City Has Billion Dollar Plans For The Arkansas River

Wednesday, August 22nd 2007, 5:00 pm

By: News On 6

A Tulsa suburb isnâ€™t waiting on a proposed river development plan, they have their own. The News On 6 was the first to report that the Tulsa Drillers are thinking about moving to a new development in Jenks called the River District. But as attention getting as that is, The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports the Drillers are just one small piece of a mammoth $1 billion real estate project.

"It's gonna change the scenery and the landscape for sure. It's going to change the region with its economic impact," River District developer Lynn Mitchell said.

Lynn Mitchell is one of several developers that have been planning for the past year for the River District, a development that will include retail, commercial, hotel and residential space. Everything you would find in a self-contained town, what Mitchell calls the â€œurban village.â€

"We create a town square district, similar to South Lakes in Texas," Mitchell said.

South Lake is located north of Fort Worth, Texas. Think of it as a Brookside or a Cherry Street on a much larger scale. Itâ€™s brand-new, but combines the old-fashioned look and placement of buildings near the street. It also has something that older, established districts often lack, carefully placed parking garages.

"The urban village setting is kind of the best of both worlds. It's the best of shopping that we've had in mall settings for the last 25 years, and it's kind of the best of a downtown environment," said Mitchell.

Mitchell says they will be drawing from many other influences from other shopping districts too. For example, for the water features in the River District they're calling on the team that designed the fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

"We've asked design development group to kind of take the best of the best from their designs nationwide and incorporate them into one development here on the river," Mitchell said.

The sudden addition of what is essentially an entire town would naturally make a splash.

"This will generate about 7,000 construction jobs over the next five years. We estimate about 4,000 permanent jobs, substantial tax revenues, it's going to make a big impact to the state," said Mitchell. "Y'know the Drillers are an exciting component for us, but certainly don't miss the fact that this is a $1 billion investment in Tulsa."

On a side note, Mitchell is supporting the river tax for Tulsa County. He says development on the river anywhere benefits the whole county.

Watch the video: Jenks Working On Their Own River Plan

Related Stories:

8/20/2007 The Jenks Drillers?

8/21/2007 Jenks Trying To Lure The Drillers From Tulsa

8/21/2007 Fans React To Possible Drillers Move

8/21/2007 Previous Plans To Move The Drillers Have All Failed