Downtown Development Overview

[LandArchPoke]

I don't understand this. BOk donated the land already, the financial plan was that it was to have a parking garage at that location that would generate revenue to help support the museum. The location has great symmetry with the other museums and arts centers right there. What's up?   

My understanding is that there is a group of lawmakers outside of Tulsa who do not like Kaiser (liberals are bad) and they threw a huge fit that the parking garage that would be built for the museum would allow BOK employees to park there. They have vowed to fit the museum if this happens and bring it under investigation for "back room deal that benefits a Tulsa booster" to give them free parking, and could result in them trying to defund or block the museum. Parts of this were in the news sometime last year.

[swake]

My understanding is that there is a group of lawmakers outside of Tulsa who do not like Kaiser (liberals are bad) and they threw a huge fit that the parking garage that would be built for the museum would allow BOK employees to park there. They have vowed to fit the museum if this happens and bring it under investigation for "back room deal that benefits a Tulsa booster" to give them free parking, and could result in them trying to defund or block the museum. Parts of this were in the news sometime last year.

Our state legislature just plain sucks. The block of land BOk is donating is worth 2-3 million dollars, that's a lot of parking.

[DTowner]

My understanding is that there is a group of lawmakers outside of Tulsa who do not like Kaiser (liberals are bad) and they threw a huge fit that the parking garage that would be built for the museum would allow BOK employees to park there. They have vowed to fit the museum if this happens and bring it under investigation for "back room deal that benefits a Tulsa booster" to give them free parking, and could result in them trying to defund or block the museum. Parts of this were in the news sometime last year.

Perhaps I'm too cynical after years of watching Tulsa get screwed by the legislature, but I wonder if this effort to derail the OKPOP museum is really due to OKC's failure to fulfill its obligations to access the latest state bond funding for the Indian Cultural Center in OKC.  It seems like some legislators simply cannot stand the idea of Tulsa getting state money for something if OKC doesn't also get a cut (never mind the 3 previous tranches of state bond funding that boondoggle received that dwarf what OKPOP is receiving).

The parking garage was always disclosed as a key component of this project and was touted as the way in which the museum would be financially self-sufficient.  The real fraud was perpetrated by the backers of the OKC Indian museum who knowingly designed and started construction on something they never had adequate funding to complete.

[Conan71]

OKC wants OK POP basically, or as dtowner said, the legislature is feeling remorse on the Indian museum debacle.  Too bad they did not see this coming and were too heavily dependent on state funding.  This was a perfect project for the Vison Tulsa package.   Or perhaps too much emphasis was given to Gilcrease.

[heironymouspasparagus]

No surprise.  Our governor and legislature doing this petty BS are the same Clown Show that just cut the Earned Income Tax Credit.  Punishing low income people by taking away the average of about $200 a year that they were getting from it.  While leaving the tax cuts for the richest of the rich in place - letting them keep their extra thousands of dollars a year in tax breaks.  All while gutting the public education system so they can get their outstretched hands on some of the money that will flow due to vouchers, charter schools, and private schools.

And yet, we keep on electing this trash.

[Ibanez]

Perhaps I'm too cynical after years of watching Tulsa get screwed by the legislature, but I wonder if this effort to derail the OKPOP museum is really due to OKC's failure to fulfill its obligations to access the latest state bond funding for the Indian Cultural Center in OKC.  It seems like some legislators simply cannot stand the idea of Tulsa getting state money for something if OKC doesn't also get a cut (never mind the 3 previous tranches of state bond funding that boondoggle received that dwarf what OKPOP is receiving).

The parking garage was always disclosed as a key component of this project and was touted as the way in which the museum would be financially self-sufficient.  The real fraud was perpetrated by the backers of the OKC Indian museum who knowingly designed and started construction on something they never had adequate funding to complete.

I really wish Tulsa and parts of Eastern Oklahoma could separate itself from the rest of the state. So tired of seeing our side of the state, Tulsa in particular, get screwed over in favor of OKC.

[swake]

I really wish Tulsa and parts of Eastern Oklahoma could separate itself from the rest of the state. So tired of seeing our side of the state, Tulsa in particular, get screwed over in favor of OKC.

I really enjoy the fight at the capitol over the $3 million a year in Amtrak funding for OKC. The argument being made actually attempts to gain Tulsa's support for the train by saying that if the Heartland Flyer didn't get its subsidy then the Eastern Flyer would never happen. Seriously. The state has been promising that passenger service was coming soon to Tulsa since the Heartland Flyer started in 1999. The last news article I found from last year said the Eastern Flyer was delayed but was going to start in May 2016. Well, it's May 2016 and predictably, nothing.


Reality is that Tulsa hasn't had rail service in 50 years and if the state actually cared about that, Tulsa would have service, but we don't. We don't have a state university, we don't have free interstates, we don't have rail service, the list can go on and on.

