HILL CLIMBING
Downtown OKC’s largest for-sale housing development has overcome obstacles
Walking the streets along The Hill overlooking Deep Deuce and Bricktown, Bill Canfield is almost comfortable enough to believe the biggest hurdles he faced developing the neighborhood the past few years finally are behind him.
A decade after starting the project, about 75 town homes are completed, marking the halfway point for what is the largest new owner-occupied housing development downtown in more than a half-century. After surviving the Great Recession, a yearlong halt to construction, and last year’s downturn in the energy industry, the homes are selling as fast as they are built.
With a construction and
design team totally different from the one he started with, a projected construction timetable calls for building 25 homes each of the next three years with completion of the entire 150-home development by 2020.
“It’s taken much longer than we anticipated,” Canfield admits. “But we’re really getting a community built here.”
Canfield was one of three to compete for the project in 2005 when the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority sought proposals for the then publicly owned 12.6 acres located on what was known as “the hill at NE 1 and Stiles.”
The property was a blighted remnant of Deep Deuce overgrown with brush, trees and covered with debris. The last surviving structure on the hill, the abandoned Page Sanctuary Church of God in Christ, was torched by arsonists in 1994.
Science and development
A decade later, prospects for Deep Deuce were on the upswing with the first housing, the Deep Deuce Apartments, an instant success. Canfield’s rivals, teams with far more development experience, pitched apartments.
But Canfield was pitching a riskier proposition —upscale, forsale housing. A consultant hired by Urban Renewal to evaluate the proposals had one major concern about Canfield — he was a scientist, not a developer.
Canfield had established himself at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, where his research gave birth to Novazyme Pharmaceuticals. The work by Canfield and fellow scientists led to a treatment for Pompe disease, a hereditary muscle-wasting disease. The story inspired a movie, “Extraordinary Measures,” in which a character based on Canfield was played by Harrison Ford.
Canfield’s company ultimately ended up as one of the first big biotech acquisitions in the research district east of downtown with Novazme selling for more than $200 million in 2001. Canfield and other Novazyme employees then developed a pharmaceuticals company, Cytovance.
“When I started Novazyme, one of the things I had to do was to recruit scientists from other states,” Canfield said. “And that was a tough thing to do. One of the complaints I got was there was no place to live, especially for those from New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York. They didn’t want five acres and a horse. They wanted urban living. They wanted something nice. I didn’t really believe that was a problem until I looked around with a Realtor.”
With Novazyme sold, Canfield decided to “take a stab” at developing the housing he believed was necessary to recruit scientists to the city. He saw the hill as the ideal location for such housing thanks to its proximity to downtown, Bricktown, the biotech community and the area’s view of the downtown skyline.
Struggles ensue
The development required extensive site work, cleanup of some contaminated soil and construction of streets and drainage. The Great Recession hit just as the first six town homes were completed. Bank financing for such projects was frozen nationwide. Construction of several other units was halted.
“2008 was a big surprise to me and everyone else,” Canfield said. “We struggled. We had a lot of property that was unfinished, so we couldn’t sell it.”
After more than a year of halted construction, work started back up in mid-2010. Homes started selling at their listed prices.
Michael Biddinger, president of First Source Real Estate, has brokered homes at The Hill for Canfield since the first ones were completed in 2008. His job, he admits, is easier than it was in those early days.
“We had a lot of interest and reservations back then, but things went slowly,” Biddinger said. “That’s changed with the contractors we have now. They’re doing a good job at hitting the construction schedule and we’re able to deliver to our clients as they want to buy and then close on their contracts.”
The sales continued last year when oil prices plunged and the state’s economy took its worst hit since the 1980s. Biddinger believes the success of The Hill can be attributed to its location, the combining of suburban-style homes in an urban setting, and Canfield’s insistence on quality that has led to a rotation of contractors over the past decade.
Future plans
The long-awaited “town hall,” meanwhile, is set to open later this year. Featuring expansive indoor and outdoor social areas, a swimming pool, hot tub, fitness center, dog run and meeting rooms.
“These are amenities you don’t see in our residential homes elsewhere downtown,” Biddinger said.
The residential mix at The Hill isn’t going exactly as Canfield anticipated. Yes, The Hill has its share of doctors, but no scientists as was once envisioned. Biddinger’s own initial expectations also were off from the ultimate outcome.
“I thought the buyers would all be empty nesters who don’t have children,” Biddinger said. “And it started out that way. And then what occurred is we are at a point where a third of our homes are owned by younger people, under 40, who have school-age children, and they live here. We also have quite a few who have this as a second home —rural people who have their second home at The Hill.”
Another resident, until last summer, was former Thunder star Kevin Durant. After a decade of development, some homes have started selling to second owners. In each case, Biddinger said, the seller walked away with a profit.
He believes the story of The Hill can help guide development in the area south of downtown known as Core to Shore.
“The Hill has proved a largescale project can be done and can be successful,” Biddinger said. “It gives places like Core to Shore, where people are thinking about doing homes the confidence that it can be done. It doesn’t have to be just a 20-home project —it can be larger and successful.”
We had a lot of interest and reservations back then, but things went slowly. That’s changed with the contractors we have now. They’re doing a good job at hitting the construction schedule and we’re able to deliver to our clients as they want to buy and then close on their contracts.” Michael Biddinger