From the DOK:
Phantom opposition presented by Rep. Mike Reynolds was deemed "too little, too late” Tuesday to stop creation of a tax increment financing district for the planned Devon Energy Corp. tower. The $175 million district, approved 8-1 by the Oklahoma City Council, was requested by Devon Energy to improve the downtown neighborhood around its future $750 million world headquarters.

Reynolds told the council he heard from taxing entities for the proposed district and quoted them as saying they opposed the move and weren’t allowed to ask questions. "I’ve been alarmed for some time about TIFs, about how they take away money from schools and libraries,” Reynolds said, but refused to name opponents when pressed.

Ward 4 Councilman Pete White reminded Reynolds the group that oversees creation and operation of the city’s TIF districts held open hearings. "If any of us had a contact with someone, I’d like to know who that is,” White said. "But to just throw a cloud over it through insinuation — it’s too little, too late.”

Reynolds also questioned whether inclusion of property taxes in the TIF district was discussed during the meeting because he did not see them in any minutes.


It may mean millions
Dan Batchelor, an attorney for the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority, reported the location of the proposed tower and district has not produced any property or sales taxes in decades.
"It is unlikely we could have this project without generating public funds to develop the framework ... around it and circumstances desirable to make it possible,” Batchelor said. Batchelor also cited a consultant’s report that the tower would generate more than $7 million in taxes from spin-off development that would benefit schools, libraries and other property tax recipients. The lone council opponent, Brian Walters, said he worried about other companies approaching the city and asking for a similar deal.

Councilman Pat Ryan responded he hopes other companies will approach the city asking for a TIF district to improve downtown streets and parks as a condition to building a new skyscraper.

"I can’t think of anything better,” Ryan said.

From the JR:

OKC Council approves TIF district to support Devon project
by Brian Brus
The Journal Record
December 17, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY – City Council members approved a new tax increment finance district to support the development of Devon Energy Corp.’s world headquarters downtown after examining several legal concerns Tuesday.

The tax increment finance district is projected to generate $175 million over its 25-year life. A TIF district is designed to set aside a small portion of growing property or sales taxes from a limited area and dedicate those funds to pay for public improvements – in the case of Devon, those are projects in the so-called core-to-shore redevelopment between downtown and the relocated Interstate 40 Crosstown at the Oklahoma River’s edge, which the Devon tower would overlook.

The question passed by a vote of 8-1, with Ward 5 Councilman Brian Walters opposed. State Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, addressed the council with several questions about the legality of creating the TIF, which Walters echoed.

For example, the tiny district defined by the bounds of Devon’s development, which will be only the eighth created in the city, would seem to sit within a pre-existing TIF, Reynolds said. Dan Batchelor, an attorney at the Center for Economic Law, addressed the question as the legal representative for the Urban Renewal Authority. Batchelor said the proposal actually deleted the new TIF property from the older district so that there is no overlap. The council resolution effectively creates a donut hole on the map in which the Devon project can be developed.

Reynolds also questioned whether money generated within a TIF district can be spent on development outside the district. None of the funds generated will directly benefit the Devon property. Batchelor said the state statutes require only that the district be created in relation to a specific project plan; the boundaries of such projects are not proscribed.

As to the question of whether all other taxation districts are required to agree with the TIF’s creation, Batchelor said state statute requires only that those jurisdictions be represented on a review committee charged with evaluating the project and making recommendations about its desirability and financial impact. That process was followed, he said, and the committee unanimously approved the creation of the TIF.

Batchelor said the review committee found that “it is unlikely that we could have this project without public funds to create the framework – not to pay for the project, not to pay for the proposed development, not to assist Devon Energy in this development – but to create the framework around it and the circumstances in which it would be desirable and feasible to undertake this project.”

The committee’s research projects that 10 years after Devon moves into its new building, the ad valorem taxes generated by the increased employment at the site will be more than $7 million annually, Batchelor said.

