Resource Development nabs $110M Oklahoma project

Developer Bill Jester announced Tuesday 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 last 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 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.”

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.

See SBJ’s Jan. 28 issue for more on Oklahoma Plaza and its impact on Claremore and Tulsa, as well as RDI’s other out-of-state projects.