Brady Heights Apartment Project

[rdj]

Residents not all on board with proposed Brady Heights apartments
Posted: Wednesday, December 10, 2014 12:00 am | Updated: 1:26 am, Wed Dec 10, 2014.
By KEVIN CANFIELD World Staff Writer |

Brady Heights has seen a resurgence in the past few years. Folks are moving into the historic neighborhood just north of downtown, fixing up old homes and planting roots.

Now Will Wilkins wants to build some apartments in the area, and not everyone is thrilled with the idea.

"It's a small-scale, 16-unit apartment complex," Wilkins said. "And we focused on the small scale because it's (in keeping) with the neighborhood."

Wilkins' proposal calls for building the apartments on a vacant lot on the northwest corner of Haskell Place and Cheyenne Avenue. The plans include two brick buildings, a two-story and a three-story, whose apartments would rent for the current market rate — about $850 a month plus utilities, Wilkins said.

The apartment buildings would have to meet historic-preservation standards.

That's the plan. But Wilkins has an uphill battle ahead of him.

The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission voted 4-3 to recommended that the City Council deny Wilkins' applications for the zoning change and planned unit development needed to undertake the project.

The City Council is not bound by the Planning Commission's recommendation, and last week, after hearing that a planning commissioner who had opposed the project was now in favor of it, Councilor Jack Henderson said he wanted more time to consider the matter.

But the planning commissioner, Dwain Midget, said Tuesday he remains opposed to the project as proposed.

"I have told him (Wilkins) that I think it's a good project," Midget said. "My concerns were with the size of the project. If it came back to us (with) the size it currently is, I would vote against it."

Midget said he and other planning commissioners also were wary because the project is proposed for the middle of the neighborhood, and that would set a precedent.

"I am concerned about having a proliferation of apartments in the Brady Heights neighborhood," he said.

Wilkins noted, however, that apartment complexes already exist in the neighborhood and that they are not uncommon in other historic neighborhoods, such as Swan Lake and Owen Park.

"We view this project — my mother and I — as a tremendous step towards bringing in those people who are looking at the downtown market into this neighborhood and use it as a vehicle to promote the neighborhood," Wilkins said.

The hope, he added, is that some of the apartment dwellers will someday decide to purchase homes in the neighborhood.

Wilkins, who lives in Brady Heights with his family, has built three single-family homes in the neighborhood.

He said he is not out to change the character of the district.

"I want to see the neighborhood grow and develop, and certainly I don't think empty lots are conducive to that," he said.

The project was recommended for approval by Planning Commission staff, who found that the neighborhood already includes a mix of uses including single- and multifamily residential, commercial buildings and churches.

"They had (different) uses scattered throughout the neighborhood" for years, said Planning Commission staffer Dwayne Wilkerson.

Neighborhood resident Christopher Carter spoke in opposition to the project at last week's City Council meeting. On Tuesday he expressed disappointment in how the application was handled and noted that 106 neighborhood residents have signed a petition in opposition to the apartments.

"Our neighborhood has been actively involved for the last 25 years working with the city, as evident by the historic overlay zoning and the single-family residential zoning on the entire neighborhood well before PlaniTulsa was even an idea," Carter said in an email to the Tulsa World.

PlaniTulsa is the citywide process to update Tulsa's comprehensive plan.

Henderson, who represents the Brady Heights neighborhood, said he spent part of Tuesday talking to residents about the project.

"I'm getting some pretty good feedback," he said. "Basically, I'm hearing it's not about trying to stop the apartments as much as it's about saving our neighborhood as it is.

"They're saying, 'We like what we've got. We have houses we can afford to live in,' " the city councilor told the Tulsa World.

The issue is expected to be back before the City Council on Thursday night.

Henderson said he is close to making a decision on how he will vote.

"I'm hearing both sides," he said. "I'm going to pray about it and vote my conscience."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/residents-not-all-on-board-with-proposed-brady-heights-apartments/article_0424a455-db63-5855-9db9-e116dbbe85fd.html

[rdj]

I'm torn on this project but at the end of the day I think I'm in favor of it.  As a resident of the Reservoir Hill area I drive thru Brady Heights almost daily.  The transformation over the last five years I've lived in the area has been amazing.  There are a few other spots around the neighborhood I would picked before this one, but Wilkins is right, the neighborhood does have existing multi-family smack in the middle of the neighborhood.  What he is proposing looks very similar to the existing structures.  It also brings density and likelihood of more young folks into north Tulsa.

The comment that bothers me in the article is Henderson saying that neighbors don't want development because they can afford to live in their houses and that's one of the reasons they don't want it.  I believe Tulsa is long ways off from true gentrification, but as a property owner I want my property to appreciate in value because new development is coming in.  That was part of why we bought on Reservoir Hill.  The idea that downtown would grow north eventually and I'd have the opportunity to possibly see the same appreciation that long time Maple Ridge residents have experienced.

[TheArtist]

Yes if someone were to drive by this development in the future (after it has gotten some patina on it) they might be hard pressed to suppose it had not been part of the neighborhood for a long time.  It appears to fit in with the mix you would find in many older neighborhoods.  And indeed, that is a troubling comment "affordable and don't want to change".  I have toyed many times with the idea of moving to the Brady Heights/Owen Park areas and one of the main enticements is the thought that it will only improve and get more expensive as time goes on.   And it will, stopping this development will not stop that so they are barking up the wrong tree there.

