what we really want downtown to look like and work towards building a key destination point for all ages," he said. Bracy said Wal-Mart has redesigned its stores that are in urban environments. "In Little Rock, there is one in an exclusive neighborhood. I drove past it, and I almost didn't recognize it," he said. "It's amazing how they can fit right into the environment."

Jim Norton, president of Downtown Tulsa Unlimited, said he can't talk about a possible Wal-Mart store until an actual deal is made. But he did say that if any big-box retailer plans to locate downtown, the appearance, landscaping and parking cannot destroy the fabric of downtown.

Here is the Tulsa World story from this week that talks about moving City Hall within a few blocks of this area.

Mayor looks at moving City Hall
Center could house nearly all city employees

By P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
3/16/2007

Mayor Kathy Taylor will announce Friday that if a plan to purchase the One Technology Center downtown is successful, city hall could be moving from its current site as early as fall. "This is one of the few opportunities the city of Tulsa has to use assets it already owns to spur economic development . . . and to look at consolidating the city's departments to provide cost savings through efficiencies," Taylor said.

The city has entered into a purchase-option agreement with the Leucadia National Corp. of New York, the owner of the 15-story glass building, formerly the WilTel building.
The 120-day option is not costing the city any money and is contingent upon further study during the next 90 days on whether the purchase is economically feasible, Taylor said. "If it's not the right thing to do, we'll walk away," Taylor said.

The decision to move forward came as a result of a preliminary study on consolidating City Hall conducted by The Staubach Co. The company will continue to lead the further study and data analysis. The city is paying Staubach $100,000. The preliminary study has a proposed timeline that suggests that if the city decides to move forward contract drafts are set to be drawn in April with a closing date July 15. The city has several facilities that are in poor condition with a mini mum of $12 million in deferred maintenance costs, but are in prime development areas, Taylor said. "This is about looking for the highest and best use of the taxpayers facilities," she said.

Some of those facilities include the city hall site next to the conven tion center and arena, the Public Works facility at 23rd Street and Jackson Avenue on the west bank of the Arkansas River, and the Hartford Building in the east end area of downtown. Freeing up those sites and others would spur development and put properties back on the tax rolls, she said.

City Council Chairman Bill Martinson said he is excited about the proposal. "This plan has tremendous potential, and I'm anxious to see what comes of the due diligence process. I think we would be remiss if we didn't investigate an opportunity like this." he said.
The site where City Hall now sits could be used as a hotel site for the convention center and arena, the 23rd Street and Jackson Avenue site has been identified as a retail node for river development, and the Hartford Building is in a site that is ripe for development, he said. The city is looking at consolidating as many as 12 facilities in and near downtown into the One Technology Center. The total square footage of those buildings is just shy of 500,000.

The One Technology Center, however, has about 742,000 square feet. Its vertically designed campus features ergonomic work spaces, Internet cafes and state-of-the-art technology. Of the 15 floors, seven are fully furnished, high-tech-ready and unoccupied. The other floors are occupied by Level 3 Communications and Deloitte & Touche. Taylor said if the city is able to acquire the building, the current tenants will stay and there is an opportunity for the city to lease extra space to other public or private businesses. "Long term this is an asset we feel will only appreciate . . . and provide an opportunity to have a positive revenue stream for the city," Taylor said. Financing a purchase of the building has not been worked out completely, but it would either involve seller's financing or tax-exempt financing involving a trust authority, she said.

If the One Technology Center doesn't pan out, city hall and other offices could still move. The preliminary study indicates other alternatives for sale or lease include downtown build ings owned by Maurice Kanbar, who owns 16 sites downtown. Preliminary findings in the study indicate building a new consolidated City Hall with 250,000 square feet, plus a 1,000 space garage would cost a minimum of $82 million. The current market price for the One Technology Center, which includes a garage with 1,007 spaces, is $80 million.

Late last year, when rumors began to circulate that the city was looking at the One Technology Center, Angela West, broker for the building said the building price was $75 million. The study also says that filling One Technology Center with governmental offices will have a positive effect on the downtown real estate market by reducing the vacancy rate. The study outlines several positive outcomes of consolidating city facilities into One Technology Center. They include: reduction of overall costs, efficient use of space, increased use of technolo gy, elimination of environmental and air quality concerns, support of economic development initiatives, improvement of the city's image and investment in an appreciating real estate asset.

Ed Keller, retired Oklahoma chairman of JPMorgan Chase, said the mayor's move to look at consolidating to the One Technology Center, "makes a lot of sense." The city is getting a "free option to offer a price without spending any money other than what would be expended to evaluate whether moving to one location makes economic sense," he said. Keller said he applauds the mayor for looking at "what it cost the city to do business in multiple locations versus consolidating in this one location, particularly a location like this one with the deep discount that it is selling for. Only after that do you decide what it costs and whether you can afford it."

[AVERAGE JOE]

Article by P.J. on 3/15/07 about Global Development purchasing 48,000 square feet at 6th & Elgin.

Two developers joust for land

[USRufnex]

First mention of the East End (East Village) project...

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5988372&postcount=1

Tulsa World 8/28/05 article
Planning under way for East Village
P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
08/28/2005
Tulsa World (Final Home Edition), Page A1 of News

quote:The development authority is not involved in current discussions, LaFortune said. At least two private groups have come forward "with some very well thought-out redevelopment concepts for the area," he said.

The key to developing the area, LaFortune said, is having "the real deal in terms of the individuals involved, their assets, resources, vision and experiences."

The mayor would not divulge details of the discussions or project amenities, saying that the "key to the success of these private projects is maintaining some level of confidentiality on behalf of the private-sector investors."

LaFortune said he will respect that confidentiality until a project or projects come to their final stages.

I always wondered if there was a 2nd group waiting if the first group stubbed their toe... to be a fly on the wall...