Panel: Community vision vital in development process

By: Kathryn McNutt//The Journal Record//October 12, 2023//

EDMOND – A community vision and passion for the project are key to a successful development, a group of metro developers told attendees at the 2023 Commercial Real Estate Summit held Wednesday at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Matthew Myers, managing partner for Switchgrass Capital, said he approaches each project with the question: What do I want this to be? “Community is always a part of that,” he said. “I start with that up front and have the architect work with that in mind.”

Just as neighbors need to have a healthy relationship, so do development teams, Myers said. He looks for architects, contractors and engineers who exemplify that in their firms. Switchgrass Capital currently is developing five properties in the Edmond core – residential, multifamily and live/work spaces – that will bring many neighbors together.

Steve Mason, president at Mason Realty Investors, has restored and operates 38 historic buildings with 65 tenants in the Oklahoma City urban core including the Plaza District and Automobile Alley.

“We like our tenants. We like the people,” Mason said, noting many would be turned down if they applied for a loan. “We respect our communities and are helping to build up the community to a place they want to be.”

That attitude is paramount in developing underserved areas, said Jonathan Dodson, CEO of Pivot Project Development, who began the EastPoint redevelopment project along NE 23rd Street in 2016 with community leader and fellow developer Sandino Thompson.

“The tendency is for the developer to think that they have the power,” Dodson said. “People with power and money can feel like they know what’s best.”

Pivot addresses neighborhood needs with development that doesn’t displace people from their community and allows them to help shape the culture, he said. About 30% of his tenants have an ownership in the properties.

“Developers historically didn’t always care the most,” said Clay Coldiron, managing partner for the Broadway Development Group. “The concern about the community and professionalism have improved.”

Coldiron is embarking on an uncommon community for Edmond at the southeast corner of Kelly Avenue and Covell Road on 150 acres owned by the Salyer family.

“It’s their dream to turn this property into an asset for the community,” he said. “It will be an important piece of developed property for a long time that will serve those who work, live and play there.”

Getting to work with that much land within the city offers “a lot of diverse opportunities and it is exciting,” Coldiron said.

“Edmond typically has been developed in more rural and suburban environments. We’re going to attempt to cross over and move toward urban development,” he said. “It will be a hybrid project between suburban and new urbanism.”

The project will feature various commercial uses and mixed residential that will build more density and build on community compared to the traditional residential suburban style that is by its nature isolating, he said.

Work on the first-phase infrastructure is expected to begin with six months. “It wouldn’t surprise me if this is a 10-year project,” Coldiron said.

That long process and all the drama and chaos that goes with it is why passion for a project – even on the bad days – is important, Myers said.

Passion for a project sometimes means more than financial return. Mason said he redeveloped the old Classen Inn, built in 1963, because it deserved to stay a motel, not be converted to apartments or torn down.

“It doesn’t pay for itself, but other projects carry it,” he said, “and I love the building.”