New Hotel Proposed Across from Arena

[Oil Capital]

quote:Originally posted by swake

quote:Originally posted by Rico

quote:Originally posted by swake

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070713_1_A1_spanc84687&allcom=1&allcom=1&sortcom=r



The $76 million the council is being asked to spend includes the cost of the building, which sources close to the deal say is $52.25 million. The rest of the money will cover the bonding costs, demolition of some vacated city structures, relocation costs, security and a consultant commission fee.

Point taken Swake............

However; help me to understand the following from the same Tulsa World reporter..


"Although the building was purchased for $76 million to be the new consolidated City Hall, it will keep its original name, officials said."


source:http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=16&articleID=20080921_11_A13_Contra912516




Or the following from a Dallas publication.





"DALLAS -- Tulsa, Okla., will issue up to $76 million of revenue bonds to finance the acquisition of a 15-story downtown building that will be the new city hall under a plan approved by the City Council on Thursday.

The Tulsa Public Facilities Authority will issue a promissory note of no more than $53.5 million to purchase the One Technology Center building. The authority was also authorized to sell up to $76 million of bonds to refinance the note, pay for some remodeling, and finance the move...


source:http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32298393_ITM

I'm sure of nothing. It was in the news that BOK wanted the name to stay the same as part of the master lease agreement. As for the demolition of the old city hall. I'm all for it. I would like someone official to say that bringing that hulk down is still part of the plan.

I recall that during the sale job for the city hall move, we were told that the hotel developer would pay for demolishing the old city hall structure.  Presumably, then, until they actually come up with a hotel developer for that site, the old building will stand... unless, perish the thought, we were misled...

(and, interestingly, the old city hall (and council building) are being marketed as structures, NOT just as a site.  This would seem to support the previously announced plan of having the mythical hotel developer pay for the demolition)

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by Oil Capital

I recall that during the sale job for the city hall move, we were told that the hotel developer would pay for demolishing the old city hall structure.  Presumably, then, until they actually come up with a hotel developer for that site, the old building will stand... unless, perish the thought, we were misled...

Maybe it will be our next Camelot Hotel shell (except without the pedigree of famous visitors)[)]

Almost as entertaining as the thought of the city getting on the wrong side of the Bank of Oklahoma and getting a 90-day eviction notice (sort of like Bells Vs the county, but in reverse...)

We have to call Skelly Stadium by a new corporate name...
We have to call Expo Square by a new corporate name...
And now we are expected to call City Hall by a new corporate name as well?

[TheArtist]

I would say..

We GET to call Skelly Stadium by a new name.
We GET to call Expo Square by a new name.
We GET to call City Hall by a new name as well lol.

If someone wants to pay me a million or two I will change my name as well.  [8D]

As many companies as we have lost in this town, I am just glad we have a few left that CAN sponsor anything. Would love to have a few more big corporations here that could put their names on stuff.

[cannon_fodder]

Point of procedure Artist...

Skelly was never Skelly Stadium, it has always been, and remains, Skelly Field.  It's literally etched in stone above the entrance.  It is officially Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

What's more ,they asked the Skelly family if it was OK to add the Chapman name.  If nothing else, TU knows how to keep donors happy.

[brunoflipper]

[bacjz00]

Hampton Inn possibly coming now to this parcel across from the BOK?

A little odd I think.  They're very nice hotels but shouldn't we expect more? Edit: Oh yeah, by the way it calls for surface parking.

TW Article - 10/7

[perspicuity85]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=11&articleID=20081007_11_A118444

"My concern is that we've just built an iconic architectural structure, and my experience with Hampton is that it's a middle-of-the-road hotel," TDA Vice Chairman George Shahadi said.

But Chris Whitt of CSK Hotels said it wouldn't have a typical Hampton Inn design.

"The inside of the box would be a Hampton, but the outside of the box would be what we want it to be," he said.

