On Tuesday the Oklahoma City Council took another step toward creating a tax increment financing, or TIF, district for the Wheeler neighborhood near downtown, just south of the Oklahoma River.
The area on either side of Western Ave. north of SW 20th Street will eventually have housing, offices, retail, and the centerpiece has already gone up - a 100-foot tall Ferris wheel.
The project led by developer Blair Humphreys has been in the works for years. But the idea of using TIF money for the Wheeler district is a little bit unusual and Councilman Ed Shadid has concerns, according to The Journal Record’s Brian Brus:
“Traditionally, it’s been the city that’s drawn up targeted areas and presenting them to council with some general direction about what’s needed as part of a larger plan,” Shadid said. “And whether it’s developers who are working with the Alliance, it’s still centrally driven. “In this case, it didn’t come from the Alliance. You had Humphreys start a campaign, drawing consultants from out of state and holding public meetings. And when they didn’t get anywhere with the Alliance for Economic Development, they talked to the council (members) individually,” he said.
The TIF district hasn’t actually been approved - the Council agreed to give Mayor Mick Cornett the authority to appoint a review committee.
“Once the TIF review committee has been established, and we’ve completed the review of the information we’ve been provided by the developer, the TIF review committee would meet, they would consider it,” Oklahoma City’s Alliance for Economic Development president Cathy O’Connor said during Tuesday’s meeting of the City Council. “They might have one or two meetings. They would make a recommendation. The plan would then go to the Planning Commission, and then finally it would go to city council.”
This Wheeler district is close to downtown, and many other districts have been created in the urban core. But Oklahoma City is massive – 620 square miles – and some councilmembers want to see development in outlying neighborhoods.
[Councilman Pete] White has suggested SW 25th Street near Capitol Hill, for example, and [Councilman David] Greenwell has mentioned SE 44th Street west of Del City. “Theoretically, there are a lot of areas that have the characteristics that could benefit and qualify for a TIF under the Local Redevelopment Act,” she said. “They need economic development; they have blight; they’re in a state-designated enterprise zone. But we aren’t actively looking at anyplace else right now.”
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