Was the project completed on time and on budget?

The first of the MAPS projects, the Bricktown ballpark was opened in the spring of 1998 and the downtown metropolitan library, the last of the MAPS projects, was dedicated in August, 17, 2004. MAPS were funded by a temporary one-cent sales tax approved by city voters in December 1993. The tax was later extended by a vote of the people for six months to cover cost increases during construction.

What was most challenging about your project?
One of the challenges faced in getting this public-private partnership off the ground was selecting the right mix of projects that would allow community buy-in, and also be enough to achieve the "critical mass" necessary to make a difference in the city. The list was finally pared down to the nine projects that were ultimately developed. Mr. Ron Norick, Oklahoma City Mayor at that time, was instrumental in getting city leaders to agree on presenting an all or nothing approach to the electorate. All of the selected projects were placed on a single ballot that proposed payment of project costs by a five year, penny sales tax. Mr. Norick continued in a role of project champion when cost overruns threatened completion of projects and public sentiment seemed to sour, and was successful in winning voter approval of a six month extension of the sales tax to cover the added costs.

Did the project receive any loans, grants or financial assistance from any public or private organizations?
Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) were funded by a temporary one-cent sales tax approved by city voters in December 1993. The tax was later extended by a vote of the people for six months to cover cost increases during construction. The tax expired on July 1, 1999. During the 66 months it was in effect, over $309 million was collected. In addition, the deposited tax revenue earned about $54 million in interest, which was also used for MAPS construction. The nine projects completed as part of MAPS included construction of a Bricktown ballpark, the Ford Center (arena), the downtown library, Bricktown canal, renovation of the Cox convention center, improvements to the State Fairgrounds, rebuilding of the Civic Center music hall, transformation of a seven mile stretch of the North Canadian River into river lakes, and the "Oklahoma Spirit" trolley system.

MAPS was an ambitious downtown renewal package undertaken by the citizens of Oklahoma City, city leaders, and other stakeholders. It is believed Oklahoma City is the first city in the country to undertake a public facility enhancement project of this size. The one-cent temporary sales tax approved by city voters in 1993 and its six month extension provided the much needed funds required to bolster public infrastructure and attract private development. The Oklahoma City Transit Services Department received funding from MAPS and the Federal Transit Administration for the trolley system. The Oklahoma River's original overall cost of $51.8 million included $39 million of MAPS sales tax money and federal funds through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The City of Oklahoma City also received a Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Pilot Grant in 1999 for implementation of passenger boats connecting nearby areas along the North Canadian River.

Empowerment Zone financing incentives available for the area included:
EZ Employment Tax Credit: Employers may take up to $3,000 per year in tax credits for each employee who both lives and works in the EZ - a total of up to $24,000 per eligible employee over the 8-year designation period.
Increased Section 179 Deduction: Qualifying Enterprise Zone businesses can claim up to $35,000 (an increase of $20,000) expensing for property acquired after December 31, 2001. The claim can be made for depreciable property - such as equipment and machinery. This is in addition to the $100,000 base amount for tax years 2003-2005.
Tax-exempt EZ Bonds: $130 million in tax-exempt bond financing is available for Qualified Zone Property to finance development at a lower interest rate. Bonds may be issued by the State, County or City for commercial, retail or industrial property.
Non-recognition of Gain on Sale of Empowerment Zone Assets: Capital gain on the sale of an Empowerment Zone asset, held for more than one (1) year, is not recognized if the gain is reinvested in a replacement Empowerment Zone asset within 60 days.
Partial Exclusion of Gain on Sale of Empowerment Zone Stock: Excludes 60 percent of the gain on the sale of C Corporation stock if the stock has been held for at least (5) years and if the C Corporation is a qualified Enterprise Zone business located in the EZ.
There are other federal and state funding programs that are not limited to the Empowerment Zone but which may also be tapped to reduce development costs within the EZ. These include New Market Tax Credits and the Murrah Revitalization District Revolving Load Fund.
In an effort to reclaim contaminated land within the Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma City's Office of Workforce Development used an EPA Brownfields Job-Training Grant to prepare 110 Empowerment Zone residents for careers in environmental remediation.

Other community wide tax incentives included:
Work Opportunity Tax Credit: A 1-year tax credit of up to $2,400 for each new hire from groups with high unemployment rates or other special employment needs, including 18-24 year old individuals living in the Empowerment Zone and summer youth hires ages 16-17.
Welfare to Work Tax Credit: A two year tax credit for new hires of long-term family assistance recipients that provides a sum of $3,500 in year one and $5,000 in year two - a possible total of $8,500 per qualified Welfare to Work new hire.
Dell Computers constructed a 120,000 square-foot customer contact center on a 62-acre site in Oklahoma City in 2005. Empowerment Zone tax credits and other benefits were a major consideration for Dell when choosing a site for the center.