[Conan71]

The design is very much in step with the neighborhood and I'd think represents a better value to the neighborhood than empty lots or more single family housing.  I could understand hesitation from the homeowners if it were Section 8 housing being proposed.  This is precisely what should have been put in place in the Cherry Street district instead of the ultra mod condos they put up.  Those condos are totally out of step with the other brick apartments and craftsman bungalows which populate the Cherry Street area.

All that said, if the majority of home and land owners in the area are against such a development whose rights are more sacrosanct, the developer or the existing stake holders?

[carltonplace]

Has Will ever finished any of his proposed projects? I'd be for this proposal if it was in my neighborhood (Riverview) but I doubt the ability of the developer to deliver.

[Red Arrow]

but as a property owner I want my property to appreciate in value because new development is coming in.  That was part of why we bought on Reservoir Hill. 

How do you plan to use that increased value?  Add on to the house?  Take a 2nd mortgage to buy a boat?  Sell and move to another low rent district and hope the value goes up?  Pay more in taxes for probably no new/more services?  Keep out undesirables?

I'll never be a real estate tycoon.   

[LandArchPoke]

Has Will ever finished any of his proposed projects? I'd be for this proposal if it was in my neighborhood (Riverview) but I doubt the ability of the developer to deliver.

Yes.

The Fairfield Inn
The Ward Building (107 N Boulder)

While he has had several "stalled" projects, I think he is more than capable of delivering this project.

[carltonplace]

Thanks for correcting me. I had forgotten he was involved with the Fairfield Inn.

[swake]

Yes.

The Fairfield Inn
The Ward Building (107 N Boulder)

While he has had several "stalled" projects, I think he is more than capable of delivering this project.

Wasn't the Atlas Life Marriott also his?

[Conan71]

Thanks for correcting me. I had forgotten he was involved with the Fairfield Inn.

It's Sager that holds mom's purse strings and can't seem to finish anything.

[cannon_fodder]

It's Sager that holds mom's purse strings and can't seem to finish anything.

Are you kidding me?  The First Street Lofts will be done in the Spring of 2015!

http://www.tulsaworld.com/businesshomepage1/work-starting-again-on-downtown-first-street-lofts/article_28172494-5c1c-539c-ac17-50a030758b0d.html

He's only owned the building for 18 years and been working on this project for 8.  Sure, sure, some people have remodeled the Mayo, the Atlas Life Building, City Hall and the YMCA in the meantime.  And yeah,we did build the BOK Center, the Ball Park, repave the IDL, and Cimerex built a new tower.  To think of it, the University of Tulsa built a dozen or so apartment buildings, all nwe sidewalks, a couple engineering buildings, an athletic complex, a new press box, and a few other things. Saint Francis added a new wing, a children's hospital, a patient tower and a new trauma center. And I guess Riverwalk Crossing in Jenks and the Spirit Event Center in Bixby went up.   I guess if you want to get technical Devon commissioned, designed, and built an 850' office tower since then too... but since this is the second or third (fourth?) article saying it's going to be done soon... I'm sure it's accurate!

Then it's just a waiting game to get our $1.3mil back.

Or, in the alternative, my son was 7 when it was started - and maybe he can get on the list to move into one of the ~20 apartments when he hits 18.  If it's done by then.

I'm taking bets on what's done first - the Sager project started in 2007, or the YMCA project started in 2014.

[LeGenDz]

Tulsa will build the world's tallest skyscraper before he ever gets done.

[Conan71]

Are you kidding me?  The First Street Lofts will be done in the Spring of 2015!

http://www.tulsaworld.com/businesshomepage1/work-starting-again-on-downtown-first-street-lofts/article_28172494-5c1c-539c-ac17-50a030758b0d.html

He's only owned the building for 18 years and been working on this project for 8.  Sure, sure, some people have remodeled the Mayo, the Atlas Life Building, City Hall and the YMCA in the meantime.  And yeah,we did build the BOK Center, the Ball Park, repave the IDL, and Cimerex built a new tower.  To think of it, the University of Tulsa built a dozen or so apartment buildings, all nwe sidewalks, a couple engineering buildings, an athletic complex, a new press box, and a few other things. Saint Francis added a new wing, a children's hospital, a patient tower and a new trauma center. And I guess Riverwalk Crossing in Jenks and the Spirit Event Center in Bixby went up.   I guess if you want to get technical Devon commissioned, designed, and built an 850' office tower since then too... but since this is the second or third (fourth?) article saying it's going to be done soon... I'm sure it's accurate!

Then it's just a waiting game to get our $1.3mil back.

Or, in the alternative, my son was 7 when it was started - and maybe he can get on the list to move into one of the ~20 apartments when he hits 18.  If it's done by then.

I'm taking bets on what's done first - the Sager project started in 2007, or the YMCA project started in 2014.

Sorry, I don't give Sager enough credit.  Either that or someone (like, oh I dunno) gave him too much credit.

[Townsend]

Sager wants the painter's tape on just right.

[DolfanBob]

Sager wants the painter's tape on just right.

I think he's in charge of the brick design. That can get complicated.