City council to consider property bid

By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer

The Oklahoma City Council will discuss today whether to submit a bid for the U.S. Postal Service processing center in an area targeted for a new downtown park.

But even if the city submits the high bid, it's not assured of getting the property.

The U.S. Postal Service is preparing to move its operations to a new center being built at Reno and Meridian avenues. Broker Bob Sullivan said the agency is requiring all bids be submitted Thursday. The bids will be kept secret while they are reviewed and discussed with potential buyers.

Assistant City Manager Cathy O'Connor said the six-story, 229,410-square-foot building is critical to the city's plans to redevelop an area dubbed "core to shore.” The targeted area lies between the current route of the Interstate 40 Crosstown Expressway and a new alignment being built just north of the Oklahoma River.

The postal facility at 320 SW 5 occupies four of 10 blocks the city hopes to convert into a park.

"It's right in the middle of the park — it's one of the parcels out there,” O'Connor said.

O'Connor would not disclose what bid the city is considering. The bid, if successful, would be paid from proceeds of previous park sales or from the city's general fund.

Sullivan indicated the city will get no special discounts or consideration over other bidders.

"They (the U.S. Postal Service) are very compassionate about the interest in the park, but they fund themselves and are not supported by the government,” Sullivan said. "They have to make their own way

http://static.newsok.biz/article/3159467/m5-post1.jpg_10-30-2007_5R55JLN.jpg
The former main Oklahoma City U.S. Post Office at 320 SW 5 is shown in May 2006. by Steve Lackmeyer, the oklahoman

Why are they "considering" it? If we're going to have this park, we better freakin' buy it.

I certainly hope they can acquire but a shred businessman would make a strong bid and hold the property for a couple of years until the city *really* needed it.

I suppose that's the downside of announcing plans for property you don't own.

I think it'd be a kind of dumb idea to bid against the city. Say the businessman wins.. the city can then come in and take the property via eminent domain. The businessman would be extremely lucky just to get his initial investment back.

Council OKs property purchase process
The Journal Record
October 31, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Council authorized the city manager to begin negotiations for the purchase of U.S. Postal Service property for the development of a major city park Tuesday.

If acquired, the property at 320 SW Fifth would likely be near the center of a park expected to take up 10 to 15 blocks once Interstate 40 is moved south to the Oklahoma River, city planner Russell Claus said. The location is currently the service’s main downtown branch.

Claus said the Postal Service has announced it is interested in selling the property but has not yet revealed a target price.“It’s going to be pivotal to the next few decades of the city’s ongoing renaissance,” Claus said. “What we don’t have downtown is a gathering place.

All major cities have some form of central gathering place, which is the cultural heart of the city. We don’t have that, although we’ve tried to make do with closing off roads and trying to make something fit in the Myriad Gardens. But the Myriad Gardens isn’t really built for that purpose.”

Examples for comparison include the 25-acre Millennium Park in Chicago, sections of the massive Central Park in Manhattan, and the 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. Those parks often have multiple, concurrent community events throughout the year.

Once the so-called Core to Shore area is opened with the realignment of I-40, the value of such a public park easily outweighs the land’s private use, and not only for community involvement and tourism, Claus said.“You need something that can act as a draw for private investment,” he said. “And I would anticipate that residential (development) that we’re looking at on either side of the park would be some of the premier property in the city. You’re going to get some of the best views of anywhere in the city.”

An initial concept plan for the park is being developed, but the project has several years for fine-tuning, he said – “We have to decide what our specific use needs are for the park.”

“The current park plan is drawn with a pond and flower garden, a big gathering area and other elements,” he said. “But the basic formula for a big city park is to have diversity of attractions to ensure you have people there at all times and from all spectrums of the community. This will be the entire metro area’s community park, and it needs to be very regional in its focus.”

Claus said city planners are trying to synchronize the park’s development with the lowering of the current I-40 bridge to ground level as a new city boulevard, which is projected for 2014.