Convention Center

[Urban Pioneer]

Lolz. Awesomeness...

[HOT ROD]

I mean, but isn't there a bit of truth in that? It's funny, but also . .. true.

[DoctorTaco]

Thanks for your work, Pete. And HOT ROD that was awesome.

[kevinpate]

From way out here away from downtown, there seems to be more than a wee bit of truth in your humor.
Some folks didn't start calling Project 180 Project 90ish without a reason.

[Pete]

The City Council is set to vote tomorrow to move $30 million from the infrastructure budget plus $5 million from the general contingency budget to the convention center, so it could be expanded beyond the original scope. $1 million would also be moved from general contingency to screen the OG&E substation near the proposed park.

I will do a separate, much more detailed write-up about how City projects are budgeted, bid, managed and reported as well as taking a detailed look at the budgets for each of the MAPS 3 projects and Project 180. But, I wanted to get this posted before tomorrow's meeting.



In addition to the general contingency budget (2.2% of the total budget), each project also has contingency dollars allocated (ranging from 2.9% to 4.9%). Combining all these amounts into a total contingency, that amounts to $47.8 million, or 6.2% of the total budget.

With the proposed changes, that amount would be reduced to $41.8 million, or 5.4% of the total budget.

Keep in mind, none of the four largest projects have gone to bid and of those that have already been bid, they have been way off the mark. Virtually all those projects were cut way back due to the discrepancy in budgeted construction costs versus actual bids.

The outstanding amount to be bid is $549 million with only a $41.8 million contingency; $47.8 if the proposed changes are rejected by City Council.


Also, I included the "Obligated" and "Remaining" columns in the spreadsheet only because that is exactly how the City reports to the various committees and City Council. It is almost completely useless information because the reports don't show how that obligated money compares to line items that were budgeted, or how much work remains. Knowing how much you have spent only matters in the context of understanding what is completed and what remains to be done and how those things compare to the budget.

I am working up a proposed reporting format that I will share later and also send to the City Manager and everyone on City Council.

[Pete]

BTW, even 6.2% percent (before the vote tomorrow) is incredibly low for these types of projects.

You would expect to see at least 10% and closer to 20%.

Will be posting more about this later; this is based on best practices from cited sources in the industry.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Yes. At this stage in the design process, budgeting less than 15% contingency is ill-advised. Especially for a building with so much below-grade square footage. When a client is trying to get champagne on a beer budget, contingency is always the first to go.

[adaniel]

Does this analysis factor in the extra money collected over the initial tax projections (6%, or roughly $24 million as of September)?

Not that the city should be counting on these things as most windfalls are usually temporary.

[HOT ROD]

BUT - it is a windfall nonetheless and should be added to the count just like a deficit is negated from budget.

[Pete]

Does this analysis factor in the extra money collected over the initial tax projections (6%, or roughly $24 million as of September)?

Not that the city should be counting on these things as most windfalls are usually temporary.

The budget shown is for expenses, not revenues.

And while the overall sales tax collection is running 6% better than budgeted thus far (more than halfway through the collection time period) the tax dollars are actually below budget for last month and the fiscal year thus far.

We won't know how the sales tax will come in against budget until near the very end of the program.


However, the discussion of revenues is an important point. I'm putting together a sample MAPS 3 report that would show this data because it's a critical piece of information that is always shown completely separate.

[Pete]

Another key aspect of the Convention Center budget is land costs and site prep.

I took a look at all the recent sales in the downtown area in order to get a cost estimate for the 11.7 acres. Similar information will be used by the judge in the eminent domain proceedings that are still in process.

Conservatively, it looks like the land alone will cost the City around $20 million and could be considerably more.

The Land Cost and Site Prep line item in the CC budget is $17.86 million; site prep at this point is another big unknown.

It should also be noted that the current owners have been going through a process to close off the streets and alleyways that would be part of the convention center site, and there has been talk that they want to include that acreage in the sale, which could drive up the sales price even higher.

[DoctorTaco]

They voted 6-2 in favor of adding the money. With Shadid and White opposing. I wonder what part of this was their belief that the extra $30 million belonged to the CC, and how much to the Council just doing whatever the Chamber tells them.

I expected Greiner to oppose. Also I wondered about Pettis. So a little surprise that it was so lopsided.

[Pete]

I'm not surprised.

Still very worried about the budgets for the last three projects which combined represent 2/3rds of the entire MAPS 3 budget.

Will be very curious to see the price set for the CC land and the how the construction bids come back.


In the meantime, I'm going to work up my reporting proposal with the hopes that people can stay informed and better understand where we stand with the budget before any further big decisions are made.

[Plutonic Panda]

Bigger plans: OKC Council adds $30M, 80,000 square feet to convention center | The Journal Record

[Urbanized]

Excellent decision.

[HOT ROD]

was the total sq ft ever announced? has there ever been a solid design/plan announced?

what is the total sq ft now? we know it is +80K, but 'what' plus 80K?

[jn1780]

I'm not surprised.

Still very worried about the budgets for the last three projects which combined represent 2/3rds of the entire MAPS 3 budget.

Will be very curious to see the price set for the CC land and the how the construction bids come back.


In the meantime, I'm going to work up my reporting proposal with the hopes that people can stay informed and better understand where we stand with the budget before any further big decisions are made.

