(PROJECT) The Metro/Tribune Lofts Expansion

[spoonbill]

Just drove that area.  
Put the car in 4WD and only busted one drive axle.  

I recommend driving on the sidewalk when down town!  Just watch out for dog poop.

[Oil Capital]

So... anybody know what's up with the Tribune Lofts expansion?  Is this another dead project?

[TheArtist]

If they have decided to get out of renting and try and turn the old lofts into condos, yet are having a hard time selling them as such, I figure they are thinking twice about building more. So yea, I would say the expansion is a no go until the area picks up more.

[DwnTwnTul]

If these are being sold, I would like to know who to contact to purchase one.  If anyone knows please post.

[spoonbill]

quote:Originally posted by TheArtist

If they have decided to get out of renting and try and turn the old lofts into condos, yet are having a hard time selling them as such, I figure they are thinking twice about building more. So yea, I would say the expansion is a no go until the area picks up more.

You are correct sir!  But now they can't get anyone to buy them either and is looking on going down in price.  Last I heard they were looking at marketing firms to do some expensive sales materials for relocation companies and realtor groups.

They are indeed very nice, but honestly, everyone that gets released from jail on the "new day program" just walks over and hangs out on the corner across the street until they get drunk enough to get in a fight and go back to jail.

[sgrizzle]

http://www.journalrecord.com/print.htm?recID=83944

quote:
ARG to transform Tulsa’s Tribune Lofts into for-sale condominiums

November 28, 2007

TULSA – American Residential Group intends to transform the Tribune Lofts apartment complex into for-sale condominiums.
That marks a major shift for what many analysts called a “trailblazer” project. When launched in late 2001, this Brady District development was one of the first modern efforts to jumpstart residential living in downtown Tulsa.
“This is actually something I think has been a long time coming for the Tulsa market,” said Raymond W. Lord, a principal and partner with NAI Commercial Properties of Tulsa. “I think it’s a neat direction; I really do. I think obviously we’re going to see a lot more of it.”
Although ARG officials could not be reached for official comment, real estate analysts confirmed the move. The Tribune property offers 35 lofts over six floors immediately north of the railroad tracks, the units ranging from 704 to 2,288 square feet.
David Z. Forrest, the Tulsa multifamily broker for CB Richard Ellis of Oklahoma, said the change casts no negative reflections on the difficulties in cracking the downtown residential market, but an effort to maximize ARG’s investment in the property.
“That’s the only reason anybody does that,” said Forrest. “That allows them to make the most dollars in the way they want to make those dollars.”
Aaron Hargrove, the Tulsa market multifamily specialist for Commercial Realty Resources Co., suggested condo sales also would provide a higher return for that property than selling it as an apartment complex, even one like the Tribune Lofts that had operated with a waiting list for several years.
“It’s not easy managing a small apartment complex,” said Hargrove. “As a management company, you would be much more interested in running a 230-unit apartment complex as opposed to a 35-unit apartment complex. That may influence their thinking on the project.
“The guys that own that are smart and successful businessmen,” he said. “I don’t know if they’ve ever, that I’ve seen, made a bad decision.”
The ARG move follows successful efforts by The Philtower LLC to convert floors 12-20 of The Philtower into condominiums, which the group completed and sold in less than a year. It also would act in advance of apartment and loft projects coming online over the next two years at the Sager Building and the Mayo Hotel.
Lord said moving now will give ARG a strong head-start in competition with these projects.
While ARG continues to lease units at Tribune Lofts, officials said the company’s intention is to turn all units into condos. The Tulsa company started accepting $5,000 deposits toward loft purchases earlier this month. No sales have been finalized.
Leaseholders have been offered purchase agreements, officials said, adding that existing contracts allow ARG to terminate a lease if a prospective owner makes a deposit on that loft.
Six of the Tribune units are now available, with another four becoming available later this month, according to www.argtulsa.com. Four lofts are leased, leaving the rest occupied.
Officials said the majority of those represent month-by-month leases.
Not all analysts looked at the project optimistically. Kent Morlan, owner of the two Central Park condominium complexes in downtown Tulsa, said the market remains soft and unfriendly to many lifestyles, with difficulties ranging from school options to parking.
“I think it’s going to be a tough sell,” he said. “The condo concept is not particularly popular in Oklahoma.”
Built in 1924 by Charles Page, the building at Archer and Boston avenues was home to The Tulsa Tribune evening newspaper from January 1925 to 1942. It then passed from a moving and storage company to serving as a mission and shelter for homeless men. It remained largely abandoned from 1971 until American Residential Group rehabilitated the structure using about $700,000 “third penny” tax funds, its efforts completed in the fall of 2001.
The refurbishing upgraded and modernized the brick façade. While no two units mirror each other, the lofts feature polished concrete floors and brick walls in their open floor plan designs, with fans hanging from ceiling heights of 10 to 14 feet.
The Tribune Lofts also provide adjacent controlled access covered parking, with the Boston Avenue Pedestrian Bridge providing walkers direct access to downtown.
Morlan suggested national credit crunch fears could create a problem for condo sales, although he admitted that could be offset by the impact of rising fuel prices.
“People may start looking at downtown as a place to live if gasoline prices keep going up,” he said.
But Lord suggested that ARG, with assets in other markets, identified a trend it could apply in Tulsa.
“What we see in Tulsa tends to lag the rest of the country, the rest of the world, by years,” he said. “It’s time for Tulsa now. It’s kind of coming onto its own timing.”
Copyright © 2007 The Journal Record All Rights Reserved
101 N. Robinson Ave., Ste. 101, Oklahoma City, OK, 73102 |
P.O. Box 26370, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126-0370 | (405) 235-3100
415 S. Boston Ave., Ste. 101, Tulsa, OK 74103 | (918) 295-0098

