Agencies begin move into SandRidge Tower
Activity is picking up at SandRidge Energy's former downtown office tower as state agency employees have begun moving into their new quarters.
The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, Oklahoma Tax Commission and Oklahoma Department of Health already have begun moving their staffs into the building.
Discussions are continuing with other state agencies that may also decide to make the move, said Bennett Abbott, general counsel for the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office.
The CLO purchased the building from SandRidge for $35.5 million with plans to convert it into a state office building. Those plans are quickly coming to fruition.
The move of the Tourism Department is almost complete, said Jerry Winchester, the agency' s executive director.
About 80 to 85 tourism employees are making the move and all but a handful of film and music employees have already moved to their new quarters, he said.
"It' s gone incredibly well," Winchester said.
Prior to the move, tourism employees were crammed in with the Department of Commerce, he said.
Before space in the SandRidge Tower became available, there were plans to use bond money to fund a $15 million expansion of the Commerce Department site to house tourism employees.
Instead, the agency was able to purchase two floors of the tower for about $1.9 million, which is a tremendous savings for taxpayers, he said.
Not only that, but the SandRidge Tower just happened to have a television studio on the 10th floor, which fulfills the tourism department's needs for a studio for its Discover Oklahoma television show and related operations.
The ninth floor will house tourism's administrative team and state parks employees, while the creative team, travel, promotions and human resources departments will be on the 10th floor.
Winchester said the excitement tourism employees have about the move seems to be matched by downtown restaurant owners who are thrilled to welcome new customers after having struggled for months with a loss of business due to the coronavirus.
Soon they will be seeing a lot more new faces as the Oklahoma Tax Commission is moving about 500 employees into the building and the Oklahoma Department of Health is moving in about 700 employees.
Both are moving their staffs in stages.
"Because of COVID and other things, we're doing a phased in move in," said Jay Doyle, executive director of the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
Employees are being moved in groups of four or five at a time to accommodate the need for social distancing.
The Tax Commission is moving from office space with a lot of cubicles to space with a lot more dedicated offices, which should be good for social distancing in a COVID-19 environment, he noted.
"Luckily the building came furnished so we're not moving a ton of furniture. We're mainly moving files and technology and that type of stuff," he said. "We started and moved our first group of individuals in on Sept. 15. ... We'll be continuing to move people in essentially through the rest of the year."
Doyle said the timing of the move is great for his agency because they will be able to get everybody moved before the rush of tax season and the legislative session.
The Tax Commission will occupy floor four of the SandRidge Tower as well as floors 20 through 27.
The fourth floor will be the agency's mail and copy center, while most of the other employees will be on floors 20 through 27.
Personal service to taxpayers will be offered at a taxpayer intake center located at the bottom of the Broadway Kerr parking garage, which is part of the complex, Doyle said.
"There will be free parking for taxpayers. It will be easy in and out for them," he said.
The Oklahoma Department of Health was to begin its move this week.
"They are planning to move 70 people per week over the next 10 weeks, for a total of around 700," a spokeswoman for the agency said.
The Department of Health will occupy floors 11 through 19 of the SandRidge tower, Abbott said. Like the Tax Commission, it will have additional space in other buildings that are part of the campus as a convenient public intake area, he said.