“This site presently does not produce any ad valorem taxes,” he said. “So the positive impacts are tremendously beneficial to this community.”

Devon Chief Executive Larry Nichols had earlier told the council his company expects the city to provide public improvements to create an appropriate environment for a world headquarters. The company wants to build more than 1 million square feet of space on the northeast corner of Sheridan and Hudson avenues, just north of Myriad Gardens. To that end, city government must “fix up the neighborhood and help bring other businesses into Oklahoma City,” he said.

City staff said a TIF district is the only tool available to generate adequate revenue to support Devon’s preconditions. The district will tap only into ad valorem and construction sales tax revenues over its lifetime. Although Devon won’t generate ad valorem in the first five years of the plan, it will still pay about $20 million in city sales taxes during the construction phase.

City officials have also said the headquarters will generate about $800 million in real estate market value and $100 million in personal property value.

Reynolds said he represented the concerns of “members of various boards,” but when prompted by Councilman Skip Kelly, Reynolds would not identify those organizations. Kelly and others said questions could have been brought up earlier in several public forums designed for that purpose.

Not only did the council approve the Tiff, but according to Oklahoma City Business, okcbusiness.com - Printer Friendly Version (http://www.okcbusiness.com/print_article.asp?aID=46053)

Devon Tower has been approved!!!!


Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority approves Devon plans
By Pamela Grady - 12/17/2008


On the heels of Oklahoma City's City Council's decision to create a new Downtown tax increment financing district to fund approximately $175 million in public improvements and economic development efforts, which was spurred by Devon Energy’s planned development of a new world headquarters building, Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority committee members today approved a proposed redevelopment agreement with Devon World Headquarters LLC to build its $350 million high-rise next to the historic Colcord Hotel.


The project's schematic design studies and evidence of financing also were approved.


“It’s a great pleasure for all of us to be involved in such a spectacular project,” said Dan Batchelor, OCURA's legal counsel. “The location for the proposed Devon World headquarters has long been envisioned as a center piece location for a Downtown redevelopment.”


Devon Realty Advisors Inc. President Klaholt Kimker and Hines Vice President John Wood attended the meeting to update committee members on minimal project design changes.


Wood said the 54-story office tower and podium structures will remain at 1.9 million square feet of space, but because of site constraints, the project's auditorium structure has been shifted from the east side of the site to the west side.


“It sets off kind of its own structure now, and provides a nice framework to the Devon park that will front on Sheridan Avenue,” Wood said. “It'll be very elegant and open and accessible to the public.”


The podium structure will now become a five-story structure instead of its proposed six.


“A key architectural object in all this is the rotunda, which will serve as a unified element in the overall project,” Wood said. “As we brought the podium structure down, the rotunda has remained at six stories, so it really kind of enhances that as an architectural object and makes it more of a beacon, if you will, in the overall competition of the site.”


Site preparation and demolition work is scheduled for fall 2009.


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OKCBusiness, Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved.


I thought it was over $750M. Could it be that Devon revised it's cost estimate due to much lower construction costs??? Or is the $350M quoted a typo.

Nevertheless, this is GREAT NEWS for Oklahoma City. Im hoping that site work/deconstruction will begin in the spring though. ..

"The lone council opponent, Brian Walters, said he worried about other companies approaching the city and asking for a similar deal."

Here'a a great example of why Walters was a one term mistake that south OKC will correct in the next election. Walters tends to be on the wrong side of every issue and has isolated himself as a council member to the point that he is completely ineffective as a councilman for his ward.

HOT ROD, I agree. The $350 million figure was the first figure announced almost a year ago by Devon.

Again, why is OKC Business still using this $350 million figure. Pamela Grady really needs to do her homework, this is at least the second article recently they've used that figure. Devon has released newer figures since they announced the design stating it's upward costs of $700+ with costs for the other buildings, park and taxes will bring it to a BILLION or more.

I didn't know the auditorium was ever on the "east side" of the site. I thought it was a completely new element when they added it to the SW corner. I like it there.

