I mentioned this in another thread but I thought it could spur its own discussion. I would be interested in participating in a real estate redevelopment group potentially made up of OKCTalk and average people. We already have a lot of people on OKCTalk familiar with construction, architecture, City permitting and planning process, banking, as well as a lot of potential residents.

Would starting a small real-estate development company be of interest to anyone? We could start by building a couple of row houses in the midtown area (maybe even be able to buy land from OCURA). Each person could buy in for as much as they could afford from a few hundred dollars to 10's of thousands, and reap the benefit accordingly. Of course, we would need some heavy hitters to do most of the major lifting but if we kept the projects small we could keep cost down and maybe some people could do the work for free or cheap as part of their contribution.

Profits made from one development could be put back into building the next row house until we complete a block.

Sounds like a good idea...

If we could build a large enough social network to help, each person wouldn't have to give very much money to get started. Imagine if we could get 500 people to join in, or even 5,000.

You're dreaming very big, Kerry...but there are some interesting people on this site. I'd be curious what they think before I make may judgment.

No dream is ever too big, trust me...

I would certainly be willing to contribute monetarily what little I can.

You're dreaming very big, Kerry...but there are some interesting people on this site. I'd be curious what they think before I make may judgment.

It doesn't even have to be big. I would be happy to start with a single 1,500 sq foot row house, sell it, use the proceeds build another one next door, and repeat. If I lived there I would even be willing to swing a hammer, screw in drywall, and paint on the weekends.

I think this is a fantastic idea. There are several examples of combining the knowledge of a group like this and starting small has led to big, positive changes.

I'm in if there is sufficient interest. And I hope there will be.

I think it is a great idea. You might even consider going to Habitat for Humanity and see if we could fund an "urban" project for them. In other words, we would be willing to provide funds if they built it with certain designs and location standards.

Just thinking out loud..

Well, I would actually like to make money for the 'investors' and not give away a $250,000 home. We need to sell them so we can afford to build the next one. I don't want it to be a charity, I want it to be a profitable business that lets the average person have a hand in urbanizing downtown. Even if initial profits are small the business will hopefully grow.

Maybe it could be something like the Tom's business model... except there wouldn't be another house in Africa.

I'd be interested. At what amount I'm not sure, but it's certainly an intriguing idea.

Will our profits be paid out in form of gold or U.S. dollars? j/k

Will our profits be paid out in form of gold or U.S. dollars? j/k

LOL - they would be paid in Bricktown Bucks and could only be spent in the OKC Urban Core.

Awesome!! Bricktown Bucks!!

You should seriously copyright that idea, "Bricktown Bucks", can't wait!

I can't contribute monetarily, but I can do the architectural design and drafting (that will save at least 7% of the project cost).

I can't contribute monetarily, but I can do the architectural design and drafting (that will save at least 7% of the project cost).

That would be awesome CuatrodeMayo.

Does anyone have any ideas what the basic steps are that would need to be followed.

I have no idea how the process works. There is obviously more to it than the 5 steps below.

1) acquire land
2) design structure
3) Get building permit
4) Construct home
5) Sell home.

I guess you could divide something like this up into "shares". Calculate costs and sell shares based on that. If someone does work, you get bids for that work and they get the number of shares that relates to the cost of the bid. The problem is, how do you deal with cost overruns? What if you can't sell enough shares? Who handles the money until enough is accumulated? What do yo do if one of your sharefholders does substandard work or quits halfway through?

I guess you could divide something like this up into "shares". Calculate costs and sell shares based on that. If someone does work, you get bids for that work and they get the number of shares that relates to the cost of the bid. The problem is, how do you deal with cost overruns? What if you can't sell enough shares? Who handles the money until enough is accumulated? What do yo do if one of your sharefholders does substandard work or quits halfway through?

Those are all valid points Betts and is why it would require a local person to follow it. Basically what I was thinking is that we would form a corporation and sell shares in the corporation, either through cash payment or in-kind services. Obviously we would want to be fair to everyone. If we get a cost estimate of $300,000 then we don't start until we have $400,000. I am assuming we could get a construction loan so we would only need to come up with a part of that money. I am not expecting shareholders to do the actual work, but if we have a general contractor, drywall people, plumbers, lawyers, etc that would like to be involved to help keep cost down then that would be great. Everything would have to pass inspection anyhow and hopefully if people are part of the company they would take pride in their work.

As far as money goes, the more people we could get involved the less each person would have to contribute and obviously some people would be a in financial position to do a lot more than others. Money would go into a corporate bank account and if things don't work out or we can't get enough people we close shop and distribute the funds back out.

If it ends up being successful we should set aside 1 or 2 houses as designated "urban vacation" timeshares for the shareholders.

If it ends up being successful we should set aside 1 or 2 houses as designated "urban vacation" timeshares for the shareholders.

