I think One Place is looking for a BIG hotel anchor--something along the lines of 300-400 rooms with full service. Different beast.
When they first announced One Place in 2009 they specifically mentioned a 120 room hotel and that they were working with Hilton Hotels. What's being built across the street is a 134 room Hilton Garden Inn.
Developer targets Tulsa arena traffic
by Kirby Lee Davis
The Journal Record May 8, 2009
TULSA – Bob Eggleston faces a race against time.The Tulsa Development Authority agreed Thursday to a 21-day negotiation period with Eggleston for his investor group to buy about 1.5 acres at Third Street and Denver Avenue, a prime spot facing the BOK Center arena entrance.
With that and other lands on the block at his disposal, Eggleston hopes to raise One Place, a projected $38 million to $44 million complex mixing retail, office, lofts and a hotel.
That multilevel project would mine commercial opportunities relatively untapped since the 18,000-seat arena opened in September.
But even if the partnership One Development LLC reaches an agreement with the TDA, that still puts the project three or more years away from opening – a long lag time when trying to change instilled consumer habits against shopping and dining downtown.
Some restaurant operators have grumbled about concert-goers spending little money during their downtown visits. One restaurant that opened last year, anticipating strong BOK Center business, has already closed.
“Sometimes they come here, sometimes it is not so good,” said Mariana Rojas, who with her husband, Guillermo, moved their Latin grill Casa Laredo to the Adams Hotel Building in September, just a block away from the Vision 2025 arena.
With a national recession slowly creeping into the Tulsa economy, some analysts fear the arena’s novelty and curiosity factors could fade within consumers over those three construction years, returning a sense of routine and indifference.
“Traditional retail doesn’t work there,” analyst Bob Parker said of modern downtown environments. “There’s too many alternatives closer to where they live. And you can’t just live off of the one or two events, that big concert every month.”
Eggleston understands the challenge. As the former construction director on the BOK Center, he often wondered why no developer moved on his targeted lot.
“You have to create a critical mass to keep people downtown,” Eggleston said. “One restaurant does not do that.”
By mixing residential with restaurants, retail, office and hospitality, Eggleston said One Place will create a self-sustaining synergy that may capitalize on potential arena business.
The project would benefit from several other downtown residential efforts coming online during his construction period, along with the renovated Tulsa Convention Center and the Oneok Field ballpark to debut next year.
Parker said those steps could sustain and build downtown momentum for a project like One Place.
“I don’t think it’s much of a risk at all,” said Ben Edwards, a consultant to Eggleston who also worked with him on the arena. “The Blue Dome District shows the market and the need. People are just a little bit hesitant to step out in a downtown that has been vacant for so long.”
After considering this development for months, Eggleston gathered support in January from a variety of financial and business leaders, including multifamily developer Leinbach Properties, Hilton Hotels, hotel financier American Liberty Hospitality, Miles Associates, Cooper Construction Estimating and D.P. Consultants. A PowerPoint presentation by Eggleston cited financial backing from a local development consortium and other team members.
“This is a local deal,” he said, explaining how he obtained financial commitments so rapidly. “This is not outside investors.”
Cheyenne Development, which Eggleston has a stake in, bought one of the two buildings on the targeted block, the two-story Tulsa Vision Builders site. Eggleston said Concorde Development of Oklahoma, which owns the former Towerview apartment property, has pledged to participate in One Place or sell that building.
Both existing structures would be torn down for One Place.
Eggleston made his first presentation to the Tulsa Development Authority two weeks ago, offering several letters of support to verify his financial backing.
One Development proposed a $1.5 million purchase price for the TDA property, with the authority making the site shovel-ready before transferal.
Eggleston projects it will take One Development a year or more before workers may break ground. He projected construction would take two more years after that.
The design remains fluid, with Eggleston offering only general outlines of what One Place could offer. His PowerPoint touted a development with a 120-room hotel, 40-plus lofts, 15,000 square feet of office and retail space. But as he discussed One Place, he mentioned how certain elements could change dramatically depending on market demand. With all the restaurant interest already drawn, he speculated Thursday that retail space could grow to 20,000 square feet or more.
“You can’t have a project until you own the land,” he said with a smile.
That’s where time factors in to Eggleston’s plan. Although construction inflation stabilized this year, Eggleston expects it to return with a fury, perhaps raising his budget $1 million annually.
“All of these things take a lot of time,” said Parker, vice president of retail for GBR Properties of Tulsa. “That two- to three-year time frame, while it takes long, is pretty realistic.”
While he understood the challenges seeking to arena customers, Parker suggested the consumer spending slowdown probably played a role in restaurant traffic concerns. With the ballpark coming online, he said downtown restaurants and retailers could garner more excitement.
Parker said the mix of residential, service retail and hospitality could make One Place a starting point for redeveloping the BOK Center district.
“If they can tie all that in, something like this could lead to something real finally getting done,” he said.
“Just the fact that someone can announce this, this year, in this economy, is pretty optimistic,” said Parker. “There’s not a lot of communities that could even try to pull off something like this right now.”
