Dazzling details tell the tale of Edmond boom

Janet Yowell, executive director of the Edmond Economic Development Authority, dropped some dazzling details on 2018 construction the other day at the annual Edmond Economic Preview, sponsored by First Fidelity Bank.

They were mostly from Interstate 35's medical beat and downtown's business boom. First, I-35 ... is ... alive! OK, that's no secret. But for those of us with a longish view — nearly 20 years in my case — who remember the mostly lonely stretch from the Logan County line south to Frontier City, the transformation along the highway is amazing.

Yowell said I-35 had just more than $117 million in construction started last year, including some of the largest permits.

• Mercy Primary Care Clinic, 2017 W I-35 Frontage Road, has 41,525 square feet under construction under a $19.4 million permit for primary care offices and an emergency room, to open in late 2019 or early 2020. The new building is just south of the existing 200,000-square-foot facility that includes outpatient surgery, doctor's offices and a wellness center.

• Integris Health Edmond, 4801 Integris Parkway, took out a $62 million building permit for a 143,473-squarefoot addition doubling the size of the hospital to 100 beds, to be completed in 2020. New patient rooms will be in a five-story tower on the south side of the hospital, and a threestory building tying into the existing hospital will allow for expansion of radiology, pharmacy and surgery areas.

• Arcadia Trails Center for Addiction Recovery, east of Integris, pulled a $21.5 million permit for a 60,000-squarefoot, state-of-the-art, 40-bed treatment facility to open in May.

• Yowell noted that medical investment in expansions and alterations all over Edmond totaled almost $108 million last year, not counting new equipment including a $2.1 million surgical robotics system at OU Medical Center, 1 S Bryant Ave. After the expansions, medical employment will grow from 648 to nearly 800, she said.

• ShowBiz Movies, Bowling and More, a 64,000-square-foot entertainment venue in the Legacy at Covell, at I-35 and Covell Road, “has seen non-stop traffic which is what we anticipated when the city participated in a $4.8 million investment into the project,” Yowell said. “Tax revenue from this venue will essentially pay the developer quarterly payments in an amount not to exceed $4.8 million. There is a time frame of 20 years for this to happen. If this amount is reached before 20 years, the incentive stops.”

•”Additional private investment was made on the south side of Covell at this intersection at the Shoppes at Covell where Starbucks opened and Qdoba is currently being built out.”

Downtown, permits totaled $3.58 million last year, nearly one-tenth of the $37.5 million in private investment since 2000. Here's what's coming:

• Park 17, a mixed-use building on the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Littler Avenue that will include 17 apartments, to open late this summer.

• Urban Agrarian, 1

E Main St., opened at Main and Broadway.

• Sunnyside Diner, at Second Street and Broadway, is scheduled to open by summer.

• Venue 102, at 94 W First St., an urban industrial wedding venue, is just west of the railroad tracks.

• Edmond Railyard, 23 W First St., is redeveloping the former lumberyard west of the railroad tracks. It will include different restaurants and an open area for dining and entertainment, to open this summer.