Tulsa Development Authority

[sgrizzle]

They have been the butt of many jokes, but I wanted to kick off a serious discussion about this organization and what to do with it. After hearing they let the OU/TU deal for the city building on Greenwood, it seems like something is really broken.

Their mission is to sell city property to people who will develop the property in a positive way. That is a good mission. However it seems like the process is overly detailed and lengthy to the point is hindering development.

Is this a problem with their processes? Is it a problem with the people on the board?

Serious discussion only.

http://www.tulsadevelopmentauthority.org/people.html

[carltonplace]

Their mission needs to change: They should be working to end the need for the TDA rather than building empires out of empty lots.

Its time to fire sale some land for the purpose of creating additional residental spaces inside the IDL.

[JCnOwasso]

The problem I have with organizations like this is they tend to have a very narrow view/good ole boy network.  Much like the Owasso Land Trust.

If the city really wanted to "sell city property to people who will develop the property in a positive way", there needs to be some type of special program where if the lots are empty, a business can submit a proposal on their intent.  If the property is just land and the city likes their idea, they receive the property for 1$ on a conditional basis.  The condition is that if they do not begin construction within 180 days of purchase, the city would have exclusive rights to repurchase the property for 1$.  And they have to have a firm completion date, none of this sager crap.  The city can request a surety (bonds) for the project and if the project is not on track, the City can lean on the surety to assist in the completion.

I know this is highly unlikely and I am sure someone would call it corporate welfare/socialism.  But I am looking at the end game.  The city can have a property portfolio worth $20M, but it doesn't help if all the land is vacant and it is doing NOTHING for downtown if that land is vacant.  Whereas, if you break off a portion of the property and hand it to someone who is going to develop the land I see it as a win win for Downtown, people who live downtown, and people who come to downtown.

I am sure I went WAAAAAYYYYY off topic.  Sorry. 

[rdj]

Does anyone have a list of all the property TDA owns?  Can they be considered one of, if not the largest, land owners in the City of Tulsa?

[Townsend]

Does anyone have a list of all the property TDA owns?  Can they be considered one of, if not the largest, land owners in the City of Tulsa?

That should be listed on their site.

Their "Places" links are jokes.

"Available for redevelopment" is "Check back soon".  http://www.tulsadevelopmentauthority.org/properties_avail_redev.html

[rdj]

I could be wrong buy they only list the property that is marketed for sale.

[Townsend]

We could send them suggestions:

http://www.tulsadevelopmentauthority.org/info.html

Tell us what you think about our organization or anything else that comes to mind. We welcome all of your comments and suggestions. 

[TheArtist]

I think they could have a place in creating "small plot" developments to get things going in some areas.  Some of the problem with much of downtown and getting development going is that the available plots are in huge chunks  or large buildings, that are unaffordable to smaller entrepreneurs.  We can't always be waiting on some mega developer to swoop in and bring us instant magic.  Divide at least one strip along a street somewhere into small street front lots to allow some of us little guys come in.  Perhaps do a tiff or something for that divided property to lay down utilities for each lot to have access to. Say everyone had to have their business/store/living/whatever be pedestrian friendly and at least 2 floors (first floor built out and second floor at least able to be built out later).  Do as was mentioned, sell the lots at a small price with the expectation that the proposal get done within a certain time frame, etc.  

Someone once said there are two ways you can make a lot of splash. One big boulder, or lots of coordinated pebbles.

Small grained, ecclectic, pedestrian friendly fabric is hard to find these days,,, but boy it's a joy to have and fantastic to experience. 

We tore out most of our smaller old buildings that become catalyst for redevelopment.  This "small plot" idea, or something like it, might be a decent way to replace that using one of the city owned properties.

[Conan71]

I agree with the comments above.  TDA needs to be a clearinghouse with the emphasis on "clearing".  Their primary concern should be viable ideas for re-development and what that would mean to quality of life and addition to the tax base, not trying to attain a given purchase price.  As long as I've been posting here, the threads involving them show they are a classic example of what is wrong with municipal bureaucracies.

What are the individuals qualifications who are on the board?  How do they get selected for the board?  Do they have any accountability to city administration or tax payers?  I believe those may be the three biggest problems with TDA.

The city should have a mission to facilitate commerce and business, not throw up a bunch of red tape road blocks.

Oh, BTW, what ever happened to the national marketing firm which was supposed to be marketing the TDA inventory nation-wide?

[JCnOwasso]

Considering I have no idea how the taxes work for a City or anything... if the city holds these properties do they have to pay taxes on them?

[JCnOwasso]

Someone once said there are two ways you can make a lot of splash. One big boulder, or lots of coordinated pebbles.

I like that... kind of like in a tile design.  You can make a bunch of big tiles look great together; however, adding the smaller accent tiles can completely transform a design into something that makes people stop and not in a bad way.

[Teatownclown]

Considering I have no idea how the taxes work for a City or anything... if the city holds these properties do they have to pay taxes on them?

No.

[carltonplace]

A name change would be a simple start. I think that the "Authority" part of the TDA is overpowering the "Development" part.

How about the Tulsa Development "Coalition", or "Partnership", or "Cooperative"