Resource Development nabs $110M Oklahoma project

And the city picked a Springfield developer to lead the project.

Developer Bill Jester announced Jan. 22 that his firm, Springfield-based Resource Development Inc., will build Oklahoma Plaza, a 625,000-square-foot, $110 million retail, office and residential development. Oklahoma Plaza represents the largest project RDI has undertaken, he said.

Jester said he was approached by the Claremore Industrial and Economic Development Authority about possibly developing the site, and he met with city leaders in May during the International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Las Vegas.

CIEDA Executive Director Tim Hight said RDI had the financial wherewithal to handle the lifestyle center – the firm has more than $1 billion in its development portfolio, including Town and Country and Quail Creek shopping centers in Springfield, and current projects Bristol Plaza in Kansas City and Pinnacle Point and The Villas at Thornsberry Cove in Lake Ozark.

Hight said the choice was about more than just experience, though. Proximity also worked in RDI’s favor.

“Sometimes when you’re dealing with a firm in Chicago or New York, a project in Oklahoma may seem distant and may not be on the top of their radar,” Hight said. “We felt that with RDI, we would be at the center of their business model.”

The development

Jester said the Oklahoma Plaza project is so large that he is tripling his Springfield staff from eight to 24 employees during the next six months.

He added that groundbreaking is slated for April, and completion of the first buildings is scheduled by mid-2009.

A 100-room Wyndham Hotel already has been announced for the development, and Jester said a national movie theater chain has verbally committed to build a 14-screen multiplex.

“Claremore has been in the sights of major national chains for a couple of years, and we just hit that spot at the right time, with the right product,” Jester said.

Jester said he was attracted to the way the site is “strategically positioned” – flanked by Interstate 44 and U.S. Highway 66 in Claremore, the seat of Oklahoma’s fastest-growing county, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Jester also pointed to traffic counts of more than 37,000 vehicles a day, multiple access points and its proximity to major retailers such as Lowe’s and Wal-Mart. The area also is set to add nearly 900 jobs due to expansions by Gatorade, Google and wind energy company DMI Industries.

Project architect Bob Stockdale of Springfield-based Creative Ink Architects said the development is divided into sections rather than one large “power center,” in order to appeal to several different groups.

“A portion is adjacent to a Wal-Mart, so there’s an opportunity to create something catered to that market,” Stockdale said. “Then there’s an area that’s more central and open, catered toward national big-box retailers. Balancing that, there’s an effort to create a pedestrian-friendly, urban-scale development.”

Oklahoma-based SpiritBank is financing the largest portion of the project, though Jester said several Oklahoma banks are helping – an indicator, he says, of the more friendly nature of the Oklahoma banking market toward new development.

“The response from the Oklahoma banking community has been phenomenal,” Jester said. “We have multiple banking sources, and they’re totally behind the project and behind us as developers.”

The impact

The development will be one of the first lifestyle centers in Oklahoma, according to Claremore City Manager Troy Powell, who added that the economic impact of Oklahoma Plaza would be huge for the city of nearly 19,000 residents.

In addition to the anticipated 300 jobs at the center, Powell said the center would address his city’s problem with retail leakage. A recent study by Oklahoma State University estimated Claremore loses as much as $600 million in retail sales annually to neighboring Tulsa and other communities.

“Once it’s completed, it won’t eliminate leakage, but it will give our residents a chance so that if they want to shop in Claremore, they can,” Powell added.

It’s that potential audience that attracted Jester and his company; he said Resource Development thrives on creating developments in underserved areas.

He also was drawn to incentives the city offered – one-third of the sales tax revenue collected in the development, paid quarterly up to a total of $5 million, will go back to RDI, and the city is waiving permit fees while installing road and sewer infrastructure.

Despite those incentives, Powell said conservative estimates could see Claremore receive as much as $2 million annually in new sales tax revenue – an especially huge boon in Oklahoma, where cities can’t charge property tax.

“You can buy a lot of police cars and fire trucks with $2 million a year,” Powell said.

RDI beyond Springfield

Oklahoma Plaza is not RDI's only project outside the Springfield area.

• Pinnacle Point and The Villas at Thornsberry Cove are two developments of villa homes in Lake Ozark. The waterfront developments, worth about $31 million, feature a swimming pool and docks, as well as covered decks and two-car garages. They are slated for completion later this year.

• Bristol Plaza in Kansas City comprises two retail areas covering more than 65,000 square feet, plus free-standing retail buildings once the $20 million project is complete this fall. RDI anticipates national retail tenants mixed with smaller stores and restaurants.[[In-content Ad]]