a couple of city council NOTES (anyone design a bridge?)

[BoulderSooner]

so i work nights now and i have a little free time ... so i have been looking through the last few council meetings and have found a few things ..

1. RFP for the pedestrian bridge over the new I-40 http://okc.gov/AgendaPub/cache/2/iyd...8032556255.PDF

good to see that the city is going first class on this one .. over 3 mil

2. City gives TIF money to Overholser Green Residential Development (1.7MIL)
project, which is expected to begin construction in approximately six
months.

3. city give money to banta for several buildings (1 Mil+)

The Guardian 1117 N Robinson, The garage will be converted into residential condos
Osler/Heritage 1200 N Walker Ave. is being converted to residential condos
Hadden Hall 215 NW 10 formerly known as the Fellowship Travelers Building being converted to residential condos
Event Center 1113 N Robinson Ave., the home will be transformed into an event center
the Cline 230 NW 10 formerly a 96-year-old hotel with 9,740 square feet, 3 floors + basement, being converted to office space
and others .. all should be by the first half of 09

[metro]

Great research bouldersooner, and good to meet you at the last UN social.

[BoulderSooner]

Great research bouldersooner, and good to meet you at the last UN social.

thanks and good to meet you as well..

here is a steve L article about the same things .. he has some quotes ..

Funding a boom Public financing helps boost downtown renovations | NewsOK.com

i don't remeber if he can copy newsok stuff so if not please edit..

By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
After conquering the once blighted 1100 block of N Walker, developer Greg Banta is moving his construction crews to the intersection of NW 10 and Robinson, where the task of renovating old buildings is even more challenging.


The sound of jackhammers has been bellowing the past few days from inside the former Packard dealership on the northwest corner of NW 10 and Robinson. For years the building was boarded up and home to a single derelict bar.

"This building was tough,” Banta says while surveying the vast expanse of the building's second floor. "It was boarded up since 1957. There were a lot of unknowns. There were a lot of structural issues that would have scared off a lot of people.”

Banta thinks plenty of developers might have razed the structure. He suspects the same fate might have awaited a series of buildings he just renovated at NW 10 and Walker — properties now home to restaurants and shops that are doing so well that the area is experiencing a parking shortage.

He expects to complete the Packard building renovation within one year — and hopes to lure restaurants and retail to the first floor. While Banta might lease the second floor to an office tenant, he's hoping a restaurant might be attracted by an attached rooftop patio.

Banta is confident he could easily lease or sell the adjoining buildings to office tenants. But he's taking the plunge into housing — but only with a $1 million boost from the city's tax increment finance (TIF) district.

"Doing housing is very expensive, almost cost prohibitive,” Banta said. "The biggest risk is you don't know what the market is. We know there have been sales, we know what those units have sold for, but we don't know how deep the market it is.”

Banta isn't alone in the quest to obtain TIF funds to close a deal. Just last month the committee charged with overseeing such expenditures has authorized similar payouts including $1.75 million for development of the Overholser Greens condominiums at NW 13 and Dewey.

Past beneficiaries have included the Legacy at Arts Quarter apartments, where TIF funds helped pay for a parking garage; the Brownstones at Maywood Park, where TIF paid for a new streetscape, park and sculpture; and Block 42, where TIF paid for a courtyard.

But while demand for such funding is high, there is also more money available for such development than first anticipated.

The tax increment finance district was created eight years ago as a way to boost downtown development. The district is based on growth in downtown property taxes being re-invested into the area instead of being paid to various taxing entities, including public schools, libraries and the county.

At the time the district was formed, the TIF was expected to generate up to $42 million. That forecast is now at $52 million, including a $5 million sales tax TIF restricted to the Skirvin Hilton Hotel.

To date, $32.6 million has been allocated, including $13.3 million for residential projects like the ones being tackled by Banta. A revised budget released by the city's finance department shows $19.8 million remaining available for projects ranging from residential and commercial development to parking, and $4.5 million dedicated to a future downtown school.

Assistant City Manager Cathy O'Connor predicts with more money coming in than originally forecast, the budget may once again need to be revised.

"This is an indication of the economic activity stimulated by all the investment we've seen downtown,” O'Connor said. "It (the TIF district) really has done very well. And the private sector has stepped up and made the investment we've been looking for downtown.”

For Banta, the TIF helped make the difference in deciding to convert the Osler building at NW 10 and Walker and Hadden Hall at NW 10 and Robinson into housing.

"We would love to see people live here,” Banta said. "We know what the commercial market is and we're quite comfortable with what the office and retail market is. So it would be easy to do that, because we know what the risk is. But we want to have a true mixed development here, so we're taking the bigger risk.”

Oklahoma City currently has six districts that support redevelopment in the Oklahoma Health Center, Downtown, renovation of the Skirvin hotel and creation of the Dell campus along the Oklahoma River.