Bricktown's Embassy Suites May Be Delayed

[Midtowner]

By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman

One high-profile Bricktown development could be delayed for up to a year while another has been shelved possibly for good.

The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority is expected to consider next month a request by Missouri developer John Q. Hammons to give him an extra year to start construction on a planned $35 million Embassy Suites.

Bricktown property owner Rich McLain, meanwhile, confirmed that a planned $40 million mixed retail and residential project dubbed "The Factory" is on hold.

McLain, whose family has long owned a full city block at Sheridan and Oklahoma Avenues, said the partner in "The Factory," ERC Development, dropped from the project after determining they couldn't put together financing.

The project was announced last year with great fanfare, and construction was scheduled to start this fall. The developers had obtained design approval from the city and also applied for county bond financing.

"It's still a concept we want to pursue, maybe not at that scale," McLain said. "We're looking for other partners and hope we can still do something in the future."

Hammons, meanwhile, disputes whether he has changed his schedule for building a $35 million Embassy Suites between Bricktown's Bass Pro Shops and Sonic office building along the Bricktown Canal.

Hammons bought the property last year from Randy Hogan, developer of the Urban Renewal project now known as "Lower Bricktown."

JoeVan Bullard, executive director of the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority, said development agreements with Hammons and Hogan called for construction of the hotel to start by Dec. 31.

Press releases in September 2003 indicated construction would start by the summer of 2004. But on Friday, Hammons said the 10-story hotel's schedule hasn't changed since it was first announced.

"I never planned to build before 2005," Hammons said. "I'm going to build there, I have the title for it (the land) and I could build there tomorrow if I wanted to."

Hammons said he hasn't completed an agreement with the Oklahoma RedHawks to allow him to build a parking garage on the team's lot across from the hotel site.

Scott Pruitt, owner of the RedHawks, agreed with Hammons that talks are progressing and a deal is near. Pruitt said he wants to ensure that any plans for a Hammons garage won't prevent his own desire for retail and residential development in the same area.

"The timing of his project is very different than ours," Pruitt said. "His is much more immediate."

Hammons said Friday he hopes to start construction by next summer. But he asked for an extension of his deadline to Dec. 31, 2005. Bullard said Urban Renewal commissioners may respond with a six-month extension.

Frank Sims, director of the Bricktown Association, said he's not discouraged by the latest news on The Factory and Embassy Suites. He said with the success of Bass Pro Shops and the recent opening the Bricktown Harkins 16 Theater, residential and hotel development in Bricktown is inevitable.

"It's just a matter of when," Sims said. "There is already a lot of downtown housing opening up, and to hit the next level, we need to have more hotel rooms for conventions. We're heading in the right direction."