[Rico]

That sounds very good..

Glad someone had a chance to read the news today.

[]

[Oil Capital]

Good news that we're going to get some housing available for purchase downtown.  (I'm pretty sure they got it wrong in the story about the Philtower; those are still rental, are they not?)

Does anyone have any pricing information?

[USRufnex]

Yeah right, OC.  /sarcasm

[Rico]

Something possibly worthy of mention on the change in "marketing strategy'.....

That is: For Sale rather than For Rent or Lease...

There are several Corporations that transfer individuals to the Tulsa area for a set period of time.

When Texaco was in Tulsa they purchased several of the units at Liberty Towers for just this sort of thing...

I won't be surprised if some of the units are... or have already been purchased for this sort of future use....

[Oil Capital]

quote:Originally posted by Rico

Something possibly worthy of mention on the change in "marketing strategy'.....

That is: For Sale rather than For Rent or Lease...

There are several Corporations that transfer individuals to the Tulsa area for a set period of time.

When Texaco was in Tulsa they purchased several of the units at Liberty Towers for just this sort of thing...

I won't be surprised if some of the units are... or have already been purchased for this sort of future use....

Very true.  I know of at least one unit at Philtower that is leased by a corporation for that purpose.

[CoffeeBean]

Any new info on this project?  Are units currently for sale as condos?  If so, any pricing info out there?

[spoonbill]

quote:Originally posted by CoffeeBean

Any new info on this project?  Are units currently for sale as condos?  If so, any pricing info out there?

Contact ARG  http://www.argtulsa.com/  
From what I hear they are desperate for anyone to show interest!

Could probably name your price at this point!

Good luck.

[TheTed]

There's an ad in this week's Urban Tulsa. I believe it said the prices start at around $90k.

[spoonbill]

quote:Originally posted by TheTed

There's an ad in this week's Urban Tulsa. I believe it said the prices start at around $90k.

Wow!  That's a hundred thousand less than the original target price!  Does that include a parking space?