[heironymouspasparagus]

I really enjoy the fight at the capitol over the $3 million a year in Amtrak funding for OKC. The argument being made actually attempts to gain Tulsa's support for the train by saying that if the Heartland Flyer didn't get its subsidy then the Eastern Flyer would never happen. Seriously. The state has been promising that passenger service was coming soon to Tulsa since the Heartland Flyer started in 1999. The last news article I found from last year said the Eastern Flyer was delayed but was going to start in May 2016. Well, it's May 2016 and predictably, nothing.


Reality is that Tulsa hasn't had rail service in 50 years and if the state actually cared about that, Tulsa would have service, but we don't. We don't have a state university, we don't have free interstates, we don't have rail service, the list can go on and on.

Like the song says.....


And when we say
Yeow! A-YIP-I-O-EE-AY
Were only say-in "you're doing fine Oklahoma
Oklahoma your OK"

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Update on YMCA lofts:

Former downtown YMCA building project incorporates old and new
It's the perfect marriage of old and new elements

People who treasure nostalgia will appreciate the work being done at the former downtown YMCA building at 515 S. Denver Ave.
From repurposed glass, brick and steel to the terra-cotta tile skin, developers behind the property's roughly $9 million conversion into 79 apartments are using many of the elements that made the structure a residential and recreational staple for generations.
"When you're talking about being green, the worst thing you can do is tear down a building," said Shelby Snyder, president of Brickhugger LLC, the project's developer. "The best thing you can do is work with what you have."
Snyder on Tuesday took the Tulsa World on a tour of the transformation — which is about two-thirds complete — and the marriage of the old and new is reflected throughout.
One long corridor will incorporate two basketball goals from the Y's large gymnasium, and two split-level apartments will feature the hardwood (including striping), 25-foot ceilings and a basketball hoop from the smaller gym. Even the scoreboard and white porcelain drinking fountains will remain.
"An existing building for me is more fun to work with — working with all the unique spaces, utilizing some awkward corners for some galley kitchens and things like that," Snyder said. "We did the same with the Mayo. A lot of our apartments are really unique because of the corners and the way we had to lay out the building."
The Snyder family has bankrolled some of downtown's largest restoration and preservation projects, including the Mayo Hotel, Vandever Lofts and the former City Hall, which is now an Aloft hotel. The Snyders and a number of other investors originally bought the vacated YMCA building in 2011 for $625,000.
For the 150,000-square-foot conversion of the 63-year-old Y, about 76,000 square feet are being used for apartments with the rest taken up by common space and parking, said Bob Jack, one of the project's partners.
The units will range in size from 450 to 2,500 square feet, with the cost per square foot in the $1 to $1.40 range, Snyder said.
One second-floor apartment will have a patio looking onto Sixth Street. The building's four racquetball courts will be swallowed into three-tiered apartments with doors on each level, Snyder said.
"Basically, we found that a lot of people want to have roommates because it pretty much can split all your expenses," she said. "So we're trying to make it where they can still have their own privacy but also be sharing the common spaces like the living room and kitchen."
Phillips Slaughter Rose, which has partnered with Brickhugger previously, is the architect for the project, which is using historic tax credits to help with funding. Pre-leasing is set for next month and completion for late fall, said Snyder, adding that a perk of the property will be the underground parking.
"Parking downtown is so difficult," she said. "The biggest struggle is having enough for everybody. We actually have 91 beds in this property and 91 parking spaces. So technically, if everyone wanted a parking space, we would be able to provide it."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/former-downtown-ymca-building-project-incorporates-old-and-new/article_52cea274-7241-5970-b151-c510543aa090.html

This place is half a year on since a previous update (http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=21006.330) and still looks pretty far from finished. That update said it would be finished in May. Slow and steady wins the race I guess. Sounds like they had to do some strange things to retrofit this (racquetball courts to 3-story apartments). Good the parking is below ground!

[Conan71]

The story Channel 6 ran on it last week quoted Snyder as saying pre-leasing would start at the end of June.

[carltonplace]

The story Channel 6 ran on it last week quoted Snyder as saying pre-leasing would start at the end of June.

This is going to be a cool place to live. I understand that the Olympic pool and basketball court are going to be available, anyone heard different?

[DowntownDan]

Looks like The Boxyard is actually happening.  From my office window you can see they've started moving dirt (sorry for the grainy picture, iphone + distance).  Pretty sure this is the location.  Next door to the Fur Shop, behind Ross Group.  Pretty exciting.

[BKDotCom]

Looks like The Boxyard is actually happening.  From my office window you can see they've started moving dirt (sorry for the grainy picture, iphone + distance).  Pretty sure this is the location.  Next door to the Fur Shop, behind Ross Group.  Pretty exciting.

Yup
http://www.newson6.com/story/32119144/construction-begins-on-the-boxyard-in-tulsas-east-village

[davideinstein]

Looks like The Boxyard is actually happening.  From my office window you can see they've started moving dirt (sorry for the grainy picture, iphone + distance).  Pretty sure this is the location.  Next door to the Fur Shop, behind Ross Group.  Pretty exciting.

Fur Shop is such a killer design.

[TheArtist]

Neat concept, but I didn't realize it was going to be that far off the beaten path.