The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Apparently, they've fired the contractor for this project on the old Bill White Chevrolet lot and are not paying subcontractors.  Anybody heard any details on this?

They already have tenants moving in?

I am one of the subcontractors who have not been paid.  As of a couple of weeks ago, there were over a million dollars in liens filed on this project.  My understanding from a representative of the general contractor says the owner did not keep payments up with them and they pulled off the job, the owner is reporting that the general has been overpaid and was fired.  I am trying to find out as much as I can about both entities.  My understanding is they are heading for mediation sometime about nowish.  When I checked about a week or so ago, this general contractor had filed a lawsuit against Larson Development in Richmond, VA (not on this project, but on the one they worked together on before).

However, the owner has had his attorney send me a letter advising me to "cease and desist" from making any false allegations about his clients, or be subject to severe civil liability for "tortious interference with business relationships", current and future. 

It is my understanding from my city councilor my concerns expressed to him about this project and subs not being paid has been referred to legal.  I understand that are several hundred thousand dollars of tax abatements on the line from the city.  I have also began a conversation with the Oklahoma Historic(al)? Society about the state tax credits that have been applied for.

I do think there are people residing in the development at this time.

I just want to be paid.  I do support downtown development and historic restoration, but not on the backs of local subcontractors.

A friend of mine moved in to one of the interior spaces that has no windows but does have sky lights. Since they work late, they are a big fan of the lack of windows.

If your contract is with the main contractor (who sounds like they were fired), you need to contact an attorney and file suit against the contractor who you subbed for, and had a contractor to perform work for. If you did not have a signed contract with the developer then there's not much you can do about getting money from them (which is probably why they sent you a cease and desist letter). You need to go after who you signed a contract with to do your work, and they need to pay you - period. If the developer paid the contractor, and they were supposed to pay you, the developer has no obligation to pay you - it's the main contractor. You can always contact the BBB if the contractor that was working on this project is a member and complain to them. Also, you can look into any state boards or affiliations they are members of or certified by and file complaints against them there as well. In general though, from how I've seen subcontractors paid - your beef is likely with the main contractor and not the developer. If the main contractor is telling you they haven't been paid, that's not your problem - if you performed the work they have to pay you. They should have insurance that would cover this if the developer did in fact not pay them. 

As in a residential or commercial space?

Residential apartment

That meets fire code without windows? 

East Central High School was designed with out windows to eliminate distraction. Back in the sixties I think.

That meets fire code without windows? 

Does fire code compliance factor into a certificate of occupancy in Tulsa?

Does fire code compliance factor into a certificate of occupancy in Tulsa?

We called it The Prison when I went there.

Had a girlfriend that went there.  Took between 6 and 7 minutes to get there from the Nathan Hale parking lot.

Which prison was 6-7 minutes from the Hale parking lot?

Had a girlfriend that went there.  Took between 6 and 7 minutes to get there from the Nathan Hale parking lot.

BOMAR.   ;D

Which prison was 6-7 minutes from the Hale parking lot?

FUBAR? Our jr. high had a rock band with that name. Teachers never figured it out.

Is this what they refer to as "thread drift?"   ;D

Like dbacks said - East Central.  Kinda was like a prison, even though that building was new at the time - more of an attitude than about the facility.

Is this what they refer to as "thread drift?"   ;D

Had to take a month of summer school there in 1981, and hated the fact that there was no natural light in the classrooms, very depressing. Had a really weird teacher that coached a girls softball team. His name is Ronald Lyons. (let that name sink in for a few minutes)

Is that the one Interpol was looking for in France a few years ago?  But didn't find....

Beer.

#hadto

Had to take a month of summer school there in 1981, and hated the fact that there was no natural light in the classrooms, very depressing. Had a really weird teacher that coached a girls softball team. His name is Ronald Lyons. (let that name sink in for a few minutes)

FUBAR? Our jr. high had a rock band with that name. Teachers never figured it out.

Had to take a month of summer school there in 1981, and hated the fact that there was no natural light in the classrooms, very depressing. Had a really weird teacher that coached a girls softball team. His name is Ronald Lyons. (let that name sink in for a few minutes)

Was that the guy with the grow lights in his basement around 12th & Gary Pl?  Think he got busted a year or so before I bought a house two blocks north.

The owner of one of downtown Tulsa’s newest living options has been hit with a foreclosure lawsuit alleging nonpayment for construction services.

MGT Construction, a general contractor based in Richmond, Virginia, filed the suit against Larson Development, also based in Richmond, in Tulsa federal court.