If it is successful we could all buy our own 'vacation homes'. However, my goal isn't to get rich (but I would take it if offered). To quote Aubrey McClendon, I would be thrilled to break even. I just want to help downtown OKC become a successful and lively urban environment.

I would be interested as an investor and maybe some manual labor.

I am a "semi-retired" remodeler having specialized in unique interior details. I have been told by "the big boys" that I have 2 strong points beside my artistic sense. One is space planning and the other is finding the BIG problems and turning them into focal points. I would be willing to work with the architect in planning and could, perhaps, be a co-superintendent. It is difficult for me to work full 8 hrs days, especially if working hard. I would be more than reasonable about how compensation worked. Oh, and all of this is contingent on the good wife's appproval. Most of my work over the years was in Midtown, Heritage Hills, Mesta Park, Crown Heights and Edgemere Heights. Don't mean to toot my own horn but just painting an honest picture. I'm really quit humble.:bow: And I have more time and skills than money saved. This is the nearest thing to a resume I have ever composed. Pardon it's brevity.:tiphat:

Well, I would actually like to make money for the 'investors' and not give away a $250,000 home. We need to sell them so we can afford to build the next one. I don't want it to be a charity, I want it to be a profitable business that lets the average person have a hand in urbanizing downtown. Even if initial profits are small the business will hopefully grow.

Just FYI, Habitat homes aren't given away; homeowners must make a down payment, help build their home, and then make mortgage payments.

I THINK Kerry is wanting to do something that would appeal to a middle class family. I am a huge fan of HforH and habitually give them goodys and buy from them when apropriate. And I love their mission but I hope this will go beyond their standards.

I THINK Kerry is wanting to do something that would appeal to a middle class family. I am a huge fan of HforH and habitually give them goodys and buy from them when apropriate. And I love their mission but I hope this will go beyond their standards.

You are right USG60. I want to build something that has a reasonable price and can make a return on the investment, but also be a good value for the person buying the home. We also need to make enough to uild the next home. I would like to build something that I would be willing to live in. I am not looking to compete at the high-end or the low-end; probably higher than the average new home in OKC, but nowhere near what other for-sale downtown housing cost in the past. Obviously land cost is going to be an issue so we might even need to be off the beaten path at first, but maybe over time we can make our own path.

Just FYI, Habitat homes aren't given away; homeowners must make a down payment, help build their home, and then make mortgage payments.

I didn't know that. Who do they make the payments to?

Just for fun, I just might start snoopin' around the ol' neighborhood and see if anything available looks exciting for such a project. Don't worry, I know it is WAY early, but it will be a way of keeping me inspired with the project.

That would be awesome CuatrodeMayo.

Does anyone have any ideas what the basic steps are that would need to be followed.

I have no idea how the process works. There is obviously more to it than the 5 steps below.

1) acquire land
2) design structure
3) Get building permit
4) Construct home
5) Sell home.

Well I think in pushing for taking some civic responsibility for this...there are a few more steps.

1) Work out specifics of group
2) Try and get some heavy-hitters on board
3) Present to neighborhood associations
4) Select a neighborhood, acquire land
5) Site-planning phase, environmental impact study, etc
6) Structural design, interior design
7) Permit phase (dealing with overlay districts, etc)
8) Put out feelers for pre-sale
9) Break ground
10) Market home through construction
11) Finish construction, sell home
12) Repeat

I do think there is potential to get neighborhoods to compete for this type of project. Perhaps the Plaza District would be very interested, or perhaps 9th Street, Paseo, or somewhere else. If Plaza is selected, perhaps there could be some interesting support opportunities with them--many of their stakeholders are very interested in things like civic responsibility and involving the community in neighborhood improvement.

Kerry, this is a personal question for you. You live in Florida, how would you be able to pull this off?

This reminds me of what Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood did recently...

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Kerry, this is a personal question for you. You live in Florida, how would you be able to pull this off?

Thanks for that list Spartan. There is no way I could do this from Florida, which is why someone local would have to do it. I just want to be part of the group and not necessarily the 'leader' of it. If I lived there I would be more than happy to take a lead role eventhough I don't know much about the inner workings of real-estate development.

Well I live in Europe atm. You live in Florida. Others live in California. There are plenty of local heavy-hitters that read this forum, but without someone like that, essentially a developer, I don't think it will be possible. So then it's not "Do-it Yourself Urban Development."

But we'll see. This will be an interesting topic to follow. I think it could be a really cool idea, as well. It would be very cool if it could serve as a way to introduce "newbies" to urban development and get more players in the inner city redevelopment, as well as to put some urban residential on a high-visibility corridor. It would be cool to see this go in the heart of the Plaza or Paseo, for example.

This reminds me of what Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood did recently...

And then the police came and made them clear the street.

I'll get on the OCURA website and look for the available vacant land/lots. There should also be some good information as to how to acquire the OCURA property.

