Tulsa Eyes Stadium District

A public hearing is set for July 10 on Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor’s plan to create a district that could issue bonds for a new baseball stadium for the Tulsa Drillers.

Taylor last week asked the council to create the Tulsa Stadium Improvement District in downtown Tulsa to replace the current downtown improvement district, which is set to expire June 30, 2009.

The new district would collect an assessment of 6.5-cents per square foot on commercial real estate within the district.

Taylor said a new trust would be created to finance the minor league ballpark with debt supported by the property assessment.

Private donors would be responsible for at least half of the estimated $60 million price tag on the stadium for the Class AA Texas League baseball franchise, Taylor said, with the remainder coming from the improvement district. The facility would be built near the new BOK Center, but a precise location has not been determined.

City officials said the assessment would raise at least the $1.1 million currently generated annually by the existing improvement district, as well as another $25 million over 30 years to support bonds. Another $25 million to $35 million would come from private sources, with stadium revenues over the period expected to provide another $5 million to $10 million.

The mayor said the new facility would add “attractions, energy, and value to all property, tenants, and visitors to downtown.”

“With the Drillers Stadium and the BOK Center open downtown, it is estimated we will have over one million new visits to downtown,” Taylor said.

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