Another downtown property purchased by a church.
Avanti Building sold to First Presbyterian Church
Tulsa World By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer
Published: 2/13/2013 2:15 AM
The Avanti Building, the southernmost property in the Kanbar portfolio of downtown office holdings, has been sold to First Presbyterian Church for $2.1 million.
Plans for the vacant, six-story structure at 810 S. Cincinnati Ave. have yet to be determined, said Steve Caldwell, director of operations for First Presbyterian Church.
"We're looking at different possible uses for the building, but we haven't arrived at any final decisions," he said Tuesday.
California inventor and philanthropist Maurice Kanbar purchased the building in 2005 for $2.4 million. It was one of 19 buildings he owned when his holdings reached a peak of one-third of all available office space downtown.
Tulsa County tax records indicate the Avanti Building has a fair market value of $1.56 million.
The property is two blocks away from a cluster that makes up the rest of Kanbar's holdings.
In mid-2011, Kanbar Properties vacated all tenants from Avanti as well as the Oil Capital Building, 507 S. Main St., with Kanbar officials citing their low occupancies and the expense of keeping the buildings in operation.
Kanbar Properties is now known as KPM, and local investors John and Stuart Price have purchased a stake in the portfolio.
Calls to the Price brothers were not returned by press time Tuesday.
Caldwell said the purchase of Avanti marks a continuation of First Presbyterian's growth.
First Presbyterian purchased the nearby former Powerhouse Gym building on Cincinnati Avenue in 2008 for $2.1 million, and now uses it as a youth and worship center.
"We've been through a major expansion and renovation, and Powerhouse was part of that," Caldwell said.
The sale reduces the Kanbar portfolio to 13 buildings. Some have been sold off, such as the Atlas Life Building at 415 S. Boston Ave. and the Enterprise Building at 522 S. Boston Ave., while the McBirney and Cordell buildings on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth streets were demolished due to structural problems.
Kanbar Properties put the Pythian Building up for auction last year, but a buyer was not found.
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