Comment on Downtown parking makeover on tap

By Steve Lackmeyer Staff Writer slackmeyer@oklahoman.comDocuments obtained Wednesday by The Oklahoman show Continental Resources and BancFirst are set to pay $22.5 million for the city's largest downtown garage, a 48 percent increase from the initial offer pitched by Continental last fall. The sale of the Santa Fe Parking Garage, if approved, would hinge on BancFirst closing on its $23.5 million contract to buy the adjoining 36-story Cotter tower. BancFirst plans to convert the tower into its headquarters. Proposals obtained by The Oklahoman include the separate sale of a surface parking lot just east of the garage, at Main Street and the BNSF Railway viaduct. BancFirst and Bricktown developer Don Karchmer are seeking to buy the surface lot to build an 865-space garage. The second proposal would require the city to pay for and build either a pedestrian tunnel connection or skyway between the Santa Fe garage and the BancFirst/Karchmer garage. The Oklahoma City Council will be asked to approve the two deals on Tuesday. City Manager Jim Couch could not be reached for comment Wednesday. In an interview earlier this week, he said the proposed sales were intended to address concerns about deterioration and plummeting occupancy at Cotter Tower, built in 1971 and originally home of Liberty Bank. Continental Resources was the first to try to buy the Santa Fe garage in a proposal first reported by The Oklahoman in early November. Representatives of Continental Resources did not return calls from The Oklahoman this week. How the deal went down In correspondence with the city, Continental's chief executive officer, Harold Hamm, advised he was concerned about losing more than 500 spaces at the Cox Convention Center garage. The Cox center garage is likely to be torn down and the property redeveloped once the new MAPS 3 convention center is completed south of Chesapeake Energy Arena. BancFirst approached Continental Resources to join up in bidding for the Santa Fe garage as the bank emerged as the likely buyer of the Cotter tower, which is in receivership. Occupancy at the Santa Fe garage is set to drop by a few hundred this month with the decision by Enable Midstream to move its parkers to the BOK Park Plaza garage. Enable Midstream itself is set to move next year from its current home at Leadership Square to the recently completed BOK Park Plaza, 499 W Sheridan. The agreement with BancFirst and Continental Resources calls for the buyers to maintain the Santa Fe garage as public parking for special events. Agreements with Skirvin Partners for hotel guests and with the University of Central Oklahoma in regard to retail space it leases on the garage's first floor would be honored. The memorandums of understanding and proposed sale prices set to go before the council already are approved and signed by the buyers. The Santa Fe garage has 1,518 spaces. The Santa Fe sale would amount to a price of just under $15,000 per space compared to the original Continental Resources offer of just under $10,000. The Santa Fe garage is a primary source of parking for events at Chesapeake Energy Arena, including Thunder games.Read more on NewsOK.com