Report shows MAPS program continuing to succeed

By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman

An updated report on the effect of Oklahoma City's MAPS program shows the resulting investment in downtown has yet to slow -- and is up to $2.5 billion.

The report, released Friday, shows $500 million of the $2.5 billion has occurred within the two years following the completion of MAPS and the original study, which the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber produced.

And in Bricktown, central to five of the MAPS projects, the authors estimate property values went up as much as 231 percent between 1999 and 2004.

Roy Williams, chamber president, commissioned the follow-up report as he witnessed the announcement of a half-dozen new downtown housing projects since the original study was released in 2003.

"We just wanted to make certain we had our arms around how that initial investment has moved forward, and what has it really spurred," Williams said. "And there are so many big things we have not yet seen."

The Metropolitan Area Projects were funded with a five-year, penny sales tax that voters passed in 1993. The tax raised $370 million and paid for the Bricktown Canal, SBC Bricktown Ballpark, Ford Center, dams and parks along the Oklahoma River, a downtown transit system, and renovations to the Cox Convention Center, Civic Center Music Hall and State Fair Park.

Initially, promoters estimated the projects would result in $140 million in private investments.

The follow-up was authored by Larkin Warner, regents professor emeritus at Oklahoma State University, Montgomery Evans, manager of information systems for the chamber, and student intern Dinh Ngo.

Among the study's findings:

Seven of the 25 most valuable properties in the downtown area that the study looked at represent additions to tax rolls since 1999. They include two hotels -- the Renaissance and Marriott Courtyard -- two office buildings in the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park, the new Sonic headquarters in Bricktown, Deep Deuce apartments and Bass Pro Shops.

A selection of Bricktown properties bought and sold over the years and tracked by the study saw an increase in market value from $12.2 million in 1999 to $40.2 million in 2004 -- an increase of 231 percent.

The Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, a MAPS project, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, a spin-off of MAPS, both saw increased visits in their new downtown locations. During the first year open, the library's book circulation increased 113 percent over the preceding year at the old location, while the new museum drew more than 100,000 visitors in its first year -- more than double attendance when it was at State Fair Park.

The opening of the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel increased the downtown room count to 931. When all announced projects are completed, downtown's room count will total 1,641 rooms.

Williams said he thinks if another report is done in a few years, it will show the next MAPS-inspired growth spurt occurring along the Oklahoma River. "The river, with the potential development that will occur there along with I-40 being relocated, will probably dwarf the development we see today," Williams said. "And all that will be traced back to MAPS, which created the river we see today."