NIGHTMARE NO MORE
Del City’s tax increment plans hook developer for troubled area
Efforts to transform what had been a blighted and crimeridden area at Interstate 40 and Scott Drive into something this community can be proud of has cleared another hurdle.
The city council and its development authority approved an agreement with a Texas-based developer this week to build a movie theater/bowling alley, restaurants and a grocery store on the southwest corner of the interchange this week.
The developer, Hunt Properties Inc., told The
Oklahoman on Wednesday the site is an ideal location for a project it expects will create a regional draw for future tenants.
For the city, approval of the project marks the completion of a journey it started about a decade ago to take an undesirable area that consisted of dilapidated apartments and a strip club and turn it into something else.
Del City officials said the deal represents an unprecedented investment in the community, and is proof the community can redevelop previously blighted areas using commitment, foresight and the proper use of development tools, including urban renewal activities and tax increment financing.
Attacking the problem
The city acquired the former Eagle Point Apartments at the site, which it declared unfit for human habitation, and tore the buildings down in December 2014.
Less than a year later, its city council declared a strip club in the same area a public nuisance. The club ultimately closed, and the city acquired that property as well.
Tom Leatherbee, Del City’s director of Community Services, said getting
the strip club issue addressed was a requirement before a developer would agree to take on the project.
“We were told in no uncertain terms that there couldn’t be any type of high-quality development in the area as long as Fantasy Island was there,” he said.
Leatherbee said the city created a tax increment finance district for the site that involves using sales tax dollars collected through the businesses there to help defer some of the developer’s costs for the project.
The city also will amend the district to capture some of the property tax dollars the site generates as well.
In all, Leatherbee said the city expects the district will generate about $10.5 million worth of assistance for the developer.
“Currently, the area generates very little in the way of property tax,” he said. “I started working on this area back in 2008. Now, things really are coming together for a first-class development.”
City officials estimate total investment in the 18.75-acre project will be about $40 million.
Long-term effort
Jeff Williams, Hunt Properties’ president, said he has been working with Del City on a potential redevelopment project for about four years.
“We initially were attracted to the site because it is very much a regional site,” Williams said.
“This property has direct access in either direction from I-40, and highly-visible exits. This definitely will pull from a very wide trade area.
“There’s a lot of potential there.”
Williams said the project’s current plan is preliminary, and could change.
But for now, Hunt’s plans call for the project to be anchored by a 65,000-square-foot movie theater consisting of 10 screens and 14 bowling lanes. Another tenant is expected to be a 17,000-square-foot grocery store.
“We’re in discussions with additional restaurants and retailers to add to the development, but we’re focused on our anchors” now, he said.
Hunt Properties Inc. is a privately held commercial real estate investment and development firm that’s been around since 1975, and has completed high-profile projects including retail, office, medical, industrial, mixeduse and residential.
The company’s regional and neighborhood retail centers are built around strong demographics and are anchored by national tenants such as Target, Home Depot, Walmart, Kroger, Safeway and Academy.
On Wednesday, Williams said he expects specific tenants to begin to announce their plans to locate in the project soon.
“The access is too good and the visibility is too good for there not to be something better there,” Williams said.
“I wouldn’t doubt this will be the first of many similar projects (for Del City).”