Team Norman and city leaders announced plans for a $1 billion entertainment district during the Norman Economic Development Coalition’s annual State of the Economy breakfast on Wednesday morning.
The proposed location for the district is planned at Rock Creek Road and 24th Avenue Northwest. 80% of the plan's $1 billion cost will be covered through private funds, with the remaining 20% coming through public sources.
Proposed development area for $1B new entertainment district in Norman’s boundaries are I-35, W Rock Creek Road, Max Westheimer Airport and W Tecumseh Road: pic.twitter.com/BZm61oj47E
— Colton Sulley (@colton_sulley) September 6, 2023
The proposal will need to pass through city council. NEDC President and CEO Lawrence McKinney expects a vote to happen by the end of the year.
He said while Team Norman has had productive meetings with council, there is still work to be done.
"Well, (I'm) certainly not confident (it'll pass)," McKinney told the OU Daily. "But we feel really good. This council has met with us privately, a couple of people at a time. They seem very open. They're asking the right questions about numbers and impacts and so we feel really comfortable. We've got a council that that is open to the data and the numbers."
According to Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Tyler Holman, the meeting represented a “kickoff” to the process of deciding what exactly will be built and where the funding for the entertainment district will be allocated.
“There's a lot of ideas still out there for how a development could be done in that area, so I guess I feel optimistic about what we could do if we can come together and figure out what we want to do as a community when it comes to this,” Holman said.
While 80% of the funding for the district will be covered through private funds, Holman said it is still up for debate where the remaining 20% of funds will come from. Most likely, he said, it will be a combined effort from OU, Cleveland County government and the City of Norman.
In 2017, another development proposal by OU Foundation sought to develop land along I-35 between Robinson Street and Tecumseh Road. In July 2018, the foundation withdrew from their partnership with Norman to consider building an arena on OU Foundation-owned University North Park land.
In a 5-3 vote, city council approved the foundation’s request and take the item off the agenda, effectively ending advancement to the development. Those who opposed the vote did so because they wanted a formal vote on the measure instead of a withdrawal.
During the Team Norman meeting, McKinney said the partnerships between the county, city and especially with OU is an important part of getting this new proposal off the ground.
If it passes by the end of 2023, McKinney says he expects the arena to be ready in 2026.
None of the funds are planned to come from the city or general funds, according to a release.
Norman Mayor Larry Heikkila said taxpayers would be asked to fund $27 million in the latest proposal, which he thinks will lead to more community support and an eventual passing vote in Norman’s city council.
“We’re not going to have to use the people’s money as much,” Heikkila said at the event. “I like other people’s money. It’s always better than mine. … It is so good that we can do this in a way that we’re not bearing the brunt of the taxpayer’s (money).”
The multi-purpose venue would host concerts and shows, as well as OU basketball and women's gymnastics meets. While the university would be the facility's anchor tenant, the Sooners will only use 28% of its availability.
"It would come with a primary rental stream," OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. told reporters afterward. "That would come with the use of the facility. It would be based on a market negotiated (price)."
OU women's basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk told the OU Daily Wednesday the proposal excites her, not only for her program as it transitions to the SEC, but for Norman.
“The number one thing is how cool this is for the city of Norman," Baranczyk told the OU Daily. "I feel like there’s so much more to this and so it’s just a really exciting time for all of us. And obviously as we go into the SEC, there’s going to be a lot of things that are really important for us to do as a community. … Really exciting that this has become a priority for all of us who live here.”
In December of last year, Team Norman and OU Athletics revived conversations about a possible entertainment district that included a new arena for OU athletics in a community survey.
McKinney told the OU Daily last week most of the community survey responses included things like Broadway shows, rodeos or Disney on Ice productions. He expects the district to have a return on public and private investment over the years.
“It’ll be a 20-year build out,” McKinney said of the return of investment. “It’s a four to one return on investment on the private sector and the public sector. That’s really good in any community, so I’m really happy about that.”
Previously in 2017, the city of Norman unveiled a project to create a similarly described new entertainment district to house OU basketball and other amenities between Tecumseh and Rock Creek Roads in the University North Park area, roughly six miles from OU's campus.
Harroz says he and the leaders spent time researching if the proposed new arena would discourage students from attending athletics events due to it being off campus.
"All of the folks who have helped us in designing this indicate the students will make that trek," Harroz said.
Also included in those studies was the altered size of a new college basketball arena. Rayford Young, father of NBA superstar Trae Young, told the OU Daily that the number one thing he wants to see is a smaller, more intimate venue.
“Why did we choose an 8,000 seat stadium instead of a 12?” Heikkila said. “That’s because we did studies and sat down and figured out what the optimum size is. We want this to be an experience. This has got to be something like when you go to a Thunder game, which is so stinking noisy. I understand that. We want that kind of experience. We want that kind of music to be there. We want all that kind of stuff.”
Assistant sports editor Jason Batacao and assistant news managing editor Taylor Jones contributed to to this story.
