Shocker: Cotton Exchange Plans Shelved
This item will not come as a surprise anyone here:
Mobile Breaking Oklahoma News | NewsOK.com
Bricktown developer plans auction of canal property in Oklahoma City
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: November 25, 2008
Gary Cotton proposed a $36 million two-tower development in January along the Bricktown Canal. The undeveloped properties, as depicted in this rendering, are set to be auctioned off next month.
Gary Cotton is calling it quits in Bricktown and will offer up all of his holdings at a public auction Dec. 4.
Cotton bought his first properties a few years ago, but didn’t attract attention until he secured a prime undeveloped corner along the Bricktown Canal across from the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark. In January, he announced plans for a $36 million two-tower retail and condominium development that would span both sides of the Bricktown waterway.
That canal-front property, along with the former home of Margarita Mamma’s and an empty nightclub at 329 E Sheridan, will all be auctioned by Louis Dakil.
"I’m putting everything up for sale because I absolutely need to sell at least part of it,” Cotton said. "There’s a lot of disappointment; I wanted to do it bad. Hopefully somebody can pick it up and make it work. But I can’t.”
‘POTENTIAL IS THERE’
David Burnett, a broker with Sperry Van Ness who worked on the team that tried to market Cotton’s proposed "Cotton Exchange,” said the project designs will be available to property buyers.
"This is not a reflection on the property itself, but an owner who got stretched too thin,” Burnett said.
"The potential was there. We had a list of people who said no matter the price, at that location they would pay to be there.”
Burnett said his firm also had "strong retail” tenants interested in the proposed towers’ lower levels.
"The whole canal curves there at Mickey Mantle Drive — we have prime frontage all along,” Burnett said. "Somebody can have a full acre there if they want it.”
Burnett and Cotton said they think the Oklahoma economy remains in good shape despite the national crash. They also said the arrival of the NBA at nearby Ford Center adds to the properties’ value.
Jim Cowan, director of the Bricktown Association, is hoping any potential buyers will not be "flippers” — people who buy properties and leave them untouched hoping to reap a profit by selling a few years later.
Several high-profile properties in Bricktown have been on the market for months, but without any takers.
"I really hope whoever is interested will be interested in developing all this,” Cowan said. "I really hope the days of easy flips are over.”
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