The trolly will end up just being one vehicle that does laps around the convention center......... lol

[warreng88]

Here is the full article from the Journal Record:

Bigger plans: OKC Council adds $30M, 80,000 square feet to convention center

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record November 4, 2014

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Council approved an expansion of the MAPS 3 downtown convention center at a cost increase of $30 million on Tuesday, reducing the contingency fund for other changes by the same amount.

The new plan, which places the exhibit hall below ground, brings the overall cost of the center to $286 million. It does not include an adjacent hotel that is also being considered by the council as a separate project. The convention center design is being overseen by Populous architecture firm, with construction projected to begin by mid-2016.

The decision to dip into more MAPS 3 sales tax funds created a rift in the weekly council meeting, leading to a final vote of 6-2, with Councilmen Pete White and Ed Shadid passionately opposing the measure. White prompted Populous founder and senior principal Todd Voth to confirm that the change proposed by the MAPS oversight subcommittee does not correct a design mistake or budget shortfall in the plan.

“We’re saying we want to do this because we want to build a bigger one,” White said. “I think it’s a red herring to talk about cost escalation. We’re really talking about a bigger project.

“This item was the least popular on the (MAPS 3) ballot, and yet it’s the one we’re going to try to put more money into,” White said, referring to the temporary sales tax issue approved by the voters in 2010. “I have yet to have a constituent come to me during a neighborhood meeting and say, ‘Gosh, I wish you’d make a bigger convention center.’”

Many of the other council members expressed support from the position that it would be better to spend $30 million now for a bigger center than build additional space later. The convention center is the largest in a package of projects worth $777 million that include river improvements, walking trails and wellness centers. At the time of the vote, figures in campaign promotions focused on a target of about 470,000 square feet, a significant increase over the Cox Convention Center downtown. The expanded design that won the council’s support Tuesday brings the space up to 550,000 square feet.

Shadid asked his colleagues to defer the approval until after all of the land for the center is acquired and any court-resolved conflicts about the price set aside, but that motion failed 6-2. MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Board Chairman Tom McDaniel said his group believes further delay would be counterproductive.

Councilman Pat Ryan said a larger convention center will improve the city’s competitive position to lease the space for major events, and he would rather be in eighth place than 12th among similar cities.

“We continually have conventions apply here only to find out that we don’t have the hotel space, the exhibit space, the exhibit quality space that they need, so they walk away and go someplace else. We’re missing those tax dollars,” Ryan said. “My constituents are in favor of this, by and large, making it as big as we possibly can.”

Shadid countered by suggesting that the center could be made even bigger, and he asked for data that would reveal a return on investment for increases in size.

White cut him off to avoid providing more leverage for even more expansion for the oversight convention center subcommittee.

“I think it’s a mistake to argue that, because tomorrow they’ll come back for another $60 million,” White said. “I think we ought to vote on it and count our blessings they didn’t ask for that anyway. It’s obvious this council would agree to whatever; there’s no limit.”

[Pete]

was the total sq ft ever announced? has there ever been a solid design/plan announced?

what is the total sq ft now? we know it is +80K, but 'what' plus 80K?

From that JR article:

"figures in campaign promotions focused on a target of about 470,000 square feet, a significant increase over the Cox Convention Center downtown. The expanded design that won the council’s support Tuesday brings the space up to 550,000 square feet."

40K of the 80K increase would be to the main Exhibit Hall, taking it under Hudson Ave (the graphic below shows the 200K hall the Council just approved)

A big benefit to this is that the street would not have to be torn up to do future expansion; previously, the hall stopped just short of Hudson.

[Pete]

Here is another view looking north; the yellow area to the left is the portion of the expanded Exhibit Hall that would be located under Hudson:

[bradh]

Wow I really haven't paid attention, I didn't know so much of it was below grade. I think that's pretty common though right?

[David]

It's somewhat common at least in my anecdotal experience. The Moscone Center in San Francisco comes to mind as a convention center I have been to that has large underground spaces, though most of the others have been entirely above ground.

[Laramie]

“We’re saying we want to do this because we want to build a bigger one,” White said. “I think it’s a red herring to talk about cost escalation. We’re really talking about a bigger project.

“This item was the least popular on the (MAPS 3) ballot, and yet it’s the one we’re going to try to put more money into,” White said, referring to the temporary sales tax issue approved by the voters in 2010. “I have yet to have a constituent come to me during a neighborhood meeting and say, ‘Gosh, I wish you’d make a bigger convention center.’”--The Journal Record November 4, 2014

__________Nashville Convention Center_______________Indianapolis - J.W. Marriott______________Colombo, Sri Lanka - Hyatt Regency

This is all the more reason why we need to sell this point about the convention center; this will be our outside image in a nutshell. It will have the potential to be the biggest generator of 'out-of-state' money being pumped into our local economy.

While the convention center was the least popular on the (MAPS 3) ballot; it will be a big impact project because this will be the face of our city as it is presented to outsiders. OKC will not be a tier II convention city; however it will allow us to host some tier II events as we step into that direction. The key move next to the Chesapeake Energy Arena will allow us to expand; thus include 'The Peake' into future conventions and large gatherings.

Our convention center hotel-complex will be the key; especially if we are able to build something in the 700 -1,000 room range. We need to think & plan 'BIG.' The convention center-hotel complex will be our greatest physical ambassador as it will define what type of city we want to become.

[Richard at Remax]

Ive seen the JW Marriott in Indy and it isn't very appealing. Just a big wide blue box.

[CuatrodeMayo]

I'm kind of annoyed with the new boulevard-front parking lot. But I guess it's not permanent.