This is the story of the land acquisition the downtownguy mentioned in his blog. Very exciting. As he mentions, forget 20 years; this is happening NOW:

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OKC TownCenter acquire Flatiron District property
Posted: Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Durocher's OKCBusiness NewsWire

OKC TownCenter acquires Flatiron District property



By Steven E. Wedel writers@okcbusiness.com



Great things usually happen with planning and organization. For the principle members of OKC TownCenter LLC, the seeds of those well-laid plans are beginning to bear fruit.



The company, whose principals are attorney Bert L. Belanger, oilman William P. Garrett and architect Anthony McDermid, closed on a deal Aug. 17 to buy seven properties valued at $1 million from TexOk Properties LP. The deal closed 10 days earlier than expected.



The purchase of this property in Oklahoma City's “Flatiron District” gives OKC TownCenter the first 15 acres of a planned land bank acquisition that should eventually include about 50 acres of land in downtown Oklahoma City, north of Bricktown, Belanger said.



Garrett said the mission of OKC TownCenter “…involves the assemblage of underdeveloped property” bordered by I-235 on the east, Reno Avenue on the south and Broadway Avenueto the west. The land will be developed as an urban town center comprised of mixed-use projects.



“Our design is to control as much land as we can, close to 50 acres,” Belanger added. “It will take some time to assemble it, but we have a master plan for what we're trying to do.”



The master plan includes the formation of Brownstone LLC with McDermid and Garrett. Brownstone is the entity involved in buying property for OKC TownCenter development. Belanger said the company is looking to create a town center with a village green, retail businesses and housing.



“By controlling the area, it tells the marketplace where the housing will be, which dictates where the retail will be,” Belanger said.



As the entire town center project unfolds, Belanger said he expects to see people of different income levels returning to downtown Oklahoma City to call the area home.



“I don't think it will all be high-end housing, but it will start that way because the market is so starved for to-buy property right now,” he said.



Belanger said planning will start very quickly for 12 to 20 brownstones on the corner of N.W. 3rd Street and Walnut Avenue. He said he anticipates construction starting on the first prototype in the late fall of this year.



OKC TownCenter also has contracts pending on four other parcels of land in the area known as “The Triangle,” a larger area of which the Flatiron District is a part. The Triangle district gets its name because of the triangle shape created by its three boundaries of E.K. Gaylord and interstates 40 and 235.



Belanger said OKC TownCenter will work with both public and private stakeholders to continue its land assemblage efforts.



Until recently, Belanger was chief legal counsel of ERC Properties, Inc, a regional leader in multifamily and residential land development. Garrett is a principal of Garrett and Company, which owns several local businesses and has long had land investments in Oklahoma City. McDermid is a principal of TAP Architecture, and Oklahoma City-based design firm active in several high-profile projects, including the I-40 Corridor Beautification Plan.

Wow, this is really great news! I'm glad to hear that the Flat Iron district will finally be developed. And, I think a mix of tenants is the best way to go. I guess the one problem I have with Deep Deuce is that it's practically all residential, except for a couple of restaurants. I think in the Falto Iron District, having retail, restaurants, and services on the ground level, and loft apartments and offices on the upper levels is the way to go.

Downtown is finally coming along. I'm excited. I love the whole Town Center concept. I hope they make a for real town square complete with a park and all, in the middle of this development. Maybe Flat Iron will become the new shopping district downtown. You know, the buildings are laid out jsut right for a Utica Square style development! It could happen!

By the way, there was also an article in today's Oklahoman about this. I have included it below:

"Group plans development north of Bricktown

By Richard Mize
The Oklahoman

Private investors have acquired a bundle of properties near Bricktown with plans for a large mixed-use development -- the second such announcement this week.

OKC Town Center LLC paid about $1 million for six properties -- four vacant lots and two buildings -- north of Bricktown in the area known as the Flatiron District, said Bert L. Belanger, one of three principals.

Belanger until last month was vice president and general counsel for ERC Properties Inc., a Fort Smith, Ark., based multifamily and land development company with many projects in Oklahoma and other states.

Other principals in OKC TownCenter are William P. "Pat" Garrett, who also is a principal in Garrett & Co., which owns several Oklahoma City businesses, and Anthony McDermid, a principal in TAP Architecture, which is active in several high-profile projects including Interstate 40 beautification.

"The mission of OKC TownCenter involves the assemblage of underdeveloped property which we describe as 'The Triangle,' bordered by Interstate 235 on the east, Reno Avenue on the south and Broadway to the west, and to master-plan and develop within this site an Urban Town Center, comprised of quality mixed-use projects," Garrett said in a prepared statement.

"Urban town center" usually refers to a pedestrian-friendly development of residential and commercial space in low-rise buildings with minimal street setbacks.

The plans sound similar to those of Robert H. Meinders, who revealed his purchase of the former W.H. Stewart Steel property east of Bricktown just Monday. That property, north and south of Sheridan between Stiles and Lincoln Boulevard, is being called "The Steel Yard" for its ties to the production of oil-field equipment. Meinders plans to redevelop the steel plant into retail-office-residential space.

Belanger said the OKC TownCenter transactions, which closed Tuesday, are "the first of a whole lot of (investment) that's going on."

With the properties now in hand, he said, OKC TownCenter can work on concrete proposals with other property owners, medical-related employers not far away near the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and others with an interest in additional housing -- and commerce -- in and near downtown.

"Our whole deal is about collaboration," Belanger said.

Two big announcements in three days show that "the good news just keeps on coming," said Dave Lopez, president of Downtown OKC Inc. "It's just another signal of the future for downtown, particularly with the concept of mixed use and the residential component.

"That helps resolve the chicken-and-egg dilemma: When does retail re-emerge downtown?"

Belanger said the OKC TownCenter investors bought three vacant lots from TexOk Properties LP and one from Harrison Walnut LLC. He said they bought the former Myriad Systems office building (old Mistletoe Express building) at 611 Harrison from Harrison Walnut LLC and another, vacant building last used as The Oklahoman's newspaper rack shop, from TexOk Properties LP.

The Oklahoma Publishing Co. no longer had any interest in the properties, Belanger said.

OKC TownCenter will continue to purchase land and the first project will be revealed late this year, Garrett said."