Land Deal Close for 500,000-SF-Plus Project

BROKEN ARROW, OK-The developer of Stone Wood Hills expects to hand off a 39-acre tract in August to a major regional retail player after a deal cratered in May with a Dallas-based group to build upward of 500,000 sf of retail and office space. Despite the change in developers, ground is projected to break in first quarter 2007.

Michael Parrish with Parrish Co. in Tulsa tells GlobeSt.com that Roland Investments Ltd. immediately had two offers to replace Hunt Properties Inc. when the deal fell apart because Target Corp. couldn't be reeled in as an anchor. As a result, he says a deal also was jeopardized with Belk's.

Parrish says the replacement buyer, though, is willing to step up the density and offers the promise of being a long-term holder rather than being a merchant builder for a gateway development with 1.3 miles of frontage along Broken Arrow Expressway. The development site sits on a hill overlooking Bass Pro Shops, a 130,000-sf, 19-acre lakefront anchor that opened last October.

With Bass Pro leading the play, the Village at Stone Wood Hills' project has gained strong traction. The first 33,000 sf of Roland's 100,000-sf retail component will deliver in September. Three leases are out for signatures and several letters of intent are pending. "We should have it full by the time we're finished with our shell building," Parrish says. Then, the plan is to wait to see what the competing developer plans to bring to the table before adding more spec space. Roland has 140 acres of the original 355 acres left to develop.

A lakeside pad site is under construction for a Los Cabos, a regional restaurateur, and Runts Barbecue of Muskogee has bought the last pad. Steak & Shake is open; Lone Star Steakhouse is coming in August. A 127-room Holiday Inn opened last week and planning has begun for 100-room Marriott flag. Meanwhile, municipal leaders have just floated a request for proposal to hotel-conference center developers for a two-acre site that Tulsa-based Roland Investments donated to the city. "Hopefully, it will break ground this year," Parrish says. The RFP is a 200-room hotel and 35,000-sf conference center.

The Village at Stone Wood Hills, like Bass Pro, was designed by Mike Hughes Architects of Tulsa. Parrish is handling leasing and pad site sales. Shop space is going for $16.50 per sf to $17.50 per plus 50 cents per sf for common area maintenance. Pad sites are quoted at $15 per sf.

Parrish says Roland, primarily a homebuilder, has laid out a five-year build-out plan for Stone Wood's commercial components. Using a conservative estimate, he pegs the all-in build-out value will exceed $183 million. "Stone Wood is a new area. We have the identity," he says. "Now, we're trying to figure out ways to enhance it even more. The best is yet to come."