Cox Business Center renovations are being pushed as a Vision project that needs to be done.
Representatives of Visit Tulsa and SMG, the group that manages the space, say $48 million would nearly double the facility’s most desirable meeting space, increasing it from 102,000 square feet to just shy of 200,000. Ray Hoyt with Visit Tulsa said the city recently lost out on $105 million worth of bids.
"We can't even bring them back, because they're like, 'Did you change the space?' No. 'Well, there's no point in us having a conversation,'" Hoyt said. "So it's a long-term loss."
Hoyt said $48 million is a good deal in this case.
"For $48 million, you couldn't build this much square footage new. You'd triple that, at least," he said. "So, you're really getting a huge bang for your buck and it extends the life of this convention center, probably by a couple of decades without making a $200 or $300 or $400 million investment like Oklahoma City or Louisville is doing."
Kerry Painter with SMG said the uncertainty around funding for the renovations is already harming the Cox Business Center.
"Two weeks ago, we lost a piece of business for 2019," Painter said. "Had we known we could have these funds, we could conceivably have this done by [2017 or 2018] and could have said to these clients, 'We will be ready for you, and you won't be first, so you can be comfortable.' But we're already out of the 2019 game with the delay."
The renovations are just part of the proposal for the part of downtown including the business center and the BOK Center. The full pitch calls for creating an Arena District by acquiring the federal building between the two facilities and building a connection there.