I agree with TDA.  Who cares if the proposed Hampton Inn will be fancier than normal?  The Hampton brand remains the same no matter what.  TDA needs to be courting the likes of Sheraton, Hilton, etc.  Someone like Ritz-Carlton may be out of the question, given the medium-sized Tulsa market, but if a hotel is to be built adjacent to the BOk Center it should at least make a decent attempt to reflect the caliber of the arena.

The prudent thing to do here is not expect an earth-shattering project proposal during the current period of financial market volatility.  The city should wait to see what proposals become available under somewhat normal economic conditions.

[TheTed]

This Hampton Inn plan pales in comparison to the plan presented last week. I am gonna be extremely disappointed if this goes through instead of the much better plan.

The Hampton Inn wants to build a hotel on 1/4th of the block, leaving half the block for parking and leaving those dumpy buildings on the other 1/4th of the block.

The plan presented last week improves the entire block.

Why would we choose to sell to somebody who's gonna improve 1/4th of the block when the other guy wants to dramatically upgrade the entire block?

Also, there's nothing wrong with the Hampton Inn brand. Plenty of nice Hampton Inns in downtowns across the country.

[PonderInc]

Wait...so we had a cool proposal to build something unqiue and appropriate for downtown by an architect who "gets it"...on what is one of THE prime downtown development parcels...and instead we're getting a Hampton Inn with a surface parking lot?

Did the TDA confuse this parcel with one closer to the Airport?

Am I missing something, or did some form of complete insanity just occur?

[Gaspar]

I am sad.  

We were even successful in contacting the final property owner and negotiating a price for his small parcel.  

We had everything in line, and were in negotiations for something very special with a local celebrity investor on the SW corner.

But I'm sure the TDA had very important reasons to offer the contract to Hampton, and am thankful for their consideration and time.  I am also very thankful for the kind response to our design and the thoughtful comments and considerations that we used in our design to make this a responsible development.

Don't be surprised if you see this building pop up somewhere else.  

[SXSW]

quote:Originally posted by Gaspar


Don't be surprised if you see this building pop up somewhere else.  

How about the other block by the arena where BOK has their drive-thru bank?  

I think the city should at least make this hotel put their parking underground if they aren't using the whole block.

[blindnil]

Full story in today's World:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20081008_11_A1_Amilli456813


I bet they were impressed by the cash in hand factor considering the credit market today. But maybe the developer won't go for the higher price and stipulations.

Something to consider: I've heard the city wants to market the old City Hall site for something more upscale and with the Marriot going in the Atlas Life .... maybe they wanted the balance the downtown hotel market with something more midlevel?

[Gaspar]

quote:Originally posted by SXSW

quote:Originally posted by Gaspar


Don't be surprised if you see this building pop up somewhere else.  

How about the other block by the arena where BOK has their drive-thru bank?  

I think the city should at least make this hotel put their parking underground if they aren't using the whole block.

Would be nice but there is significant utilities under that parcel.  Huge feeder lines.  We were in the process of designing a vault to house them because they would simply be too difficult to relocate and could cause power interruption for the city.  That's why our parking was to be an interior elevated structure rather than subterranean.  There is also an 8 to 12 foot elevation difference from the north to the south side of that piece of land.

[Gaspar]

quote:Originally posted by blindnil

Full story in today's World:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20081008_11_A1_Amilli456813


I bet they were impressed by the cash in hand factor considering the credit market today. But maybe the developer won't go for the higher price and stipulations.

Something to consider: I've heard the city wants to market the old City Hall site for something more upscale and with the Marriot going in the Atlas Life .... maybe they wanted the balance the downtown hotel market with something more midlevel?

Yes, we still may have a chance and may be able to make another announcement next week concerning additional components to the development that would add to it's appeal and increase the destination aspect of that part of downtown.

I would hate to see that block become a giant parking lot with a hotel on it.

Keep an eye on this process.

[]

[tshane250]

Is this a joke?  TDA is out of control and out of touch.  They sure don't seem to like urban development, since they nixed the good urban development proposal near the ballpark and did not favor the much better hotel proposal from last week.  Ugh, I think I am going to be sick.