Federal Reserve to sell downtown building
Federal Reserve to sell city building
By Don Mecoy
The Oklahoman
After more than 80 years in the same building, the Oklahoma City branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will sell the property in the heart of downtown.
The branch is abandoning the building because it no longer needs the space at 226 Dean A. McGee Ave. after cutting about 130 jobs as it drops its check and cash processing services, Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig said Thursday.
"It's not an immediate thing, although we will begin to talk to people who might be interested in purchasing it because we want it to be used well as we know the community wants it to be used well," Hoenig said.
The 35 to 40 remaining employees will move next spring to a much smaller leased space, which Hoenig said also will likely be in the downtown area.
"I'm highly confident it will be downtown office space that we will lease. It will be very nice and very much a Federal Reserve office space type environment -- something very nice," Hoenig said.
The branch moved in 1923 to a new building on the corner of Harvey Avenue and 3rd Street, which now is called Dean A. McGee Ave. In 1958, the property adjacent to the original building was purchased, and the building was expanded.
According to Oklahoma County property records, the three-story building contains 68,940 square feet plus a finished basement, underground parking garage and a vault. The assessed value is listed at about $4.3 million.
But banking needs have changed in recent years, Hoenig said, particularly as the volume of paper checks has decreased. Reserve banks are required to set prices to recover their costs of providing payment services to banks and other depository institutions to meet financial requirements of the Monetary Control Act of 1980.
The Federal Reserve employed about 165 people at the Oklahoma City branch six months ago, and currently has more than 100 workers, Hoenig said. Most of those employees will leave before the branch moves probably in late March or early April, Hoenig said.
The branch's check processing operation will shut down by year's end and the cash processing service will be eliminated early next year, he said. Those operations will be shifted to the Dallas Federal Reserve branch.
Remaining in Oklahoma City will be the branch's bank examiners, public affairs staff and a new executive officer, economist Chad Wilkerson, who will take over in January. Wilkerson's presence will expand the branch's focus on regional economic analysis, Hoenig said.
Wilkerson will succeed current branch manager Dwayne Boggs, who will oversee the completion of the job cuts and move to a new location, Hoenig said. Boggs may or may not continue with the Federal Reserve after the branch moves, but he no longer will work at the Oklahoma City branch in either case, Hoenig said.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has more than 1,000 employees at its main office in Missouri and its branch offices in Omaha, Neb., Denver and Oklahoma City. The Kansas City branch has responsibility for a seven-state area that includes Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, northern New Mexico and western Missouri.
In the Kansas City district, the Fed also has cut check processing jobs at the Omaha branch. The Denver branch has picked up jobs as it consolidates some operations currently performed in Salt Lake City.
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