The Tulsa Development Authority owned some land across Denver Ave. from the new BOk Center, which they put up for sale and they're taking proposals. They recieved numerous proposals, but they only released one so far. It's a high-rise Westin Hotel.



The company, 'Heavenly Hospitality', is currently developing a mixed-use mid or high-rise in Owasso with a Sheraton as the hotel tenant.

The Westin at Garden Square would have 246 rooms, 750 parking spaces, 28 lofts down on the street, and 72 penthouses on top of the Westin.

Developer proposes hotel, shops
By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
8/20/2006

The Westin project would take a full block of downtown adjacent to the arena. It would include living space.
A mammoth development that would include a hotel, condominiums, urban lofts, and retail and restaurant space is being proposed for the city's property for sale across the street from the BOK Center.

The Westin at Tulsa Garden Square proposal was the only one submitted to the Tulsa Development Authority by the 5 p.m. Friday deadline.

"Frankly, I'm surprised we didn't receive more than that," the authority's chairman, Carl Bracy, said. "We had a lot of inquiries."

Even though the authority has only one proposal to consider, that doesn't mean it has to accept the plan, Bracy said.

"It's going to go through a review process to determine whether it's the best project for that site," he said, adding that he has not yet reviewed it.

"Maybe it is and we don't need to see any more. But we could throw it out and start all over."

The authority began soliciting proposals in June for the 58,000-square-foot site, on Denver Avenue between Second and Third streets. It is asking for the fair market value of nearly $1.6 million.

The L-shaped property, which is being used for parking,

is adjacent to the vacant and dilapidated Towerview Apartments and an office building leased by Tulsa Vision Builders, the arena's construction team.

The Westin at Tulsa Garden Square would use the entire block, featuring a 246-room, upscale Westin Hotel with 72 condominiums in the upper seven stories, along with meeting space and a ballroom.

Surrounding an 8,500-square-foot courtyard garden would be 40,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space with 28 urban lofts, rooftop gardens and a pool.

The development would also have 750 parking spaces, most of them underground.

The developer, Heavenly Hospitality LLC of Anthem, Ariz., indicates in the proposal that it has an exclusive agreement to purchase the office building and its land for roughly $2 million.

The developer also notes that the Towerview's owner wants at least $2 million for that property, but no agreement to buy it is apparent.

The developer includes several conditions, which could prove to be stumbling blocks for the city.

Among them are:


Moving the bus station at Fourth Street and Denver Avenue and replacing it with a visitor information center and trolley station to local points of interest and parking facilities.


Legally requiring freight trains to stop blowing their whistles when going through downtown.


Demolishing or significantly renovating the Coney Island Building and the nearby Wright Building annex that includes the Pomodori's restaurant.


Requiring the planned Centennial Walk, which would include historical markers and sidewalk landscaping, to touch the development. The core route of the walk that has funding does not reach the site.


Designating the hotel as the premier headquarters hotel for downtown Tulsa.

The proposal also alludes to possible economic incentives that the city could offer but does not spell them out.

It states, however, that the two extra parcels of land that would have to be acquired privately have steep prices for the market.

This is where we run into the problem... To get this we have to do this...

Personaly let them build but change some of the requriments and give them possible economic incentives.

Moving the bus station would be very expensive, and designating a premier headquarters hotel for downtown is pretty communistic. What ever happened to the usual 'you scratch my back, I scratch your back'?

I remember you saying that the city should offer like $2 million...

It did mention
The proposal also alludes to possible economic incentives that the city could offer but does not spell them out.


I wonder how much they would take. I m thinking like $5 million the most...

Oh, this is because of developer's ethical code and not wanting to loot the city out of too much?

The Developer knows he will get something out of this but what will the city give them... With all this sponsorship happening to the Arena I think the city well give them the money and take some ideas they put on the table...

The things I agree on this proposal---

Requiring the planned Centennial Walk, which would include historical markers and sidewalk landscaping, to touch the development.The core route of the walk that has funding does not reach the site

Designating the hotel as the premier headquarters hotel for downtown Tulsa.

The requirements are stupid. This land is the best future site for a hotel development in all of Tulsa. A developer will build there, and the city doesn't have to break its back to get this particular proposal through- more will come. This is a great proposal and all, but the requirements are asking a lot. I mean, why do they need an additional tourist attraction like the Centennial Walk to touch the development when they have what will be the biggest draw in the city under construction across the street?

I don't mind the Centennial Walk strings though, because I would really love to see the Centennial Walk become a finished project. Not just half of the plans, but I would like to see everything there completed, and then it will touch this hotel.

The land--- Yes it is the best land you can get next to the Arena... Yes someone will build there and occupy the land looking shiny and stuff like that...

People of Tulsa--- To anxieties with all this news lately, I think the City well go ahead with this project...


It would be very nice to see that Centennial Walk completed and it would make sense going past the Arena...

This is a very nice, very cool development. I think the city should find a way to make it work, it's not like Trump will come along if we wait it out.

Wish list examined
By BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
9/1/2006

Some proposals for a downtown hotel are daunting, while others seem doable
A list of demands given to the city by a developer to bring a massive hotel, retail and residential project to downtown has raised some eyebrows.

The list includes the demolition or renovation of private property, moving the city bus terminal and other actions that could prove costly and controversial.

"I don't know if any of these are make-or-break items," said Suzann Stewart of the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau, who is on the committee that is reviewing the plan.

"This may simply be part of the negotiating process."

The Westin at Tulsa Garden Square proposal was the only one submitted to the Tulsa Development Authority this month for the city-owned property across from the BOK Center.

The development would consume the entire city block from Second to Third streets and Denver to Cheyenne avenues, which includes the vacant and dilapidated Towerview Apartments and an office building.

Representatives of the Arizona development group Heavenly Hospitality have not been available for comment.

But the proposal includes several conditions that the development group

claims are necessary to ensure the project is a success.



Moving the Denver Avenue bus station: The proposal foresees turning the station into a visitor information center and trolley station.

The downtown bus station cost $5.7 million when it was opened only eight years ago. Two-thirds of the funding came from the federal government. The rest came from the 1996 third-penny sales-tax package.

Moving it would be costly, Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority General Manager Bill Cartwright said.

Demolition or renovation of private buildings: The Coney Island Building and the Wright Building were targeted.

The Coney Island Building, 123 W. Fourth St., has been on the market for about a year, said attorney Chris Economou, whose family has owned the building for more than a decade and runs the Coney Island restaurant.

"We have three live offers on the table now," he said.

The offers involve turning it into a record-storage facility, back into a hotel or demolishing it, Economou said.




Silencing trains going through downtown: The numerous freight trains that pass through Tulsa's central business district each day are legally required to blow their whistles because of the type of crossing gates used.

That is expected to soon change with the help of federal and local funding

Centennial Walk: The Westin plan calls for the Centennial Walk to come to its location.

The Vision 2025 package set aside $10.4 million for the core route of the Centennial Walk, which will feature historical markers, lighting improvements and sidewalk landscaping.

It would cost at least $350,000 per block for an extension

Special designation for the hotel: The Westin proposal insists that the new hotel be "the premier headquarters hotel" for downtown Tulsa.

This is not a designation the city is likely to make, Stewart said.

"This is not a designation the city is likely to make, Stewart said."

Lol...

Is the Wright Building in the picture behind Coney Island?

If so, and from what I see of that tiny sliver of the building, there's no way they could justify tearing it down.