MULLING THE MILL
Downtown cotton mill questions dominate OKC Central Chat
During Friday’s OKC Central online chat, business writer Steve Lackmeyer answered questions from readers about what’s going on in downtown and its surrounding neighborhoods. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.
Q: Now that the deal for the Producer’s Co-op is dead, what’s next for that site? Was it scrapped because funding was unfeasible for the scope of work proposed or because of the property condition itself?
A: We do not know what the contract price was set at, but we do know the Producers Co-op cotton farmers started out several years ago being advised by a former broker to ask for $121 million. Most people I talked to at the time thought that price was outrageous. The market seemed to agree. The broker was cut loose, but I still suspect the co-op has a greatly inflated asking price and are still struggling to truly accept they were badly advised on that initial asking price. Even if they cut their price by half, the original number was so out of whack that even the new number may be too high.
This was probably the last good shot at redeveloping the land anytime soon. It’s a massive piece of property that needs extensive cleanup and clearance. I did get to see some conceptual plans and Bob Funk Jr.’s project was very, very ambitious. But at a time when retail trends are shifting dramatically and the Bricktown hotel count is about to hit 23, I don’t blame Funk Jr. for pulling back.
Q: Any thoughts on the future of
the Co-op site now that the plans for the development have stalled?
A: If I were advising the Co-op members, I’d tell them to work with an investor to clear the site and sell it in smaller sections.
Q: Does the Cotton Mill deal failing mean that the Cotton Mill will sit there as an interminable eyesore, or are there others who are interested in purchasing and developing this core property?
A: The price will have to drop to where the market is for it to sell as one big piece.
Q: So now that the list is out to name the downtown park, what do
I was a bit surprised by the list. Four of the names start with popular picks — but then the committee did their own tinkering so that instead of going with Skydance Park, as suggested by dozens of people, they listed Skydance Green, even though that combination was submitted by just one person.
A few dozen people wanted a variation of either Union Park or Union Commons, but the committee very late in the game chose to add “Station” and listed “Union Station Commons.” Station was included in only 11 name submissions, and I’m encountering a lot of folks who are upset that the name was lengthened to include Station.
When I spoke to committee chair Jim Tolbert, he explained the idea of going with “Green” or “Commons” was to show this was more than an ordinary park.
But another popular suggestion, Scissortail Park, was kept that way. When I asked about the mix, he said the choices also involved what would sound best.
And yes, only two people pitched “Painted