Bricktown Mercantile building bought
By Richard Mize and Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writers
Call it another high note for Bricktown.

Bricktown Mercantile, one of the most prominent properties in Oklahoma City's entertainment district, sold this week to the tune of $4.2 million — a whopping 55.5 percent more than it fetched when sold less than three years ago, and almost three times what it brought in 1999.


Gary Berlin, doing business as West Indies Trading Co. LLC, bought the property, which has City Walk, the multiple-nightclub venue, Uncommon Grounds, a specialty coffee business, and other retail, office and residential tenants.

Gary Cotton — 100 E Main LLC — sold the property, on the northeast corner of Oklahoma Avenue and Main Street, after owning it for 34 months.

Louis Dakil of Dakil Auctioneers handled the sale, which closed Tuesday, but it was not by auction.

R. Ray Roberts, spokesman for the new owners, said they bought the property after failing to win the bid for another building auctioned one block north on Main Street.

Why it was sold
Cotton, who also owns undeveloped property along the Bricktown Canal, said proceeds will go toward developing the corner across from the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

"I had too many eggs in this basket,” Cotton said. "I want to focus on this one development (on the canal).”

Cotton said he originally hoped to convert the Mercantile building into condominiums, but that plan was stalled when he clashed over renewal of a lease with anchor tenant CityWalk.

Roberts said the new owners already were acquainted with CityWalk's owners and see the operation as an asset. Though they originally also considered housing for the empty third through fifth floors, the owners are considering offices and retail instead that could co-exist with CityWalk.

"Offices are daytime users, and they would not be subject to nighttime noise produced by the clubs,” Roberts said.

Roberts said the owners are in talks with Timberlake Construction to complete a two-story fire escape that would allow renovation of the top three floors.

"We're moving forward with our plans,” Roberts said. "We can't do anything with the third, fourth or fifth floors until that fire escape is done.”

Roberts said the owners also hope to maintain 3rd Degree Advertising and Uncommon Grounds coffee shop as tenants.

"We're very happy with the current tenants and leases,” Roberts said.

Cotton, meanwhile, is hoping to announce final plans for development along the canal by fall. His team includes Timberlake Construction and Architectural Design Group.

Except for what experts expect to be a temporary lull in single-family housing, real estate in Oklahoma City continues to appreciate across all sectors — and Bricktown hasn't missed a beat.

"The music keeps getting louder over there in terms of people's expectations,” said Ford Price, co-managing partner of Price Edwards & Co., Oklahoma City's biggest local commercial realty firm.

The property comprises two five-story loft industrial buildings of 55,096 square feet and one single-story warehouse of 10,350 square feet, all built in 1919 for Mideke Supply Co., an industrial supply company founded in 1906 that operated until 1993.

Tenants to stay
It's not the first time tenant Roy Page has seen the building change ownership. The business he leads, Third Degree Advertising, Suite 200, has been in Bricktown Mercantile since 1998. He said tenants found out about the sale Monday and that he met Berlin briefly as the keys were handed over to the new owner Tuesday.

"There is no change in our situation. Our lease stays intact,” Page said of Third Degree, which occupies about 6,000 square feet.

Price said buying property in Bricktown seems to be a wise investment. "Much, not all, downside risk” has melted away with the growth in popularity of the area, he said. "No one wonders if it's going to make it,” he said. "Where does it go from here? The housing has started. How much more is there? The retail has started. How much more is there?”