OKC businessmen plan to purchase City Place
By Pamela Grady - 8/28/2008
OKC Business

Local businessman Roy Oliver and Mark Beffort are in the midst of purchasing City Place, a 33-story historical high-rise building at 204 N Robinson Ave.

Beffort declined to comment on the sale price but said the deal is expected to close at the end of September.

Globe Life and Accident Insurance owns the 329,830-square-foot building that was built in 1931 according to Oklahoma County records.

“They (Globe Life) will continue to stay in the facility as they do occupy a significant amount of space,” Beffort said. “They’re spread throughout the building and they are in the process of right sizing their space.”

Beffort said currently the office building is at 65 percent occupancy, mainly by a number of independent oil-and-gas companies.

“The most notable (tenants) are Interurban City Express restaurant on the first floor and UMB Bank,” he said.“It’s a good alternative as we market our properties and it’s going to be a really good investment for us.”

In May 2005, the duo also purchased the Leadership Square and Oklahoma Tower, two downtown office buildings for more than $90 million. The two-tower Leadership Square at 211 N Robinson Ave. was built in 1984. The south tower consists of 16 stories and the north tower consists of 21 stories totaling 735,000 square feet. The 31-story Oklahoma Tower at 210 Park Ave. was built in 1982 and totals 612,290 square feet.

Oliver also owns Corporate Tower at 101 N Robinson which totals 14 stories consisting of 268,539 square feet and was built in 1979. Oliver paid $12.25 million for the property in Aug. 2000.

Oliver purchased The Tower (also known as The Valliance Tower), a 22-story office building at 1601 Northwest Expressway for $20.8 million in 2003. The building totals 337, 304 square feet and was built in 1984 which contains a two-story, 325,905-square-foot parking structure.


The City Place building located at 204 N. Robinson. Photo/Mark Hancock