Pete
08-11-2006, 08:20 AM
Downtown condo deal off, group sues Kerr-McGee
by Ted Streuli
The Journal Record
8/11/2006
OKLAHOMA CITY – A $30 million deal that would have converted vacant downtown offices to condominiums and retail space fell apart Thursday, prompting a legal fight among partners.
The deal, announced in November, called for Corporate Redevelopment Group LLC to convert vacant buildings owned by Kerr-McGee at 324 N. Robinson Ave. and 135 Robert S. Kerr Ave. into 70 condominiums and street-level shops.
Corporate Redevelopment Group, known as CRG, is led by TAParchitecture, which is allied with Kerr-McGee in The Triangle, another downtown housing development. CRG filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing Kerr-McGee of a contract breach that cost the plaintiff at least $8 million.
“We anticipated it closing today, but we reached an impasse,” said TAParchitecture principal Anthony McDermid. “I’m very disappointed for our development group and the prospect of the project for downtown.”
In exchange for the property, CRG agreed to build a parking garage near Kerr-McGee’s offices for the company’s use.
“After that was completed, Kerr-McGee would provide to CRG the properties,” said Kerr-McGee spokesman John Christiansen. “Awarding of the properties was contingent upon the garage. We stand ready to perform under the terms of that contract, but CRG sought to change the terms.”
When Kerr-McGee’s sale to Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum was announced in June, Christiansen said the real estate deals would move forward as planned. But CRG argued in its lawsuit that Kerr-McGee made plans to squelch the deal as soon as the Anadarko deal was struck.
“A representative of Kerr-McGee even informed CRG, after the proposed merger was announced, that Kerr-McGee Corp.’s new parent company was not interested in proceeding with the projects,” the plaintiff said in the petition.
McDermid said Anadarko officials last week refused a request to meet with CRG.
Anadarko completed its acquisition of Kerr-McGee on Thursday, but Christiansen said the two scheduled closings and their outcomes were unrelated.
McDermid said June 25 that the project to rehabilitate the former office buildings was in the design stages. The site at 135 Robert S. Kerr Ave. is an 11-story building built in 1921 with 155,911 square feet; 324 N. Robinson Ave. is a 10-story building with 75,584 square feet and was built in 1923. A third building, at 111 Robert S. Kerr Ave., was part of the deal, but its future had not yet been planned. That structure, a 38,736-square-foot, seven-story building, was built in 1902.
“I can’t quantify it, but it will certainly have a slowing effect on the delivery of any for-sale housing in the central business district,” McDermid said. “But we believe so strongly in the merit of the project that we are still open to any prospects to complete it.”
by Ted Streuli
The Journal Record
8/11/2006
OKLAHOMA CITY – A $30 million deal that would have converted vacant downtown offices to condominiums and retail space fell apart Thursday, prompting a legal fight among partners.
The deal, announced in November, called for Corporate Redevelopment Group LLC to convert vacant buildings owned by Kerr-McGee at 324 N. Robinson Ave. and 135 Robert S. Kerr Ave. into 70 condominiums and street-level shops.
Corporate Redevelopment Group, known as CRG, is led by TAParchitecture, which is allied with Kerr-McGee in The Triangle, another downtown housing development. CRG filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing Kerr-McGee of a contract breach that cost the plaintiff at least $8 million.
“We anticipated it closing today, but we reached an impasse,” said TAParchitecture principal Anthony McDermid. “I’m very disappointed for our development group and the prospect of the project for downtown.”
In exchange for the property, CRG agreed to build a parking garage near Kerr-McGee’s offices for the company’s use.
“After that was completed, Kerr-McGee would provide to CRG the properties,” said Kerr-McGee spokesman John Christiansen. “Awarding of the properties was contingent upon the garage. We stand ready to perform under the terms of that contract, but CRG sought to change the terms.”
When Kerr-McGee’s sale to Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum was announced in June, Christiansen said the real estate deals would move forward as planned. But CRG argued in its lawsuit that Kerr-McGee made plans to squelch the deal as soon as the Anadarko deal was struck.
“A representative of Kerr-McGee even informed CRG, after the proposed merger was announced, that Kerr-McGee Corp.’s new parent company was not interested in proceeding with the projects,” the plaintiff said in the petition.
McDermid said Anadarko officials last week refused a request to meet with CRG.
Anadarko completed its acquisition of Kerr-McGee on Thursday, but Christiansen said the two scheduled closings and their outcomes were unrelated.
McDermid said June 25 that the project to rehabilitate the former office buildings was in the design stages. The site at 135 Robert S. Kerr Ave. is an 11-story building built in 1921 with 155,911 square feet; 324 N. Robinson Ave. is a 10-story building with 75,584 square feet and was built in 1923. A third building, at 111 Robert S. Kerr Ave., was part of the deal, but its future had not yet been planned. That structure, a 38,736-square-foot, seven-story building, was built in 1902.
“I can’t quantify it, but it will certainly have a slowing effect on the delivery of any for-sale housing in the central business district,” McDermid said. “But we believe so strongly in the merit of the project that we are still open to any prospects to complete it.”