Is Mayor Cornett anti-growth?

[NE Oasis]

Two recent events have me wondering-

The disagreement over continued lease/shared development with Bob Funk for property near the ballpark. Bob Funk is the epitome of a successful businessman.
If he says he can bring mixed use (including a grocery) to Bricktown, I believe him. That will generate $$ for the city in taxes, fees, etc. Bob Funk also has a track record of keeping plenty of his money in the metro area.

Not Bricktown, but what does Mayor Cornett have against Tinker AFB expanding to the old GM plant. When Tinker expands, so does the local group of sub contractor and support vendors. These folks pay for assorted fees and permits, and hire real non-subsidized tax paying consumers.

[Midtowner]

1) I'm not sure, but I think he's doing the right thing when it comes to that land. The city has a huge interest in making sure that this land is developed in the best possible way. In my opinion, there needs to be a significant amount of research, multiple proposals, a competitive bidding process, etc. to determine the best use for that land.

I don't interpret Cornett's answer to funk as a "No way, no how" response. I simply think that Cornett wants to fully explore the possibilities for that land before anything is authorized.

Also, whatever happens, I'd really like the city to exercise some very tight control over the development of the property when a use is actually chosen. We don't need a repeat of lower bricktown where developers promise one thing and give us another, scaled down thing.

As to Tinker, what does Tinker and the GM plant have to do with OKC at all? Isn't that all Midwest City?

The only possible drawback I could see to Tinker acquiring the GM plant is that depending upon how they acquire it, the Midwest City School District will be missing out on a lot of ad valorem tax.

[CuatrodeMayo]

MWC is north of I-40, not I-240.

[Pete]

Regarding Funk, it seems the mayor has ample reason to be wary as the DOK pointed out a few of his recent dealings with the city where he really put the screws to them (at least from the viewpoint of city hall). No matter what Funk is saying in the press, it's obvious he's trying to negotiate a sweetheart deal and I'm glad our leaders are finally starting to be more demanding of developers.

And there are plenty of specific actions you can point to that show that Mick is actually extremely pro-growth: MAPS 3, Core to Shore, etc. Tons and tons of new construction has been approved during his tenure.

It just seems he wants things properly planned and property put to it's highest and best use and that means not taking every single proposal that someone just wants to throw out there. It also seems like he wants the city to maintain more control, such as not merely selling property to developers and rather leasing it instead.

[jbrown84]

We don't need a repeat of lower bricktown where developers promise one thing and give us another, scaled down thing.

Were there actually original renderings that showed something grander, or are you just going off the fact that he said he wanted to do something like The Grove in LA?

[Midtowner]

http://www.okctalk.com/bricktown-wir...-promised.html

[okclee]

I think if we look at the Core 2 Shore master plan drawing we will see why Mayor Mick isn't really that excited about the project Funk is proposing.

I don't think that the mayor wants to see a 5 star hotel and upscale retail in the bricktown area. Core to Shore calls for a 5 star hotel site overlooking the new super sized myriad garden park. It also shows an area along the soon to be downtown boulevard with major shopping.

[Midtowner]

I think if we look at the Core 2 Shore master plan drawing we will see why Mayor Mick isn't really that excited about the project Funk is proposing.

I don't think that the mayor wants to see a 5 star hotel and upscale retail in the bricktown area. Core to Shore calls for a 5 star hotel site overlooking the new super sized myriad garden park. It also shows an area along the soon to be downtown boulevard with major shopping.

That makes good sense. It's great that Mayor Mick is, unlike his predecessors accepting nothing which deviates even slightly from the master plan. What a breath of fresh air.

[Spartan]

Do you all realize that entire states like Missouri and Indiana don't have a single 5-star hotel??

We aren't talking about a major convention hotel, we're talking about a very upscale hotel. And Tinker has Tinker's best interests in mind, not OKC's. I can't be less vague.

[okclee]

^^^ Excuse me , but who is Tinker??

nevermind. I see Tinker is not a who, but Tinker is where.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Tinkerbell's dad.

[okclee]

Spartan......neither St. Louis or Indianapolis, have a 5 star hotel??

If that is the case then I am really against the Funk proposal, becasue I think that he is blowing smoke.

I have always thought of Funk as a wealthy business man that hasn't really done a whole lot for Okc except make a ton of cash here. I always thought that he was anti-Okc getting a major league franchise, because he owns all of the minor league franchises.

He has been the owner of the Blazers and the Red Hawks for years and has greatly benefited off of the progress of downtown and of bricktown. Now that downtown and bricktown is moving along nicely he wants to come into bricktown and jump on the bandwagon.

Where was Funk all of the years in the past??

