Channel 2 and 1st street lofts

[RecycleMichael]

http://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/tulsas-first-street-lofts-funded-by-taxpayers-dollars-still-not-complete-eight-years-later

[DowntownDan]

Is it even worth asking questions anymore?  I just assume by now that it'll never get done.  It really is a black hole.

[BKDotCom]

The recent yearly "The American statue is close to happening" "news" had me thinking about the first street lofts...   When was his last "we're close to starting" announcement?

[swake]

It's nice how he blames the city for the current hold up.

a**hole.

[BKDotCom]

The recent yearly "The American statue is close to happening" "news" had me thinking about the first street lofts...   When was his last "we're close to starting" announcement?

Just watched video.   He's just "months away" from resuming construction.

Edit:  September.  with tenants moving in Spring 2015.
        "The American" groundbreaking:   July 2014.

[DolfanBob]

How would you like that turd as a landlord?

[Conan71]

I call BS on the permitting.  Sager is known as a "go-to" guy for other downtown build-outs to help ease the process of permitting.  He also cashed out on the Woody's, Blue Dome, and Arnie's buildings to the tune of $1.2 million last year.

I also call BS on the economic downturn damaging his ability to borrow money from banks for the project.  Sager has NEVER been a bankable risk in the 20+ years I've known him.

[carltonplace]

Is he just trolling for a buyer?

[Cats Cats Cats]

If somebody has a bunch of money I will buy the top floor if they buy the building.

[Conan71]

Is he just trolling for a buyer?

No he's just a troll.

[DowntownDan]

It's that time of year again.  Promises that there will be lofts by the spring.  For real this time!

Work starting again on downtown First Street Lofts

Posted: Thursday, July 31, 2014 12:00 am | Updated: 9:25 am, Thu Jul 31, 2014.

By KYLE ARNOLD World Business Writer | 3 comments

Work on the long-anticipated First Street Lofts in the Blue Dome District is set to start again, said downtown developer Michael Sager.

Sager and his real estate group Blue Dome Properties LLC have started work after years of delay on the apartment portion of the former Jacobs Hotel site at 310 E. First St. with plans to offer the project for bids in the coming weeks.

"We have been working for three to four months to revise all of our construction plans for completion," Sager said.

With the new plans, Sager said construction could start in the next 60 days, with 180 days of scheduled construction. That timeline would put the completion of the project sometime in the early spring of 2015 with apartment leasing to start shortly after.

The 40,000-square-foot building has five floors, with apartments planned for the second through fifth stories.

Sager has been working on the First Street Lofts project since before 2007, when his company was granted $1.3 million from the original Vision 2025 tax.

"It's just been all about timing and the cash to make it happen," Sager said.

Originally, Sager and his company had hoped to finished the apartment section of the building first, and then come in later with ground-level retail.

But retailers were eager to move in with the boom in commercial property demand in the Blue Dome and Brady districts.

The S&J Oyster House restaurant reopened on the ground level of the First Street Lofts building in 2012, alongside liquor retailer Whiskey Business.

The property also has room for a third retail business on the east end of the building, but that space won't be open to a tenant until after the apartment sections are done, he said. That's because contractors will need that space to finish the upstairs space.

While Sager has been planning the lofts for more than a decade, he and his investment partners have actually owned the building since 1997.

Sager has revised the plans for the lofts substantially since his originally designs in 2007 and 2008.

He is now planning for 23 units on the property, ranging from 700 to 1,100 square feet. The old plans called for units up to 2,000 square feet.

"We just want some diversity. This is not a cookie-cutter project at all," he said.

Sager said the core systems in the building are finished, including electric, heating and air and plumbing. The remaining work, he said, will be to finish building the actual apartments.

So far there aren't any firm commitments for renters, but Sager said he isn't asking for commitments until the property is actually done.

"I can pick up the phone and call 12 or 15 people, but we haven't been prepared because we want people to see it before they sign anything," Sager said.

Kyle Arnold 918-581-8380

kyle.arnold@tulsaworld.com

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/work-starting-again-on-downtown-first-street-lofts/article_28172494-5c1c-539c-ac17-50a030758b0d.html

[Townsend]

It's that time of year again.  Promises that there will be lofts by the spring.  For real this time!

I was wondering how hard he was working to make the fire look like it was caused by S&J's.

[carltonplace]

The plywood was off of the former Cowboy whatever it was called bar the other day. The bar itself and everything are still in there along with lots of other debris.

calling Shenanigans on his statement that this is a contractor staging area.
also, shenanigans on spring 2015 but that is of course implied above.

[Conan71]

The plywood was off of the former Cowboy whatever it was called bar the other day. The bar itself and everything are still in there along with lots of other debris.

calling Shenanigans on his statement that this is a contractor staging area.
also, shenanigans on spring 2015 but that is of course implied above.

Spring 2015?  NFW.

[Jeff P]

So the bottom line is that he just gets to steal $1.3 million of taxpayer money with no consequences, right?