Possible open air mall in north Norman
Looks like the possiblity for more open air malls continues. Right now, Norman is considering the possiblity of buiilding an open air retail center at the Mt. Williams site on I-35 north of Robinson.
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"Mountain or Mall?: OU Foundation seeking approval in Norman for TIF district at Mt. Williams site for mall
By Dean Anderson
Driving back from medical school late at night during his college days, Dr. Harold Haralson always knew when he was back at home in Norman.
Just before the bustling streets of the college town, a large mound of dirt known as Mt. Williams sprang up out of a flat field that once housed a Naval installation.
To Haralson, and scores of Norman residents, the old Navy gunnery range was and always will be a local landmark.
Now, a couple of decades later, Mayor Haralson and city council members, as well as Norman citizens, want to know exactly what the University of Oklahoma Foundation is planning to do with Mt. Williams and the 585 acres it sits on.
Haralson and the Norman City Council are reviewing a request by the OU Foundation to appoint a committee to review a long-term plan to develop the two-mile stretch of property on Norman’s northern edge.
The committee would be charged with assessing the feasibility of using a tax increment finance district to fund development of the land, which the foundation already owns.
The finance district would enable the foundation to front the money to initiate improvements on the land to attract businesses. Chief among those improvements would need to be the removal of Mt. Williams.
Foundation officials have said they envision a mixed-use development, possibly housing an upscale, outdoor retail shopping center with restaurants. The site also could accomodate a hotel and perhaps residential housing.
The foundation’s proposal calls for a 50-percent split of the property tax money for up to 25 years and a guaranteed 4.5-percent growth in the city’s sales tax revenue base.
The land in question runs along the east side of Interstate 35 just north of Robinson Street to Tecumseh Road, and is just west of Max Westheimer Airport. It’s part of the old North Base naval site used during World War II.
The foundation already has pledged $100,000 to preserve the memory of Mt. Williams, perhaps by erecting some type of memorial on the site. City officials say the project could draw an emotional response from long-time Norman residents concerned that the foundation might raze the land.
A committee must first determine whether the property would be eligible for a tax increment finance district and then it also must determine whether the foundation’s mixed-use plan is the best possible use for the site.
Haralson, whose family has lived in Norman for four generations, is concerned with the clarity of the foundation’s proposal.
“The problem I believe that revolves around the issue is there is not enough vision for what currently is planned there,” Haralson said. “My discussions with the foundation and other folks that have development ideas for it, their thought is to take business from the current Sooner Fashion Mall and move those across the street.
“My concern is using public funds in a manner that might adversely impact other business in the city,” he said.
Haralson said the buzz word that has been tossed about is the development of a “lifestyle mall” much like the posh Utica Square in Tulsa.
“It sounds good, but the problem we have on the city council is if they’re going to do something on that piece of land, we would like to see something that is totally different,” said Haralson, who practices medicine in Norman. “(Something) that doesn’t take away from other businesses in town, that complements them and adds to our retail base.”
The mayor would not characterize the nature of the talks, but said he has had recent discussions with General Growth Properties, the real estate investment trust that manages Sooner Mall, which is located about one mile south of Mt. Williams but on the west side of I-35.
Norman City Manager Brad Gambill said, too, he doesn’t have a clear picture of what the proposed development might look like.
“I think what needs to happen is a good common understanding by the citizens of Norman what the OU foundation is proposing for the 500 acres,” Gambill said. “We’ve seen a general plan, but not much detail. We’ve seen a request for infrastructure with not much detail.
“Before we go out and ask the rate payers and the citizens who pay taxes for $30 million ... we need to know in more detail what’s happening,” he said.
Gambill called the foundation’s stretch of land “the prime piece of land between Dallas and Kansas City on interstate access.”
The OU Foundation — which according to its most recent audit by Ernst & Young, had assets totaling more than $600 million at the end of fiscal year 2004 — is an independent not-for-profit corporation that encourages and supports giving for the benefit of the university. It acts as the principal organization through which private gifts are made and administered for the benefit of the university.
The foundation was established in December 1944 to offer private donors the means to invest their philanthropic dollars in the future of the University of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma state law mandates the separation of state-supported universities and colleges and their foundations, and the 21-member OU Foundation staff oversees the intake and distribution of private funds to the university.
Haralson said the city needs more information before it can proceed.
“I’ve not been able to find a way to this point to bring a variety of people to the table to work out a solution where the city’s concerns are addressed,” Haralson said.
Both OU Foundation President Ron Burton and the foundation’s legal counsel, Harold Heiple, did not return phone calls from OKCBusiness News requesting interviews."
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