Wow, wouldn't a $1 billion entertainment district be great for Norman? Imagine the private investment, the new entertainment opportunities, the money rolling into Norman. Overblown marketing plans are a far cry from the reality of the Arena TIF agreement.
The TIF district landowner (OU Foundation, UNP North, LLC), Texas development partners (Rainier), Norman Economic Development Coalition (Lawrence McKinney), the Norman Chamber of Commerce (Scott Martin), and Visit Norman (Dan Schemm) have been promoting a $1 billion district.
The contractual agreement falls well short of this. The development agreement outlines the legal obligation of taxpayers: up to $600 million paid out for as long as 25 years to finance $230 million in costs for the anchor project (arena, parking structure and public infrastructure).
The TIF district would take 100% of sales taxes and property taxes paid in the larger increment area for improvements made on land owned by OU Foundation. Instead of tax revenues flowing to City, County and school budgets, they would go toward the costs of an arena and parking structure.
What are OU Foundation and their development partners proposing to do? Not a $1 billion project that has been presented as the maximum potential cost of a larger project in the area.
OU Foundation proposes to facilitate" the construction of $650 million project on land that it owns. The $650 million includes $230 million for the arena, parking structure, and public infrastructure paid for by TAXPAYERS.
The private investment portion is only $420 million!
The entertainment district includes a boutique 8,000 seat arena (the smallest in the SEC), a 1,200-spot parking garage, a plaza, and 140,000 square feet of bars, restaurants, and retail. We are talking about a block and a half of downtown Norman or Campus Corner adjacent to an area.
The proposed project plan adds up to $650 million, not $1 billion.
Here's a graphic that Dan Munson created to illustrate.
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