Here's a great example of why Walters was a one term mistake that south OKC will correct in the next election. Walters tends to be on the wrong side of every issue and has isolated himself as a council member to the point that he is completely ineffective as a councilman for his ward.

I'm not a particular fan of Walters, and he's not my councilman, but if we're going to insist that council members vote unanimously on everything then we might as well get rid of seven of them altogether.

This tower will go up! I was in an Omaha forum and they are more negative than Tulsan's against OKC! Any1 else seen this? It seems like every major thing going up in OKC that is huge, some others see it as a threat or make it seem like nothing of importance is happening here!

I'm not a particular fan of Walters, and he's not my councilman, but if we're going to insist that council members vote unanimously on everything then we might as well get rid of seven of them altogether.

You seem to have a reading comprehension problem, there's a big difference between what I wrote and " insist that council members vote unanimously on everything".

Does any1 know what other cities have this kind of TIF increment?and will this bring more world/nation/regional headqaurters here?I think with the 750 million tower and tif plan overall will close in on a billion $-any1 who thinks this is a bad idea for this city has to be full of !@#$

No one can really say if it will attract relocations. It will definitely make OKC a more attractive place to do business. Relocations from the suburban areas of OKC are quite likely, though.

Does any1 know what other cities have this kind of TIF increment?and will this bring more world/nation/regional headqaurters here?I think with the 750 million tower and tif plan overall will close in on a billion $-any1 who thinks this is a bad idea for this city has to be full of !@#$
If you're imagining an attraction that will draw 4.5 million out-of-town visitors a year, the first thing that jumps to mind probably isn't a store that sells guns and fishing rods and those brown jackets President Bush wears to clear brush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Yet last year Cabela's, a Nebraska-based hunting and fishing mega-store chain with annual sales of $1.7 billion, persuaded the politicians of Fort Worth that bringing the chain to an affluent and growing area north of the city was worth $30 million to $40 million in tax breaks. They were told that the store, the centerpiece of a new retail area, would draw more tourists than the Alamo in San Antonio or the annual State Fair of Texas in Dallas, both of which attract 2.5 million visitors a year.
The decision was made easier by the financing plan that Fort Worth will use to accommodate Cabela's. The site of the Fort Worth Cabela's has been designated a tax increment financing (TIF) district, which means taxes on the property will be frozen for 20 to 30 years.
Largely because it promises something for nothing—an economic stimulus in exchange for tax revenue that otherwise would not materialize—this tool is becoming increasingly popular across the country. Originally used to help revive blighted or depressed areas, TIFs now appear in affluent neighborhoods, subsidizing high-end housing developments, big-box retailers, and shopping malls. And since most cities are using TIFs, businesses such as Cabela's can play them off against each other to boost the handouts they receive simply to operate profit-making enterprises.
A Crummy Way to Treat Taxpaying Citizens
TIFs have been around for more than 50 years, but only recently have they assumed such importance. At a time when local governments' efforts to foster development, from direct subsidies to the use of eminent domain (http://reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_2004/eminent_domain_bigboxes_wallst.html) to seize property for private development, are already out of control, TIFs only add to the problem: Although politicians portray TIFs as a great way to boost the local economy, there are hidden costs they don't want taxpayers to know about. Cities generally assume they are not really giving anything up because the forgone tax revenue would not have been available in the absence of the development generated by the TIF. That assumption is often wrong.
“There is always this expectation with TIFs that the economic growth is a way to create jobs and grow the economy, but then push the costs across the public spectrum,” says Greg LeRoy, author of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation. “But what is missing here is that the cost of developing private business has some public costs. Road and sewers and schools are public costs that come from growth.” Unless spending is cut—and if a TIF really does generate economic growth, spending is likely to rise, as the local population grows—the burden of paying for these services will be shifted to other taxpayers. Adding insult to injury, those taxpayers may include small businesses facing competition from well-connected chains that enjoy TIF-related tax breaks. In effect, a TIF subsidizes big businesses at the expense of less politically influential competitors and ordinary citizens.
“The original concept of TIFs was to help blighted areas come out of the doldrums and get some economic development they wouldn't [otherwise] have a chance of getting,” says former Fort Worth City Councilman Clyde Picht, who voted against the Cabela's TIF. “Everyone probably gets a big laugh out of their claim that they will draw more tourists than the Alamo. But what is worse, and not talked about too much, is the shift of taxes being paid from wealthy corporations to small businesses and regular people.
“If you own a mom-and-pop store that sells fishing rods and hunting gear in Fort Worth, you're still paying all your taxes, and the city is giving tax breaks to Cabela's that could put you out of business,” Picht explains. “The rest of us pay taxes for normal services like public safety, building inspections, and street maintenance, and those services come out of the general fund. And as the cost of services goes up, and the money from the general fund is given to these businesses through a TIF, the tax burden gets shifted to the regular slobs who don't have the same political clout. It's a crummy way to treat your taxpaying, law-abiding citizens.”


