kanbar/kaufman... how'd we get so lucky?

[brunoflipper]

what gives? what is not to like?
how did maurice kanbar and henry kauffman stumble upon us?
was it because council oaks published kanbar's book three years ago? do they have associates here? what brought them in?
im dying to know...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Kanbar
http://www.iie.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About_IIE/Board_of_Trustees/hkaufman.htm

here they both are kanbar (l) and kaufman (r)...
]

i am thrilled... i have convinced myself that they'll pull this off...


excerpted (not copied) from today's t-world...

" The investors' recent acquisitions bring their ownership to more than 20 percent of downtown building space...

The combined purchases total $70.9 million and bump the men's stake in downtown Tulsa to nearly 1.7 million square feet -- more than 20 percent of the total 8.1 million square feet of building space downtown...

The new acquisitions include the 41-story, 624,000-square-foot First Place Tower at 15 E. Fifth St. and the 32-story, 287,000-square-foot Bank of America Center at 15 W. Sixth St...
They are also under contract to purchase the 14-story, 118,000-square-foot Petroleum Club Building at 601 S. Boulder Ave.

... Downtown Tulsa Unlimited, said Kanbar and Kaufman plan to spend an undisclosed amount of money to renovate the buildings in an effort to bring round-the-clock commerce and entertainment to the area.


...Kanbar and Kaufman are hoping to purchase even more downtown buildings...

...all of these buildings were purchased by Kanbar and Kaufman, though the deeds for each building list several ownership entities.

... his clients have developed an attachment to Tulsa that goes beyond property deeds.

"They're of the opinion that Tulsa is a lovely city... Henry has said he's fallen in love with it."

... Kaufman's inspiration for downtown Tulsa comes from New York's SoHo area, which went from being largely shuttered and decrepit to a thriving arts district...

Kaufman believes "the energy came from the move-in of artists, galleries, entertainers and people who followed the opportunities to go to places of interest," Feldman said.

Part of the desire to invest in downtown Tulsa came from the voter passage of the Vision 2025 sales tax package, he said.

...Kanbar and Kaufman plan to make a financial investment in every building in their portfolio.

... "His idea is to create a synergy between art, housing and retail as well as office space,"...

...Kaufman feels art should be a major component of downtown and is considering the establishment of an art museum on the ground floor of one of the buildings.

Norton said the two buyers have submitted a proposal to city officials to convert at least part of one building into apartments. Their goal is to get some Vision 2025 tax money..."