At a meeting Friday, the Board of Regents for Oklahoma A&M Colleges approved a request from Harry Birdwell, vice president for business and external relations, to extend the development services of Capstone Development Corporation to the OSU-Tulsa campus. Mary Bea Drummond, OSU-Tulsa director of communications, said the university is looking to build about 150 units of apartment-style housing.
“Nothing is set in stone yet,” Drummond said. “There will be market feasibility studies done so that we meet the needs of our students.
“We’re in the preliminary stages of this thing. We’re looking at two or three years before the housing becomes a reality.”
Gary Trennepohl, OSU-Tulsa president, said the housing will make OSU-Tulsa more convenient for students.
“A large part of our enrollment is made up of non-traditional students,” Trennepohl said. “These students work full time and attend school part time.
“Student housing would make it easier for the students to work in the downtown area and attend school at the same time.”
But the next step toward student housing is not the university’s to take. The city of Tulsa must acquire the land from private individuals before construction can begin.
The suggested area is west of the OSU-Tulsa campus and adjacent to the historic Brady Heights district.
Tony Lombardi, real estate manager for Tulsa Urban Development Authority, said the acquirement will fulfill Tulsa’s end of the property contract with OSU-Tulsa.
“(The city of Tulsa) has a contract with the university that provides them with 200 acres of property,” Lombardi said. “The university currently has 160, and the student housing area will be the last 40 acres.”
The acquirement of the land will be funded through Mayor Susan Savage’s proposed 2001-06 Third-Penny Sales Tax Extension Capital Improvement Program. The program, which will be voted on by city residents May 8, will provide $390 million for city improvements.Such improvements include roadwork, urban development, drainage improvements, a new fire station in south Tulsa and renovations to cultural and recreational facilities, such as the Gilcrease Museum and the Tulsa Zoo.
According to the proposal, $3.7 million will be allocated for the acquisition of the suggested area.
Lombardi said the exact cost for acquiring the land is hard to estimate.
“The land is owned by private individuals, and it gets complicated,” he said. “We could talk about market value or appraised value, but we never pay what we think we will.
“That (proposed) $3.7 million isn’t just for the acquisition of the land — that includes all the legal and other fees.”
Will Bru, vice president for financing for Capstone Development Corporation, said the plans have not progressed enough to estimate the cost to the university.
“We are currently conducting a study at the site to see what type of housing and what quantity is needed,” Bru said. “Until that report comes in, we can’t speculate on what anything will cost.”
Capstone Development is currently constructing Phase II, the new housing addition on OSU’s Stillwater campus.
“Those apartments are a $53 million project that includes 1,101 beds,” Bru said. “That works out to $48,278.84 a bed. So if we were to build that kind of housing at OSU-Tulsa, it would be around that price range — but by no means is that a final number. It’s just a guess.”
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