On Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Council closed its meeting with an executive session, and when they emerged, it look less than 30 seconds to cap months of speculation and uncertainty over the site of the MAPS 3 Convention Center.
The council moved to pick a site known as East Park 1, located south of the Chesapeake Energy Arena from SW 3rd to SW 7th streets between Robinson Ave. and Shields Blvd.
Earlier this year, a deal fell through on a site south of the Myriad Gardens at the head of the planned central park that would’ve been along the streetcar line and near the new planned boulevard. The Journal Record’s managing editor Adam Brooks said those negotiations collapsed due to sticker shock.
“The city thought it could get the land for about $13 million,” Brooks said. “The group that owned it decided they wanted to value it based on new development downtown, and they were way, way off by a factor of eight or nine.”
The city still needs to negotiate with landowners in the area to make sure they can acquire the property, and have about $18 million set aside, according to The Journal Record’s Brian Brus:
However, that does not include about $30 million needed to move an electric utility substation in the northeast part of the area. Those funds were set aside earlier in the planning process. According to the director of real estate appraisal at the Oklahoma County assessor’s office, the properties City Hall is interested in have had a few sales recently that reveal land values. For example, a building was recently removed at SW Fifth and Shields with the intent of building a new hotel, which generated two sale prices of $1.25 million and $975,000. That breaks down to between $40.65 and $31.70 per square foot, Director Steve Storff said. Also, the sale of the lumberyard across the street to the east of the substation totaled $8 million, or $31.12 per square foot, Storff said.
Brooks says the new site will still be across the street from the park, but a little further from the central business district, and attractions like the Myriad Gardens and Bricktown.
“It’s not as ideal, but the city thinks it can work,” Brooks said.
‘Energy’ Economics
Oklahoma City’s Energy FC soccer team wrapped up its season Sunday with a Western Conference finals loss. The team averaged 4,900 people per match, or a 30 percent increase - at its new home pitch at Taft Stadium, after relocating from Bishop McGuinness High School following the inaugural season.
“That’s also good for a non-profit called Fields and Futures, which helps rebuild athletic fields at schools in Oklahoma City,” Brooks said. “Each ticket includes a donation to that group, and it raised more than $200,000 this year.
Team executives told The Journal Record’s Molly Fleming corporate sponsorship doubled in 2015, and they expect it to grow even more next year:
While the team is still settling into Taft and even finishing some work on the facility, [ Prodigal CEO Bob Funk Jr] has his eyes on the future. He said there is still a need for a soccer-specific stadium. He said the United Soccer League could make it a franchise requirement as the league moves into a higher division.
He doesn’t expect the need for a soccer-specific stadium to arise for at least four years. “It could be a multipurpose facility,” he said. “It could be used for lacrosse, American football and even concerts.” To make Taft – a high school football field with a track – into a soccer pitch, the goal posts were removed for each game and the soccer lines were painted. Funk said the management didn’t hear complaints from fans about the stadium not being soccer-specific.
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