Riverview Hotel?

On Tues., Dec. 5, at an impromptu meeting of the Riverview Neighborhood Association, a group of principal developers proposed a plan to renovate and append the historical McBirney Mansion, 1414 S. Galveston.

The Tudor Gothic-style mansion, once a residence for oil boom banker James H. McBirney, currently operates as a 12,000-square foot bed and breakfast, but the developers want to turn it into an approximate 100,000-square foot five-star, boutique hotel.

The principals proposing the project are real estate broker Bart James and architect George Warde, along with Jack Lee and Jim Seawright.

The project consists of a renovating the existing structure and adding other four-story structures, designed in the style of the historical architecture, with about 85 rooms ranging between 800-square feet and 1,600-square feet in size, conference and banquet halls for 300, a large veranda and restaurant overlooking the river, a pool and a hot tub.

Approximately 200 parking spaces would be built underground, and access to and egress from the hotel would be from Riverside Drive only.

Some of the concerns raised by the residents of Riverview were easement, underground water, physical appearance, access, parking and approval from the Tulsa Historical Society and the Tulsa Preservation Commission.

James and Warde attended the TPC's monthly meeting Thurs., Dec. 14, to make a preliminary proposal to the Commission, informing it of their plans.

Warde said the property isn't working out now as a bed and breakfast, citing low occupancy and about $1 million worth of disrepair to the shutters, roof and floors. Warde said his intent is to address those concerns while respecting the history of the property, with plans to build around the landscaping as it stands and save and maintain the historical springs.

"We believe it will enhance the neighborhood and improve and increase the value of property in the area," Warde told the Commission. He said he was not looking for public money; the project would be privately funded.

"This is something Tulsa could use, and it would enhance downtown," Warde said. "We think we've got the Mayo beat."

James admitted the developers would have to jump through many hoops before their design could even come close to becoming a reality, like getting the appropriate zoning changes--Riverview is zoned as single-family housing, and the McBirney proposal is a commercial project--and having the easements on the property lifted, which state that the property may not be used for any commercial or industrial business, and that extension or erection of additional structures is not permitted, along with various other strict regulations.

Gift of the Magi?

But Warde said he knows from experience that "impossible dreams are possible." In the 1960s, Warde was one of the individuals who worked with Dewey Bartlett on starting a junior college in the old Sinclair office building at 11th and Boston, what is now the Metro Campus of the Tulsa Community College system.

The TPC was not required to take any action regarding the proposal, but some members did express acclamation for the project's ingenuity as well as concerns about the historical preservation of the original mansion.

Residents of the Riverview Neighborhood wishing to express their opposition to the developers' plan were also present at the meeting. Local attorney Robert Taylor and his wife Lana live across the street from the mansion in a house McBirney built for members of his family one year prior to building the mansion.

Robert addressed Warde's suggestion that McBirney could not survive in its current state as a bed and breakfast. Robert said he and his wife have watched the mansion thrive as a bed and breakfast for the past 10 years and attributes its recent decline in activity to the change of ownership that took place about a year and a half ago, not the mansion itself.

He also expressed concern that, if the hotel wasn't as successful as the developers intended, that the structure would be turned into a condominium, as every room will have its own kitchen.

Outgoing Riverview Neighborhood Association President Ann Pollard said the principals came to the Neighborhood Association with their proposal in early December, and the Association met with the principals as well as their City Councilor, Maria Barnes.

Following that meeting, the Association called a special meeting at the mansion to discuss the proposal.

"December is typically our holiday meeting, and we wanted to have a meeting devoted to the plan before the end of the year," she told Urban Tulsa Weekly in an interview prior to the TPC meeting.

But Lana said she attended a neighborhood association meeting the following Tuesday, Dec. 12, and no mention of the project was made.

Following the first special meeting, which they attended, Lana and Robert went door-to-door in their neighborhood, asking their neighbors for input regarding this project. The response they received, Lana said, was nearly unanimously negative.

But Pollard said the response at that first meeting was very positive, and as a representative of the Neighborhood Association, she said the group as a whole is looking forward to hearing more about the group's proposed development.

"It's a beautiful project on paper," Pollard said. "We like that they're restoring the mansion and maintaining the building. It needs some work to bring it back to its former glory. We're also excited that they plan to maintain and embellish the springs. Our main concern is maintaining the integrity of the mansion and the history of the springs."

Pollard admits that with this kind of development proposed, it is likely that even more commercial development projects will quickly follow suit in order to meet the needs of the hotel guests.

For that reason, Pollard said the Neighborhood Association's major goal for the end of the year is the implementation of a master plan, giving the neighborhood more control over the amount of development allowed to infringe upon it residents.

"What we like about this project is the quality of the development proposed," Pollard said. "It could really enhance the neighborhood, but it also creates a tenor for other developers and businesses in the future."

Lana said she and other dissidents reject the plan for the same reason Pollard and the developers tout it -- she wants to maintain the historical significance of the mansion and the grounds. Plus, she and her neighbors aren't too excited about living across the street from a hotel.

"They keep talking about wanting to leave a legacy," said Lana, who's lived in her current residence for 10 years and in the neighborhood for 26. "If they really want to leave a legacy, they should preserve the history. That's what our city is lacking."

James said the developers will make a decision whether or not to commit to the project soon, and following that will begin what will probably be a long series of public meetings regarding easement changes, rezoning and submitting a Planned Urban Development Proposal.