Other business and tax incentives available for the area include:
Downtown OKC Business Improvement District (BID): The Downtown OKC Business Improvement District, approved by the City of Oklahoma City in 2001, is an area where property owners voted to for a special property assessment to make their community a better place. The special assessment fund is used to manage and maintain Downtown OKC in a clean, safe and professional manner, and to purchase services and make improvements that add to those provided by the City. The BID is overseen and guided by a volunteer advisory board representing the different "neighborhoods" of downtown.
Community Development Financial Institution Revolving Load Fund: This fund is available to support the Vehicles for Families Program through the Office of Workforce Development. The fund intends to assist residents in overcoming transportation blocks to gainful employment.
Economic Development Administration Revolving Load Fund: This fund can lend up to $200,000 for business startups or expansions and can provide working capital for manufacturing, and retail sales and service activities in the Oklahoma City Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area.
Enterprise Community (EC) programs: The Oklahoma City EC was designated by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development in December 1994, for the same general area that is now the EZ. The EC maintains three revolving loan funds serving two primary goals: enhanced access to capital for EC businesses and more and better jobs for residents of the EC. If qualified, businesses can obtain financing for start-up or expansion. The Enterprise Community programs emphasize the creation and retention of jobs for EC residents.
Enterprise Community Small Business Assistance Program: The fund is intended to assist small businesses with access to capital - startup or expansion.
Environmental Cleanup Cost Deduction: A business can deduct qualified cleanup costs for hazardous substances in the year the costs are incurred.
Federal Historic and State Historic Tax Credits: Federal Tax Law currently provides attractive incentives for the rehabilitation of historic and older buildings. These special benefits encourage revitalization of historic districts as well as individual buildings. These benefits were used by the City during the restoration of the Skirvin Hotel in downtown OklahomaCity.
Investment Tax Credits for Rehabilitation: These special benefits encourage revitalization of historic districts as well as individual buildings. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) participates in the review of proposed rehabilitation projects and is the initial contact for applicants. The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, is the agency responsible for certifying historic structures and rehabilitation work.
New Markets Tax Credits: Equity investors in Community Development Entities (CDEs) can receive tax credits of 5 to 6 percent per year for each year in the investment is held for up to seven years following the initial investment. The CDE must in turn invest in projects in qualifying census tracts - 20 percent poverty rate or higher.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF): Tax increment financing allow capture of the added value of a real estate project, and the use of these funds to help pay for the improvements that enable the project to come to fruition.
Small Business Assistance Loan Program: The goal of this Program is to promote the start-up and expansion of small businesses, thus increasing employment opportunities within the Enterprise Community, Empowerment Zone, Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area and a Conditional Expansion Area. This Program can loan up to $100,000 at competitive rates and flexible terms and partners with private lenders. The funds can be used for acquisition, construction and renovation, purchase of machinery and equipment, inventory, and working capital.

Could you describe the collaboration that occurred among multiple parties to enable the project?
MAPS was an ambitious downtown renewal package undertaken by the citizens of Oklahoma City, city leaders, and other stakeholders. It is believed Oklahoma City is the first city in the country to undertake a public facility enhancement project of this size. The one-cent temporary sales tax approved by city voters in 1993 and its six month extension provided the much needed funds required to bolster public infrastructure and attract private development. The Oklahoma City Transit Services Department received funding from MAPS and the Federal Transit Administration for the trolley system. The Oklahoma River's original overall cost of $51.8 million included $39 million of MAPS sales tax money and federal funds through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The City of Oklahoma City also received a Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Pilot Grant in 1999 for implementation of passenger boats connecting nearby areas along the North Canadian River.

Two sites in the area were enrolled in the Oklahoma Voluntary Brownfields Redevelopment Program by the Oklahoma Urban Renewal Authority [27 A O.S.SSS2-15-101 et seq.]. Federal 128(a) funds were used by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to assist OCURA with their brownfield applications for the sites. Under Oklahoma law, all parties that participated in the cleanup, their lenders, lessees, successors and assigns receive the State Brownfield liability release. The new owner, lenders, lessees, successors and assigns also receive the enforcement bar from CERCLA liability provided in the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Redevelopment Act. Several of the individual parcels that made up the different projects were remediated under the authority of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.

The Oklahoma Urban Renewal Authority (OCURA) began the process of acquiring properties to assemble for the proposed redevelopment several years ago. Once the parcels were assembled into a large tract of developable land and consolidated under one owner, OCURA worked with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) to evaluate the land for areas that needed further investigation and analysis. The redevelopment project was divided into phases for development and those phases represented developable parcels. Leaking Underground Storage Tank (UST) cleanups and oil well plugging were pursued under the jurisdiction of the OCC [Okla. Stat. Ann. Tit. 17 SSS 301 et seq.].

Two large parcels within the overall Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) area were enrolled in the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality's Brownfields Program. One property, Phase 1, has completed the Brownfields process. The second, Phase 1A, has completed the process and the Brownfield Certificate is being prepared [Oklahoma Brownfields Voluntary Redevelopment Act 27A O.S. SSS2-15-101 -110].

What were the number of employees formerly employed at the site prior to abandonment, and primary job classifications at the former enterprise (e.g., mechanics, steelworkers, clerical, etc.)?
In the final decade of the 20th Century, Oklahoma shared in the nation's longest period of economic boom. By 1935, the Oklahoma City oil field had produced 409 million barrels of crude oil, and ninety-five oil industry companies employed twelve thousand. Construction, Manufacturing, Transport and utilities, trade, services, city services were some of the other jobs offering employment in the area. By the 1950s, the city began to see construction of new highways. An annexation spree also began to encourage development further and further away from the city's heart and suburban development began competing with downtown. Jobs were scarce in downtown, families with children began moving to the suburbs, and neighborhoods in downtown started to show signs of blight. The collapse of the oil industry only served as the final nail in the coffin. The words of Mr. I.G. Purser, Oklahoma City Councilman in 1988, seemed to sum it all up "Downtown is dead and we helped kill it".



What are the number of employees currently employed at the site?


*Numbers do not necessarily capture the entire number of employees involved with activities associated with the location [Source: Greater Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, 2009 InfoUSA Business Listing]. These job classifications include art, entertainment, recreation, administrative, information, transportation, and service industries.

[**Source: Greater Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, 2008]