The Oklahoma Court of Appeals has unanimously affirmed all three Tulsa County Court decisions upholding the Tulsa Stadium Improvement District. The Court ruled in favor of the Tulsa Stadium Trust and the overwhelming majority of downtown property owners who supported the creation of the business improvement district that built ONEOK Field and provides special downtown services.
“We are very pleased with today’s favorable ruling that recognizes that the Tulsa Stadium Trust and the Tulsa Stadium Improvement District were properly organized,” said Arlo DeKraai, chairman of the Tulsa Stadium Trust. “This is further validated by the 97.4 percent of property owners who are paying the assessment. The vast majority of property owners clearly support ONEOK Field and the improvement district. The successful efforts mark the highest collection rate the City of Tulsa has ever had, during one of the most challenging economic periods in decades.”
Since 2010, attendance at ONEOK Field has topped Tulsa’s records for number of people at a Tulsa professional baseball event. In 2010, the highest attendance record was met at 408,183, and in 2012, the second-highest attendance was met at 372,614. In addition to regular season professional baseball events, ONEOK Field has hosted more than 148,521 people at special public events.
“The Tulsa Stadium Improvement District has been a great success, which in turn has helped with the revitalization of downtown Tulsa,” City Attorney David O’Meilia said. “We are gratified that the Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Kuehn’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of Tulsa and confirming the City’s position that the district was legitimately formed and the funding which built ONEOK Field was properly financed and the assessments to property owners are valid.”
Fifty new investment projects totaling $710 million include conversions of historic office and warehouse buildings to alternative uses such as hotels, residential lofts, museums and commercial uses, in addition to new development projects, improvements to highway and bridge infrastructures, streetscaping projects and renovations to existing properties.
Since the new home of the Tulsa Drillers was announced, 30 property sales have occurred that also experienced a previous sale after January 2000. These properties experienced a combined increase in value of 70 percent.