NEWS UPDATES

New Hope

Two projects beings shepherded by the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce and the Greenwood Community Development Corporation are expected to be approved by their funding sources this week, perhaps clearing the way for some substantial new development in north Tulsa.

Reuben Gant, president and CEO of the Greenwood Chamber, said he was expecting approval letters from his funding sources this week for the Shoppes on Peoria, a 23,000-square-foot retail development at 1731 N. Peoria Ave., and a multi-story retail/residential project at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street adjacent to ONEOK Field.

The Shoppes on Peoria will feature a dozen or so retail spaces, with tenants already secured for each of those, Gant said. The 3-acre site is located just north of the recently opened Gateway Market. Gant said he expects the development to open by the end of winter or early spring.

The timetable for the second project is not as short, he said, though he was hoping to receive a commitment on the funding this week.

"Once we receive that, then we will begin to finalize the construction documents and hopefully break ground next spring, as well," he said.

A Little for a Rainy Day

Tulsa voters will go to the polls in November to decide the fate of a proposed charter change that would create a so-called "rainy day" fund for the city after the City Council approved the measure last week.

District 9 Councilor G.T. Bynum, who led the effort to get the proposal sent to voters, said he was excited about its passage by the council.

"I'm looking forward to getting out and campaigning very hard to draw attention to this and hopefully get it passed," he said.

Under the terms of the proposal, if the revenue in the city's general fund in any given fiscal year surpasses the amount for the previous fiscal year by more than 4 percent, half that amount would be funneled into a reserve fund the city could draw on during a fiscal crisis.

Bynum cautioned that the creation of the fund would not serve as a cure-all, but it would make it much easier for the city to ride out economic downturns in the future.

"Virtually nothing could prevent the disaster we're in right now," he said. "This has been the worst financial hit the city has taken since the Great Depression. But we easily could have averted three-quarters of the drop we're having right now (if such a fund were in place). You will always have drops, but what this will prevent is the sharp edges."