Downtown Development: Next Step: Tussle brews over site
By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
8/13/2006
A grassy plot connecting the Greenwood Business District and the Brady Village neighborhood is the focus of a competitive development process initiated by the Tulsa Development Authority.
"The fairness of the situation demands it," the authority's chairman, Carl Bracy, said. "We've been looking at all of the downtown property in our inventory, and this is certainly one of the most promising for development."
But Greenwood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Reuben Gant doesn't think that is the right approach.
Not that he's opposed to developing the 5.8 acres at the northeast corner of Archer Street and Elgin Avenue. Far from it.
Gant believes that his chamber's nonprofit arm -- Greenwood Community Development Corp. -- should be allowed the opportunity to develop the site with office, retail, residential and hotel space.
"We're not afraid of competition," he said. "We believe what we will bring to the table would be the best use of the property. But we don't think we should have to compete for it."
Under the authority's policies, the competitive process could be waived and the land sold for less than the fair market value of $1.5 million if a nonprofit
showed interest.
Gant said that was the path that should have been taken, especially because a previous effort to develop the site never came to pass.
"We've had our eye on this property for nearly 10 years," he said. "Long before Vision 2025 created a demand for property in the downtown area, we wanted to make something of it."
Bracy said the competition was necessary to make sure the best project is found for the site.
"More than one group of people is interested in this property," he said, declining to give any names. "We're going to give the Greenwood Chamber due consideration, as we will everyone else who participates."
Development proposals for the site are due Aug. 21. They will be reviewed by a committee of appointed citizens.
"There's nothing preventing us from throwing out all of the proposals and dealing with one group, but we need to see what's out there," Bracy said.
TDA Executive Director Brenda Miller said it was doubtful that the authority would opt to sell the land for less, adding that the proceeds would go to the city, primarily to help the federal Community Development Block Grant program.
The authority has given breaks on property for nonprofit developments such as schools and churches, but not for the kind of commercial development that is being sought for this land, she said.
"Why would they want to sell it for less than it's worth?" she asked. "It's a fabulous site for development that took a very long time to piece together."
The authority began accumulating portions of the site in the mid-1980s, after the nearby Greenwood Center red-brick shopping strip was built and Greenwood Avenue was reopened to traffic.
In the years following, Oklahoma State University's Tulsa campus was established just to the north and quickly began to flourish, and the Greenwood Cultural Center was relocated to the area.
The authority acquired the final piece of the site around 2000 and issued a request for development proposals shortly afterward.
A group of developers entered into a contract with the authority for a mixed-use project at the site.
But the economy soon went sour in Tulsa -- and in the rest of the country. That, with a variety of other obstacles, stalled the development.
The authority decided late last year to void the contract and try again. It issued another request for development proposals earlier this summer.
Miller, who is also the deputy director of the city's Public Works and Development Department, said she believed the effort will succeed this time.
"I say that because of the level of interest we've had in the property," she said.
"There's a lot of energy in the area. But I do have concerns that people feel welcome to participate in the process. My hope is that potential developers are greeted with a positive attitude."
In Greenwood's heyday before the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, the area included many black-owned businesses.
Whatever development is chosen for the site will have to be sensitive to the history of the area, Miller said.
"It will have to pay respect to the fact that the Greenwood area has a very special significance to the minority population and it has a historic context to it," she said. "I think everyone agrees that the development has to have the right feel."
Gant insists that the chamber's development would be the right fit for the area. It would be named Franklin Square in honor of Buck Colbert Franklin, a black lawyer who represented many of his community's residents after the riot.
"Without Buck Franklin's efforts, Greenwood might never have been revived," Gant said.
The idea is to finance the project through traditional banking and perhaps secure U.S. Treasury funding using the nonprofit's Community Development Financial Institution status.
The development would include 53,000 square feet of office and retail space, with the potential to add 26,000 more square feet, Gant said. It also would have 44 brownstone residences and an 82-room hotel.
"We have a number of bus tours that come through here and stay several hours," he said, ticking off a list of area attractions: the Greenwood Cultural Center, the Black Wall Street monument, Mabel Little Heritage House, Vernon Chapel AME Church, Mount Zion Baptist Church and the Greenwood Business District, among others.
Also, ground is supposed to be broken soon for the John Hope Franklin Greenwood Reconciliation Museum and Memorial, and the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame will be relocated to the nearby renovated Union Depot, Gant said.
"We feel as though we're missing out on generating overnight dollars and maximizing the overall experience of the Greenwood area," he said.
Greenwood is "a crown jewel," he said. "It's an area not just of local interest. It's of regional, national and international interest."
Gant said the opportunities were similar to what Oklahoma City did with the site of the Murrah Federal Building bombing; what Memphis, Tenn., did with the Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination; and what Cincinnati did by establishing the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
"Why wouldn't we want to capitalize on our history?" he asked. "I like to say it's turning a civil tragedy into an economic triumph. The Greenwood Chamber is the right group to do it."
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Brian Barber 581-8322
brian.barber@tulsaworld.com 
