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New Construction in Midtown Tulsa
The majority of homes in midtown were built before 1950,
but
there has
been some new
construction ... particularly in the last 5 to 10 years. Due to
the high cost of building sites, most of this new construction has
been in the
higher price ranges,
New Midtown trend offers contemporary urban "loft style" living
Pockets of these modern new homes can be
Some of these
townhomes
offer a distinctively “Green” approach to new
construction
New Homes in historic Midtown inspire a bit of controversy
The
trend towards so
One group of citizens has banded together in protest and formed a website to call attention to their concerns and you can check it out here: Preserve Midtown They have proposed a number of new restrictions on new construction in midtown Tulsa, including new ordinances and even suggested establishing a moratorium on residential demolitions until so-called "conservation" districts are established. While we applaud and support their enthusiasm and zeal for protecting our treasured midtown Tulsa neighborhoods we often disagree with their proposed methods.
These days you seldom here much about the age old real estate hypothesis that in a free society a piece of land will almost surely seek its highest and best use. These are the market forces which can work for or against you, depending upon how much economic sense it makes to upgrade and grow with the prevailing market conditions. The strong, healthy and well maintained properties survive and the dysfunctional and neglected properties make way for new growth which ultimately benefits all of the neighborhood. From our viewpoint, the vast majority of homes that have been demolished over the past 10 years were functionally obsolete or eyesores or both.
It's not as if the neighborhood groups don't have some good ideas because we believe they do. Some have suggested increasing permit and demolition fees to fund more rigorous inspections which makes pretty good sense . But they also argue that "the fabric, character, and beauty of one of Tulsa's greatest resources - midtown neighborhoods - are being eroded like a rapidly spreading cancer." They continue with the idea that "the teardown / McMansion craze is destroying cultural and social diversity in Midtown by demolishing affordable middle class and even upper middle class homes in favor of McMansions that only the rich and near rich can afford." This is the kind of rhetoric that fuels anger on both sides and hampers rather than helps create the kind of cooperation needed to balance the interests of both neighborhood and development groups.
Some opponents say "Be careful what you wish for"
Some in
opposition to the proposed new limitations say that property owners, working
within the framework of the existing building and zoning codes and covenants
should
It is probably safe to say there are valid arguments to support the concerns of
When you start legislating restrictions on those real property rights you are tinkering with the very foundation of our democratic freedoms, our right to own real property and use it as we wish subject only to community laws and ordinances and so long as it poses no threat to others. As they say, be careful what you wish for because these proposals are easy to put in place and almost impossible to change.
Potential for a huge loss of local tax revenues
The people who support new restrictions might wake up some day to find that their property values have actually decreased because of the adverse effects these changes will have on the developers and entrepreneurs who many times risk their personal fortunes to ply their trade. They will simply go someplace else to do business. Without the prospects for new growth, it is easy to see how a neighborhood might easily fall into decline, as some historic neighborhoods reportedly have. That is not even considering the potential impact on future revenue for a cash starved city struggling to make ends meet.
Look what happened back in the late 50's and 60's when there was absolutely no new construction in midtown and families joined a mass exodus to new homes being built in south Tulsa and the suburbs. Many of our most prized midtown neighborhoods fell into deep decline that lasted close to 25 years before people started moving back and renovating homes which helped inspire and give confidence to developers who began to once again invest in midtown. If we discourage and limit new construction it will likely only be a matter of time until the same thing happens again.
In midtown, one of the biggest complaints has focused on a project at 24th & Yorktown Ave where a smaller home (built on 3 previously platted lots) with a 2007 total market value for assessment purposes of $280,000, was leveled to make way for 3 new homes. The total value estimated for the three new homes is projected at around $2.25 million. The difference between the annual tax revenue before and after this project is approximately $26,000 annually.
Over a 10 year period that would be a total loss of revenue of over 1/4 of a million dollars just on this one single piece of property. How many parks could you mow, how many potholes could you fill, and how many schools could you fund with a quarter of a million dollars? If the Preserve Midtown group is successful in mandating a "preservation overlay" for all of midtown, it is doubtful projects like that one would ever be built in the future; which could be economically disastrous to tax revenues as well as to your homeowners property rights in general. Hopefully a sensible compromise will be achieved
We applaud associations who stay involved and work to protect the interests of their neighborhoods. Watchdog groups can be very effective keeping people informed of the issues and land use decisions which impact them. We would respectfully request that everyone tone down the rhetoric, finger pointing and name calling that leads to further divisiveness and engage in a constructive and meaningful dialogue that will serve us all well.
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