George Kaiser Family Foundation is partnering with other organizations to build new apartments here. Story in the Tulsa World today:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=32&articleid=20120525_32_E1_CUTLIN721477 A 21-building apartment development is being created in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood by a team that includes the George Kaiser Family Foundation, the University of Tulsa, the city of Tulsa and McCormick Baron Salazar, a St. Louis-based urban development company.
West Park Apartments will be constructed between Lewis and Atlanta avenues across the street from Kendall-Whittier Park, which is also getting a face-lift as part of the project. In all, the 148 apartments and improvements will cost $36 million.
Josh Miller, a program officer with the Kaiser foundation, said the organization has been increasingly active in the neighborhood over the past seven years with various educational programs and services, including helping to establish an Educare childhood school in the neighborhood at 2511 E. Fifth Place.
Inspired by the work of Harlem Children's Zone, a nonprofit that has had great success helping the children of Harlem in New York City, the foundation decided to expand its efforts to help provide a better environment for children after school hours.
"The foundation saw an opportunity to take all the current services we're providing in the neighborhood and build a pipeline from birth to school to college to career," Miller said.
"One of the significant challenges we've identified in the area is the lack of safe, affordable, quality housing."
Construction has begun, with the first central building to be finished in mid-2013 and the rest of the buildings by the end of that year, Miller said.
Funding for the project is coming from the Kaiser foundation, TU, low-income housing credits, outside financing secured by MBS and other sources, he said.
Additionally, the city of Tulsa is providing sanitary and storm sewer infrastructure work, said Henry Somdecerff, design engineering manager in engineering services for the city.
The first building to go up will be a large facility that will house the apartment management office, amenities such as a community room and fitness room, 20 apartments and 2,600 square feet of retail space.
Miller said the building will be one of the first mixed-use structures in the area to go up using guidelines from PlaniTulsa, the citywide effort to update the city's comprehensive plan.
Not only will its 20 units be devoted to graduate students from TU, but also the university will own the building, said Kevin Buck, executive vice president and treasurer at TU.
"The foundation was looking to do something in the neighborhood to clean it up and provide better quality housing, and they came to us to see if we could be involved," he said. "We've always been very active in the Kendall-Whitter neighborhood."
TU owns multiple lots and buildings in the neighborhood, Buck said.
The foundation had also reached out to MBS for construction and management of West Park based on the company's track record of community development and urban revitalization, Miller said.
Mary Kellers, vice president and senior project manager at MBS, said units at West Park should have an average rent of $572 per month, compared to an estimated market value of $630 per unit. There will be one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans.
Miller said planning for West Park began in 2008, when the foundation and MBS started reaching out to residents in the neighborhood.
"We had a whole series of neighborhood meetings to find out what the neighborhood wanted," he said. "The design of the apartments is the result of input from the residents."
The buildings won't just blend into the neighborhood, they'll embrace the eclectic architecture and have unique looks, Miller said.
"It's meant to look like a neighborhood," he said. "One of them will have an arts and crafts look and one will have a European romantic look, for instance."
The renovation of Kendall-Whittier Park is aimed to make it more open and inviting for use, Miller said.
"Right now, it's very choppy and user unfriendly," he said. "There's a tree at second base, and most of the activity only takes space in one corner."
Among the changes planned are new lighting, new entrances, a splash pad, new pavilions and gazebos, an ornamental metal fence, walking trails and more.
A quick search also turned up a detailed PDFs of ALL the plans and construction documents.
View here.
This is an amazing project. I especially like the mixed-use building facing Lewis.
Thanks again to GKFF.