OKC amphitheater fate unknown; promoter cancels Tennessee development
Steve Lackmeyer/The Oklahoman/August 19, 2024
Colorado Springs developer J.W. Roth is continuing to seek investors for a $100 million amphitheater in Oklahoma City despite having no new site chosen following a zoning request for a previously announced location being rejected in April.
Advertising for the proposed 12,500-seat venue in Oklahoma City was ubiquitous last winter as Roth sought wealthy investors to buy luxury fire pit suites at the proposed site along the Kilpatrick Turnpike between Mustang and Yukon.
The company ceased all promotions and declined multiple requests for interviews when neighbors of the proposed site in west Oklahoma City convinced council members to reject zoning for the venue due to noise and traffic concerns. But on the website for his company, Venu (previously known as Notes Live), investor solicitations continue for the Oklahoma City amphitheater.
In the past few months, the company cancelled plans for a $40 million, 4,500-seat amphitheater it announced for Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as well as a proposed purchase of a wine producer that would have given Roth’s company a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Only one amphitheater, a smaller venue in Colorado Springs, has been built to date.
When told The Oklahoman was doing a story about the latest setbacks for Venu, Chloe Hoeft, the company’s marketing vice president, agreed to answer questions submitted via email.
The Oklahoma City amphitheater, she responded, is not dead.
“We remain deeply committed to building in the Oklahoma City market,” Hoeft said. “We are in active discussion on several potential sites within the market.”
Hoeft did not answer, however, whether investors will be able to get their money back if they don’t like a new location or if the amphitheater is not built. She also declined to detail whether investors in the Murfreesboro project are getting interest on money that was held in escrow.
“Prospective suite holders are well informed about their options as it pertains to their investment in Oklahoma City,” Hoeft said. “All specific investments from the Murfreesboro project have been returned to investors in whole.”
Hoeft also declined to detail why Venu cancelled its merger with Fresh Vine Wine, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Economic development officials in Oklahoma City say they’ve heard nothing from Venu in the past six months, a silence observed by John Iaccheri in the months leading up to the cancellation of the amphitheater in Murfreesboro.
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Iaccheri, owner of Murfreesboro.com, tracked the project for months after Roth announced in 2022 his plans to build a 4,500-seat amphitheater, an upscale casual dining restaurant and a music hall that could accommodate up to 1,400 concert patrons or events with table seating for up to 500 people.
Early on, the company was eager to talk to Iaccheri after seeing his online site. Roth was just starting to unveil his grand vision for a chain of upscale amphitheaters after opening music halls in Gainsville, Ga. and Colorado Springs.
“They offered me a free trip to go out (to Colorado Springs) and see what it would be like,” Iaccheri said. “They flew me out and got me a rental car. We saw an Eagles tribute band.”
Roth signed an agreement with the City of Murfreesboro in August 2022 that required Venu to start construction no later than June 1, 2023. Failure to meet that deadline would trigger the transfer of 22 acres of land provided to Venu back to the city.
The city agreed to extend the deadline to December, but as of June, Iaccheri said he was not seeing any indication of progress being made with the development.
It was then that the company told Iaccheri the company was building several other amphitheaters around the country and that it made sense to put the Murfreeboro amphitheater on hold since construction hadn’t started yet.
The only amphitheater under construction, however, was the one in Colorado Springs that opened earlier this month.
Rising construction and interest costs were already a concern for developers nationwide after the Murfreesboro amphitheater was announced, but Roth at that time indicated he was prepared for cost increases.
“We’re very well capitalized, we’re not leaning on bank financing, so we don’t have a lot of great risk,” Roth told the Nashville Business Journal. “Where our risks come from is how inflation or how customers view our product, which in this case is tickets, food and beverage.”
Those costs were cited, however, when Roth sought to change the deal earlier this year, asking to eliminate the restaurant and concert hall and to add 2,000 seats to the amphitheater. The city rejected the request, and Venu responded with a termination notice on June 28 citing “changing conditions.”
Amphitheater development efforts continue
With Murfreesboro cancelled and the Oklahoma City amphitheater’s fate unknown, Venu reports plans are proceeding for construction of a 12,500-seat amphitheater in Broken Arrow. Unlike the proposed venue in Oklahoma City, renderings show covered seating for the Broken Arrow amphitheater.
Incentives for the project includes a commitment of up to $39.5 million through the State of Oklahoma's Enterprise Zone Incentive Leverage Act and up to $18 million for infrastructure provided through tax increment financing provided by Broken Arrow. The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, meanwhile, is set to build a new Creek Turnpike ramp for the development.
Venu also secured a deal with McKinney, Texas to build a 20,000-seat amphitheater. That deal requires an opening in 2026 with a mix of incentives and tax breaks estimated at up to $100 million over the next 20 years.
Yet another amphitheater was announced this year for El Paso, which has agreed to provide $31 million in assistance for construction of a 12,500-seat amphitheater to open in 2026.
Oklahoma City was unique in that the company’s plans did not include any incentives. Otherwise, each project involves the same business model; construction is funded through the sale of private fire pit suites to investors.
In a December interview with The Oklahoman, Roth reported 30% percent of suites were sold, including the sold-out front row suites.
Prices for the various suites and memberships at the Oklahoma City venue ranged between $125,000 and $650,000. Of the 202 suites, 87 were sold to investors who bought into Roth's sales pitch.
Roth said investors will be members of the limited liability company that owns the property. The investment would be transferable to heirs or through resale. The firepits and VIP suites, however, cannot be resold until all 202 are sold by Notes Live.
Noise concerns turn into complaints with first opening
The west Oklahoma City residents who opposed the amphitheater were not the only ones with noise concerns. Colorado Springs residents unsuccessfully sought to stop the company’s new amphitheater over noise concerns. The first concerts earlier this month drew more than 140 noise complaints filed with the City of Colorado Springs.
David Chapman, a business professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, was still an Edmond city council member when Venu expressed interest in building an amphitheater in the Oklahoma City suburb.
Chapman, who stepped down from the city council in May, doesn’t think a deal will be done with Edmond. He cautioned investors should question the political challenges such projects face before writing out any checks.
“I just don’t think people understand the power that the community has on city council and city government when it comes to approval of a project like this,” Chapman said. “If i were going to invest in those fire pits, I would strongly consider the effect it is going to have where it is going to go. They wanted us to find a location. I told them, I don’t think it’s going to fly here for the same reasons - traffic and noise.”
Chapman believes Venu has already spent a lot of money trying to complete a deal for a amphitheater in the Oklahoma City metro. The cancellation of projects, along with the noise complaints, can lead to great problems ahead for a start-up like Venu.
“That's doubly bad for the developer – they can have a track record of not getting it done,” Chapman said. “And if they have complaints on (Colorado Springs), on its opening, that’s going to come up elsewhere.”
Venu continues to heavily promote Roth's vision to build a chain of amphitheaters. The company started a quarterly magazine focused on its developments and the concert business. The first cover featured Roth on the cover. In a March interview with Costar, Roth said he wants expand to 10 U.S. markets in the next two years.
But why pursue new developments when Venu was not able to build an amphitheater in Murfreesboro and has yet to resolve the question of where to build a venue in Oklahoma City?
"Venu is committed to expanding its presence and bringing world-class entertainment venues to various markets," Hoeft said. "We continue to pursue opportunities in locations that align with our strategic vision. Each project is unique, and timelines can vary based on local factors and regulatory approvals. Our announcements reflect our ongoing commitment to growth and delivering exceptional experiences across multiple regions."