I'll get on the OCURA website and look for the available vacant land/lots. There should also be some good information as to how to acquire the OCURA property.

I use this site to find property ownership and relative cost. OCURA doesn't have a webite.

http://oklahoma.latitudegeo.com/imf/sites/oklahoma/launch.html

I have found one block off the beaten path (but still highly visible) where all the lots except one are very reasonably priced. By reasonable, nothing over $50,000 with most being in the $10,000 range - at least on the assest value. What would be nice is if the property owners joined the group and put up the land as their part of the investment. If we can't do a whole block then I would be happy just to do individual lots or a smaller collection of contiguous blocks.

However - to Spartans point, it takes someone local to make it happen.

Definitely agree that small developments like this concept are a great way to jumpstart some real progress... But also the great thing about these projects that cost less than $1 million is that there are a lot of people who could do it individually, and even more who could do it with some borrowing. The best way to utilize a bigger group of investors without some huge legal concerns/expenses would be something like SOSA, where each investor has their own property and project. In this case there could be an agreed upon overarching theme (such as a street of adjacent rowhouses, with two homes per individually owned lot). This would still reduce the risk of starting a project in a sketchy area, because you know the whole street would get done at once, but it would also avoid the risks of such a legally complex micro-financing situation.

Well, SoSA is mostly owner-built, as well.

I didn't know that. Who do they make the payments to?


Habitat builds and sells at cost. Mortgage is sans interest. payments go into the construction budget to build more homes.

purchasers also put in hundreds of sweat equity hours

Habitat builds and sells at cost. Mortgage is sans interest. payments go into the construction budget to build more homes.

purchasers also put in hundreds of sweat equity hours

That is what I thought after you mentioned it. We wouldn't be able to do that because if one person missed their payment we would go out of business.

tis why such groups also rely on in-kind and monetary donations as well

I hate to use my first post on this forum to bring up a dead topic, but I'm going to anyways.

I recently returned to OKC and I've been looking a good way to learn about real estate development in a hands on environment. If someone here with the needed experience ever decides to pursue this sort of development I would be more than willing to contribute a good amount of time and a modest amount of money. I'm currently in Mesta Park and there are several streets in that neighborhood that would make great candidates.

The Jefferson Park neighborhood association does this.

I wanted to bump this thread back up. As luck would have it some of the pieces have kind of fallen together but before I get too far into it I need a local general contractor that would be willing to pitch in for part ownership of the company. Being so far away makes this effort more difficult but if I can find someone locally who can oversee the project we might be able to get this started. Ideally what I would like to do is find enough people involved in the development process to donate their time for part ownership so that initial funding can be used to purchase land, building materials, and permits. If anyone is interested please send me a PM.

I have found one block off the beaten path (but still highly visible) where all the lots except one are very reasonably priced. By reasonable, nothing over $50,000 with most being in the $10,000 range - at least on the assest value.

I have not found a thread on here specifically speaking of vacant lots in NW OKC/Midtown/Downtown which could be bought and built on...But that is one of the reasons I am interested in OKCTalk. I have GC experience and would like to build a new home for myself which has a MCM design. Any ideas on how to find these lot options or network with people who are selling lots would be appreciated!

I have not found a thread on here specifically speaking of vacant lots in NW OKC/Midtown/Downtown which could be bought and built on...But that is one of the reasons I am interested in OKCTalk. I have GC experience and would like to build a new home for myself which has a MCM design. Any ideas on how to find these lot options or network with people who are selling lots would be appreciated!

Drive around SoSA. You'll see multiple lots with for sale signs on them, both "for sale by owner" and real estate signs. That's where I would build if I wanted to build a new home for myself. I'm not sure how reasonable any of the lots are, as I didn't call for prices.

You can also just look on realtor.com and select 'land' as a search option in zip codes 73102 and 73103.

Here are a couple of examples:

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/523-Nw-7th-St_Oklahoma-City_OK_73102_M75019-34556?ex=OK531118591

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1008-N-Francis-Ave_Oklahoma-City_OK_73106_M72868-75585?ex=OK537011007

Thanks for the ideas!! I am really interested in the hard to find lots which are just left vacant or are FOR SALE BY OWNER and you may never hear about unless you know someone! I check the MLS often, still looking, but having a great time hearing what everyone thinks about all kinds of developments around town in the mean time!

One thing to keep in mind when building an urban homes is that they are not usually as big as a suburban home either, which will help keep the price down.

Very good point Just the facts! The average urban lot in OKC seems to be 50' wide and I would assume that the setbacks are a min. 5' on either side in most additions so that limits what you can do quite a bit.

Very good point Just the facts! The average urban lot in OKC seems to be 50' wide and I would assume that the setbacks are a min. 5' on either side in most additions so that limits what you can do quite a bit.

You might want to check your information on the average width in SoSa and the surrounding area. I believe the lindividual lots are 25' wide. Most older homes where built on two lots.