[jbrown84]

Just because he owns the minor-league teams doesn't mean he's against us going major-league.

He owns our two major sports teams and that's where he has invested in the city in the past. I'm glad to see him branching out though.

[okclee]

Listening to sports radio in years past and Funk and Co would also be on the sports radio anytime the discussion of major league sports in Okc would arise. Funk and Co would argue that Okc could not support a major league sports franchise and that Okc should continue to support the Funk minor league sports.

I have heard him personally say that Okc was not a major league sports city.

Why would he say that?? He owns and operates the only sports in town, of course he doesn't want Okc to get a major league franchise into downtown.

[SoonerDave]

Funk and Co would also be on the sports radio anytime the discussion of major league sports

Really? The only big discussions about true pro sports around here I can recall in the last decade have been basketball and hockey. I may be wrong, but my recollection is that he rightly opposed the hockey issue from a couple years back, and I've not heard him oppose an NBA franchise. Hardly think that makes him a bad guy. To a greater extent, he is correct in that OKC will never be a major-league sports city as far as the NFL or MLB are concerned. We never quite hit the radar for the NHL (thankfully, IMHO), and we're on the edge as far as the NBA is concerned, and to me that sounds about right. We don't have the population density to support either of the "heavy hitter" sports franchises, eg 60-70K for eight home games for an NFL team, or 30K-40K or so for 81 MLB home games. Not with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers three hours to the south, or the St. Louis Cardinals and KC Royals about seven hours northeast (regardless of what you might think of any of those teams personally).

I think Cornett is on the money in being reluctant to just hand the keys to the GM plant over to Tinker. Doing so makes that facility and the land it's on beholden to whatever transient political interests that may come along, and that's too big a chunk of commercially viable land to tie up on a whim. I still think there is the possibility of recruiting a new manufacturing entity for that plant, and I believe Cornett thinks the same way. To that end, he's gonna fight til the dog just won't scratch anymore before he explores a Tinker option...

-soonerdave

[CuatrodeMayo]

What does Funk's stand on professional sports in OKC have to do with his involvement in development projects?

[okclee]

It doesn't have anything directly to do with him being a developer.

I mentioned Funk wanting to cash in on downtown / bricktown now that things are starting to roll along nicely. In years past he was against major league sports coming into downtown because he owns all of the minor league sports, and because of that I say Funk is only looking out for himself, and not for the best of Okc.

I side with Mayor Mick on this issue, for both Tinker and the Funk proposal.

[Midtowner]

It doesn't have anything directly to do with him being a developer.

I mentioned Funk wanting to cash in on downtown / bricktown now that things are starting to roll along nicely. In years past he was against major league sports coming into downtown because he owns all of the minor league sports, and because of that I say Funk is only looking out for himself, and not for the best of Okc.

I side with Mayor Mick on this issue, for both Tinker and the Funk proposal.

You can't really blame Funk for looking after his own money first.

[okclee]

^^^ That is my point. Funk is only looking out for his own money first. I don't blame him for that, I am saying that I don't trust him with this development.

Just like he used to tell the people of Okc (for his own benefit) that major league sports won't work in Okc, he is now trying to tell the people of Okc (for his own benefit) that the mayor doesn't want his 5 star hotel and high end retail shopping.

I think he is full of it. He needs to prove that he has a 5 star hotel willing to build on that site and prove that he has the retail lined up.

Like I said , I do not think that Mayor Mick is anti-growth, just because he doesn't approve of the Funk and Co development.

[Midtowner]

To me, it sounds like inner-OKC needs some sort of "master plan" before developing any further. If we don't make preparations for things like light rail right now, it's going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars down the road to do so.

As for Cornett being skeptical, it definitely wouldn't be the first time a developer sold the city a bill of goods which he failed to timely deliver. I think that our leadership is a lot more savvy in that regard than they were in the past.

[okclee]

^^ You are right Midtowner, I would like to see a master-plan including all areas of downtown, bricktown, midtown, arts district, core 2 shore, etc...

I

[Midtowner]

It would seem doable okclee... The city could decide to take whatever blighted land there was, it could then develop a plan for that land, then accept proposals/bids from developers who wanted to build what the city had planned for that property. With such a setup, we could really streamline the public finance/TIF aspects of the process.

[CuatrodeMayo]

....and have a completely artificial downtown.

[okclee]

...........please explain??

[Midtowner]

....and have a completely artificial downtown.

How is planned growth artificial? If we want to set OKC up for tourism/convention traffic, the best way to do this is to plan every aspect of the city which can be planned.

Not that I get any say in this.. and I admit this conversation is in essence inane.