Update on status, Northwestern Mutual has moved in.
One Place is downtown Tulsa's newest office complex
A tenant has moved into the new One Place development across the street from the BOK Center. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World
1 / 2Previous slideBy ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer
Published: 9/21/2012 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 9/21/2012 4:28 AM
Lance Franczyk, managing partner for Northwestern Mutual in Tulsa, says he daydreamed years ago about what it would take for him to move his offices.
"I wanted something multi-use, near the BOK Center, with nearby retail and living space," he said. "I didn't think such a place existed."
When he shared that dream with Bob Eggleston over lunch, the response was a Cheshire Cat grin, Franczyk said. Eggleston then told him about a development he was planning that would have everything he wanted - One Place.
Fast-forward to this week: Franczyk and his 65 employees are settling into their new offices across from the BOK Center between Second and Third streets and Cheyenne Avenue.
Northwestern Mutual is the first official tenant of the $120 million development.
The centerpiece of One Place is a beige 18-story tower, but the gray five-story building on the northwest corner of the site was finished faster. Although construction workers are still finishing up the first three floors of the smaller building, Northwestern has gone ahead and set up shop in the completed top two stories.
"It's like moving into a new house," Franczyk said. "It's not finished, but we're glad to be here."
The move from offices at 71st Street and Yale Avenue returns Northwestern Mutual to its original area after a long time away. Franczyk said that when the company came to Tulsa in 1889, its office was downtown.
One of the main benefits of the move is space to expand, Franczyk said. The financial planning company plans to grow its Tulsa office to about 120 people in the next three to four years.
One Place aims to attract other office-based tenants, in addition to shops, restaurants and a hotel.
"Being first is great, but we want neighbors," Franczyk said.
Check 6, an operational efficiency and safety training company, will move into the third floor of the smaller building by December, said Brittany Sawyer, a spokeswoman for One Place.
Construction of the 18-story tower continues on schedule and should be finished by spring. Cimarex Energy Co. has leased all of it except for the retail-based first floor.
Construction on a third phase, which includes a hotel, has not yet begun. Developers are still shoring up funding, Sawyer said.
In May, the Tulsa Development Authority approved a two-year construction extension for the project. Now the privately funded project that encompasses the full square block must be complete by Dec. 31, 2016, rather than the end of 2014.
Read more from this Tulsa World article at
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=32&articleid=20120921_32_E1_CUTLIN824446
