Partner Tulsa inks deal for major development in Arts District

The Board of Trustees for the Tulsa Authority for Economic Opportunity last month approved a purchase and sale agreement with WPA Development Partners LLC, an affiliated company of Pivot Project Development, to redevelop approximately an acre of land along Cameron Street between Boulder Avenue and Main Street.

At the same time, Pivot Project has entered into a long-term lease agreement with Interak Corp., an affiliated company of Sharp Development, to develop the property directly north of there.

Taken together, the projects will bring to life 2.2 acres of long-dormant land in one of the city’s fastest-growing and popular areas. Plans for the properties envision four primary structures:

On the land purchased from TAEO, a four-story, 85,000-square-foot multipurpose building with office, retail and entertainment spaces and a parking garage; on the property to the north, a boutique hotel with retail space and a single-family residential building.

Jonathan Dodson, CEO and co-founder of Pivot Project, said that as a kid who grew up in Stillwater, he has fond memories of driving to Tulsa with his parents to see concerts at Cain’s Ballroom.

“There has always been just kind of a nostalgic feeling for that block” along Main Street, Dodson said. “Then you throw in OKPOP (the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture), you throw in what Rachel Cope has done at Empire Slice, and there really is the beginning of a really interesting block that just hasn’t been able to get finished off.

“And so I think with the mixed use of hospitality and retail and entertainment and finishing the block off, it should become a really walkable, dense block that will be additive to the neighborhood.”

This is not the first time Pivot Project has had its eyes on the Arts District property. In 2019, the Oklahoma City-based firm was selected by TAEO — also known as Partner Tulsa — to redevelop the TAEO property. Then came the pandemic.

“We had it down as a $40 million project in total for that TAEO site, and the reality was, after COVID, building costs escalated by 40%,” Dodson said. “So our $40 million project was a $60 million project.”

Faced with a new reality, Dodson said, Pivot Project decided the best way forward would be to construct a larger project in collaboration with a large capital partner. The investment in the new project will exceed $100 million, Dodson said.

“So that is how it really morphed into a project that was much larger than just the TAEO site,” Dodson said.

Under the terms of the agreement with Partner Tulsa, construction of the project must begin within 24 months after the sale is closed. Dodson said he expects that to happen in the next three months or so.

“After we start, break ground, if it’s two years from now, it will be about 18 months to 24 months of build time,” Dodson said. “So you’re really looking at, from this point on, it will probably be three and a half to four years before the project is completed.”

Casey Stowe, senior vice president for finance and real estate at Partner Tulsa, said the organization is excited about the new approach to the development.

“It yields a much larger project — a larger project that is better for the area, for the Arts District — and takes a surface parking lot and a surface grass lot and turns them into assets for the neighborhood,” Stowe said.

Stowe said the sale price will based on the appraised value at the time of sale.

Mayor G.T. Bynum said downtown growth remains critical to the economic vitality of the community.

“I want to thank the Pivot Project for their foresight in developing much needed housing and hotel space that will enhance our existing housing landscape and public amenities in downtown Tulsa,” Bynum said.

Brian Elliott, manager at Sharp Development, said the company looks forward to working with Pivot Project and is “supportive of their effort to revitalize North Main Street.”