Don Bouvier, left, talks with The Frontier’s Kevin Canfield about the proposed economic development that would be built near 71st Street and Riverside Drive. DYLAN GOFORTH/The Frontier
Don Bouvier has been waiting a long time to say this out loud:
“Nothing has changed with REI as far as our desire to have them here,” the Dallas-based developer said Wednesday.
And by “here,” he means Tulsa and, more specifically, the southwest corner of Riverside Drive and 71st Street.
Bouvier, president of UCR Development, has not spoken publicly about REI possibly coming to Tulsa since he began working on the project two years ago.
He broke his silence in exclusive interviews with The Frontier and NewsOn6.
Bouvier said he was speaking now because he could.
“We have (enough) information and details about it that we feel like we can talk about,” he said.
The proposed development would occupy approximately nine acres of 67-acre Helmerich Park and be anchored by a 27,000-square-foot Recreational Equipment Inc. store. The sporting goods and outdoor apparel giant has more than 300 stores nationwide but none in Tulsa.
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The proposed development would also include a restaurant/entertainment center facing the river and space for additional retail shops and restaurants. Bouvier said he currently has no plans to put a bank on site.
The project is on hold as the city negotiates with a group of Tulsans who have filed a lawsuit to stop the development.
Bouvier said he’s hopeful the project will go forward.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I think there would be a lot of upset people, folks in the community that we’ve heard from who would be upset to lose an opportunity like this for the city.”
Bouvier has worked in Tulsa before. He helped build another project that was controversial in its time: the Target store at 101st and Memorial Drive. That was nearly a decade ago.
But even before then, Bouvier was aware of the 71st Street and Riverside Drive property, which has been zoned commercial for decades.
Then, a couple of years ago, he began hearing from potential tenants, like REI, who thought the site would be a perfect fit for their stores.
“That’s where it all started,” Bouvier said. “A lead tenant saying, ‘I’m interested. Can you make a plan?’”
For all his enthusiasm about the possibility of bringing REI to town, Bouvier says the real story is what an anchor tenant of that quality can do for the overall development.
“The story to me is not about what one lead anchor — the story to me is about what one lead anchor can do to bring together a new lifestyle center,” he said. “When you have something that special, that unique, something that the city really desires, good things happen around it.”
The corner of East 71st Street and South Riverside Drive makes perfect sense for a recreation-oriented development, Bouvier said.
“There is tons of traffic here, and tenants love traffic,” he said. “And then the setting, where it is — it’s along the trail system. This is kind of the perfect fit.”
The property is zoned high-intensity commercial, Bouvier said, but “our plan was to veer from that and make it just a little bit more inviting to the setting that it’s around.”
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Bouvier said he understands the some residents would have concerns about the project but that he has tried to listen to those concerns and incorporate them into the development plan.
The project has gone through seven or eight major redesigns, he said, and new landscaping and other changes to the project were made recently to address the concerns of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
“We’ve been collecting all the input we’ve heard and we’ll hear more input and we’ll make adjustments when we can,” Bouvier said. “But at some point, it’s time to put the pencils down and go to work.”
Bouvier disagrees with those who assert that the project will create an unsightly sea of parking spaces along Riverside Drive and that he received a sweetheart deal from the Tulsa Public Facilities Authority when he paid $1.465 million for the property.
This rendering from UCR Development shows what visitors to the River Parks trail system would see heading south on the trail. The proposed REI store is to the right.
There is no such thing as a sweet deal in development projects, Bouvier said, adding that each project comes with a different set of tenants, which plays a role in how much a developer can pay for a property and still make the investment viable.
“When you balance the cost of the land with what you can get back in sales tax — nearly a million dollars a year in sales tax revenue — to me, it is a win-win for the community and a win-win for the retailers and a win-win for everyone involved in it,” he said.
The parking is appropriate for the development and includes spaces for people who want to access the trail system from the site, Bouvier said.
The proposed development, which includes slightly more than 50,000 square feet of development space, is less than one-tenth the size of a traditional retail box store development, Bouvier said.
“It’s not that big a project,” he said.
Perhaps the biggest misconception people have about the project is how it will fit in with its surroundings, Bouvier said.
“I think that the orientation of it and what you’ll see and experience along the river has been mischaracterized,” he said. “In fact, I think it’s going to be one of the most sought-after views and sought-after experiences of the development, to really experience it along the river and how it integrates along the river.”
This graphic created by UCR Development shows the relationship between the proposed development at the southwest corner of 71st Street and Riverside Drive and the remainder of Helmerich Park.
The development would likely be nearing completion had the lawsuit against it not been filed, Bouvier said. Once that issue is resolved, it would take 10 to 12 months to complete it.
“If we started tomorrow we could be open right after the New Year, the first quarter,” Bouvier said. “That would be awesome.”
That would certainly be Mayor Dewey Bartlett’s preference. Bartlett said Wednesday that it’s important for the city to make this project happen.
“At the end of the day, REI is a very well-known company and a very high level of quality and a great reputation,” Bartlett said. “Everyone wants one.
“REI picked the location because it suits their model. They don’t want to go anywhere else. They sell sporting goods, and being on the river is what they want.”
Bouvier said he’s been surprised by the holdup on the project, but he added that he’s also certain Tulsans will embrace the development once it is completed.
“I want them (Tulsans) to know that at the end of the day, when this is developed, this will be an experience they will be proud of and use and enjoy,” he said. “And that is really for a broad spectrum of people.”
The above site plan details the layout of the proposed development on the southwest corner of Riverside Drive and 71st Street. The project, which is being challenged in court, is expected to include and REI store. PROVIDED
On Aug. 11, 2015, TPFA approved the sale of nearly nine acres of land on the southwest corner of 71st Street and Riverside Drive for construction of the REI development.
On the day TPFA was to vote on the sale of the property, Tulsan Craig Immel went to court seeking to delay the vote so he and other opponents of the project could gather more information.
The vote proceeded after TPFA legal staff determined that the petition was invalid. Since then, it has been modified with additional plaintiffs and claims added.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit object to the use of park property for commercial development and believe TPFA did not have the authority to sell the land, and failed to follow the proper procedures in doing so.
One of the plaintiffs, former Mayor Terry Young, said Thursday that negotiations with the city on the project have ended and that the plaintiffs have no intention of continuing talks with the city.
“It is illegal for the Tulsa Public Facilities Authority or the city of Tulsa to sell public land that is in use by the public,” Young said.
He added that he believes the developer’s latest changes to the project are insufficient.
“We are not impressed with a parking lot orchard that simply creates shade for 550 automobiles,” Young said.
