Funding the future
Plan looks to Innovation District as economic engine for Oklahoma City
With a“transition” underway in older industries including energy, a consortium of public and private leaders in the city's technology, aviation, health and bioscience sectors are pushing a plan to turn the Oklahoma Health Center into an economic engine to drive future growth.
A two-year study by Chicago- based Perkins & Will concludes implementation of the first phase of
its plan that was unveiled Wednesday could create $1.2 billion in annual additional economic impact and generate $423 million in additional annual payroll.
And while the study proposes improvements and programming throughout the area stretching from the state Capitol to the Oklahoma Health Center a nd nearby neighborhoods, it proposes the most intense development take place in a“core” area between NE 8, NE 10, N Lincoln Boulevard and Interstate 235.
At the heart of the plans for the core is the city's oldest park, S tiles Park, which is home to the 100- foot- high Beacon of Hope that shines a light beam into the sky at night. Currently, the park is surrounded by open fields, but the plan envisions the plaza around it being upgraded and the surrounding l and being built up with a hotel, expansion of the Baker Hughes/GE campus, a research lab, retail and offices.
The park also would anchor an innovation hub, inspired by District Hall in Boston, a mission-driven, collaborative event venue, free public workspace and programming hub designed to bring the community together and foster the idea that anyone can be an innovator.
Some highlights in the core might potentially be a part of an upcoming MAPS 4 proposal, including the innovation hub and widening of the NE 10 Street bridge spanning I-235 where narrow sidewalks are replaced with landscaped and lit passageways.
Much of the development in the area also would be made possible by replacing extensive surface parking with garages.
The Oklahoma Health Center, home to the OU Research Park, OU Medical School, the Baker Hughes/ GE research center, the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, and an array of hospitals, research institutions and biotech companies, has a workforce totaling 18,000. But it has very little mixed- use development or connection to the surrounding historically black neighborhoods or downtown.
Roy Williams, president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, sees that lack of vitality as holding the district back from realizing its full potential in generating outside investment, creating new jobs
and sparking creation of new businesses.
With a first phase timed to be completed by 2025 and a second phase timed for 2025 to 2040, Will & Perkins and its team forecasts the Innovation District will create 6,600 permanent jobs, $423 million in wages with 16% in engineering and research and development, 31% in data sciences, 53% in pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical device and health care.
“Having must- visit spots within the area only enhances the ability of the existing organizations to recruit talent,” Williams said. “This Innovation District is crucial for Oklahoma City. The continued diversification of our economy will secure our economic future. Cities around the world are investing to be at the center of innovative and disruptive technologies that will set the future course. We need to be ahead of developing industries, rather than
behind.”
Following there commendation of the Brookings Institute, which concluded the first phase of studies for creation of an Innovation District two years ago, the Perkins & Will plan suggests a series of investments aimed at connecting the medical and institutional anchors to the surrounding neighborhoods.
“The goal ,” authors of the Brookings study wrote, “is not simply to build new buildings but to create greater density and collaboration between geographically distant but strategically aligned institutions.”
Cathy O'Connor, president of The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City, said that process started with community outreach meetings and visits involving 500 people sharing their thoughts about the area' s assets and potential.
Those participants responded the Jewel Theatre,
Douglass High School, t he Henrietta B. Foster Center, Washington Park and historic homes as key assets in the area. Keeping the historically black churches and schools in place was another concern expressed by the community.
“Working with the nearby residents was a concerted effort to make sure the adjacent neighborhoods' concerns and desires were addressed as the Innovation District continues to grow and prosper,” O'Connor said. “The Innovation District is home to jobs for people of all educational backgrounds, so we want everyone to feel welcome to seek employment opportunities.”
The stud y' s response is to return NE 4 to its roots as a mixed- use commercial corridor including redevelopment of the historic black Jewel Theatre and conversion of the Foster Center, originally t he black YMCA during the Jim Crow era, into a business incubator center and community c on nection to opportunities in the Innovation District.
The plan also proposes restoration and improvements at Washington Park on NE 4, a historically black community gathering spot.
The Perkins & Will study authors conclude implementation of their plan will create an array of new supporting jobs without required fouryear college degrees. They breakdown the employment opportunity as including 737 jobs in data science with an average wage of $ 22.83 an hour, 366 jobs in engineering, research and development at $19.05 an hour, and 1,237 jobs in pharmaceuticals, health and medical device fields at an average of $18.11 an hour.
“We can create an environment with seamless integration between the neighborhoods and our innovation assets — a place where the people and the spaces fuel each other's success,” O'Connor said. “With these inclusive development strategies, we will increase jobs and economic security for residents in the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Yet another component of the plan suggests state leaders look at creating a central parking garage at the state Capitol to allow its sprawling surface parking lots to be developed in away that improves connections to the Innovation District and surrounding neighborhoods.
The Perkins & Will study was funded by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, the city of Oklahoma City, the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services, The Alliance f or Economic Development of Oklahoma City, the Innovation District, the Presbyterian Health Foundation, the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Health Foundation.
Presentations started Wednesday and after a public comment period the plan will go the city's planning commission and then the city council to be added to PlanOKC, the city's comprehensive plan. Katy B or en, CEO of the Innovation District nonprofit created to oversee the area's transformation, said the plan will help the city keep up with the evolving economy.
“We want Oklahoma City to be the place where people relocate to for their next research project, whether that' s in bioscience or energy,” Boren said .“Having productive and functioning spaces, with access to other powerful minds, will make us a destination for the next generation of researchers.”