Many cities use TIf Districts

The Journal Record - Article (http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=98639)

Nichols wants to see more people on foot in downtown OKC
by Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record May 14, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – If Larry Nichols gets his way, he’ll one day look out his office window in the 54-story Devon Tower onto a lush botanical garden across the street. He would also be able to watch his employees and others downtown visiting the garden and hitting the streets on foot.

Last year Nichols, CEO of Devon Energy, announced plans for the company’s world headquarters in downtown Oklahoma City. With the creation of a Tax Increment Financing district that the company will pay into, Nichols said he wants to see those funds help revitalize downtown’s green spaces and make the central business district friendlier to pedestrians.When planning began for the new headquarters, Nichols, who is no stranger to walking around downtown, began to realize that the central business district is geared more toward automobiles than to foot traffic.

“In Oklahoma City the cars won on every street,” he said.

Several walks through the Myriad Botanical Gardens also gave Nichols a few revelations.

“This is a nice 14-acre park, but there’s nobody here,” he said.

Additionally he found that while it is called a botanical garden, most of the park is not of a botanical nature. It has plenty of grass and trees, but not an abundance of plants.
“We view it as a botanical garden, but when you really do a map of the Myriad Gardens and focus on how much of it is botanical, it’s very, very small,” he said.

In addition to the TIF money being used for downtown improvements, Nichols said he would like to see the creation of an opportunity fund to allow the mayor and the City Council to promote economic development downtown.

Catherine O’Connor, assistant city manager, said downtown will see an influx of money with the Devon TIF providing $115 million for public improvements such as streetscapes and parks, coupled with $40 million for the opportunity fund. There is also about $30 million designated for downtown streetscapes and $14 million for Myriad Gardens renovations from the 2007 general obligation bond.

“We’re going to be using those funds in conjunction with the money generated by the Devon TIF to make vast improvements to downtown Oklahoma City,” O’Connor said.
Nichols said Devon also wants to do its part to make the headquarters pedestrian-friendly as the gateway from the central business district to the south in the Core to Shore area.

Jon Pickard, principal of Pickard Chilton, is heading up the architectural team to design the Devon tower and headquarters.

At the Mayor’s Development Roundtable on Wednesday, Pickard showed drawings of the Devon site that will allow the company’s employees and the public access through a proposed glassed rotunda from the north and the south and pedestrian routes crossing the site offering east and west access and creating a link to the Colcord Hotel.

Pickard said many corporate headquarters are largely uninviting square boxes offering limited pedestrian access, a design he is trying to avoid for the Devon site.

“We are equally committed to creating a pedestrian-friendly environment,” he said.

This tower will go up! I was in an Omaha forum and they are more negative than Tulsan's against OKC! Any1 else seen this? It seems like every major thing going up in OKC that is huge, some others see it as a threat or make it seem like nothing of importance is happening here!

Lank?

Lank?

lank or link? I think omahaeforums! but I'm really not sure!