Larson Development is the owner of East End Village, the site of the former Bill White Chevrolet dealership at 401 S. Elgin Ave. that has been converted to 83 living units and two commercial spaces. MGT oversaw its construction and redevelopment.

The lawsuit alleges Larson Development stopped making payments to MGT on Jan. 21. The suit claims MGT is owed $1.1 million.

One day later, Larson Development contacted the various subcontractors working for MGT on the project and attempted to hire them directly, the suit alleges. The suit does not say if Larson’s attempt to hire them away was successful, though MGT terminated its contract on March 11.

Calls to Larson Development and MGT were not returned by Monday evening.

So far, the site has been heavily redeveloped with a newly-striped parking lot, mail area and a number of apartment units with doors accessible from inside the southeast building. Several of the units have doormats and other personal effects on the outside, indicating there may be people living there now. It is unclear how many units have been finished.

Two of the buildings at the north end of the development have unfinished interiors.

East End Village’s Facebook page includes a May 29 posting indicating it had just one two-bedroom unit available “until October.” The last post on the page as of this writing, dated June 2, states restaurant space is available.

East End Village has four separate Craigslist posts offering residential units for lease, all of which went up the same day of this writing. Three advertise one-bedroom units for $1,195, and one lists a two-bedroom unit for $1,395.

A separate Craigslist ad posted June 8 indicates East End Village has 3,200 square feet of commercial space available.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/east-end-village-hit-with-foreclosure-suit-from-its-general/article_1b6a3575-dbca-5812-b098-944b753d1a5f.html

Nothing we didn't already know, just confirmation and details.  And ohmygod the one comment below the article says "You mean demand for 'downtown' living quarters is not that great?" why do Ieven look?

Although Mark Larson is from Oklahoma, most of his previous development work with his company, Larson Development, has been in the Richmond, Virginia, area. To date, he’s created 225 apartments in existing buildings in Richmond.
“A mentor got me into a historic tax-credit renovation project in Virginia,” he said. “But I had always wanted to get back to Oklahoma.”
Larson got his chance with East End Village, a total renovation of the block bounded by Fourth and Fifth streets and Elgin and Frankfort avenues.
The first phase of East End Village, which created 48 apartments on the block, is now completely occupied. Now, an additional 35 apartments are about to be finished by December, along with 6,000 square feet that could be used for retail or office space.
When the dust finally settles at the former site of Bill White Chevrolet, development costs will total $11.5 million, Larson said.
Even though the site has either been used for storage or vacant for the last 50 years, Larson said he believed it was a prime spot for renovation.
“I thought it had a great location and was a great property,” he said. “There’s a lot of great history there.”
The development was a challenging one. The block had an array of buildings with different purposes, including a car ramp that went over an alleyway onto a roof for parking.
On top of that, the site had fallen into disrepair.
“There’s mortar that’s deteriorated, and the original building had a hole in it where a backhoe had almost fallen through the floor,” Larson said.
As a result, the 600-square-foot to 1,500-square-foot units have wildly varying floorplans. Seven of them have private roof decks, while one was built within an elevator shaft. Like the finished apartments, the new apartments will rent for $899 to $2,199 per month.
As for the rooftop parking lot, it’s been transformed into a public roof deck usable by all residents.
While the original apartments are located in auxiliary buildings, the new construction is focusing on the two-story showroom building. Of the two nonresidential spaces, one is situated within the glass showroom of the former car dealership. Larson said he’s open to either restaurants or office tenants moving in.
Larson said he’s pleased by what’s happening both at East End Village and in the eastern part of downtown in general.
“We’ve had great luck so far,” he said. “Leasing’s happened quickly, and we’re excited about the growth we’ve seen in the area.”
As for his next move, Larson Development has already purchased the vacant Jane Phillips Memorial Hospital in Bartlesville and plans to put 62 apartments there.
And Larson said he’s actively looking for an additional redevelopment project to take on in downtown Tulsa.
Robert Evatt 918-581-8447

I'm glad they built these, they are cool and quirky. I wonder if the inherent oddness might make them harder to rent as more living choices come on line in downtown.

Next Tulsa Now t-shirt, "Keep Tulsa Inherently Odd"

Next Tulsa Now t-shirt, "Keep Tulsa Inherently Odd"

I actually really like that lol. 

Next Tulsa Now t-shirt, "Keep Tulsa Inherently Odd"

I actually really like that lol. 

That may appear at the top of the page at some point too... *cough*