The latest amendment to the agreement between the TDA and a company owned by the Hanson family pushes the required construction completion date past the final repayment date of a $2 million low-interest loan provided to the Hansons. CLIFTON ADCOCK/The Frontier
The Tulsa Development Authority Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved a measure allowing for a 180-day delay to the start of construction on the Hanson family’s planned redevelopment of a building in Tulsa’s downtown Arts District.
The latest amendment to the agreement between the Tulsa Development Authority and a company owned by the Hanson family pushes the required construction completion date past the final repayment date of a $2 million low-interest loan provided by the Tulsa Development Authority to the Hansons for the redevelopment.
The amendment to the Aug. 4, 2016 agreement between the TDA and Mayfield, LLC — the company owned by Walker Hanson, father of the Hanson brothers musicians — is the second such change to the agreement pushing back the start of construction on redevelopment of the LA King building at 320 N. Boston Ave. The first amendment to the agreement approved by the TDA in April 2018, pushed all project dates back by one year.
Hanson, who was out of the country on Thursday, could not be reached for comment by The Frontier.
The Tulsa Development Authority, which is a public body subject to the state’s Open Meetings and Open Records acts, agreed in August 2016 to provide Mayfield LLC with a $2 million low-interest loan to purchase the LA King building for redevelopment. The purchase was completed in October 2016, according to Tulsa County land records.
According to the agreement, the Hanson family, through Mayfield, LLC, will redevelop the LA King building to a 25,740-square foot commercial mixed use structure consisting of a brewery, studio, retail and office components.
The agreement entered into by the Tulsa Development Authority with Mayfield, LLC came with several privacy requirements — including prohibitions against TDA releasing “all of the information in any form disclosed by Developer (Mayfield, LLC) to TDA concerning the Project…” without the prior written consent of Mayfield. The agreement also requires TDA to provide Mayfield with copies of any documents that it would have to disclose under the Oklahoma Open Records or a court order prior to giving them to the person requesting the documents to allow Mayfield to seek a protective order prohibiting release of the documents.
Prior to approval of the deal with Mayfield in August 2016, small groups of the five-member board that oversees TDA had met with representatives from the company in separate meetings, so as not to constitute a quorum and trigger the public notice requirements of the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act, the Tulsa World reported at the time.
In response to an Open Records request by The Frontier, the Tulsa Development Authority provided copies of the original agreement, TDA agendas and meeting minutes, and some emails from TDA staff and administration, but no documents submitted by Mayfield to the TDA outlining or discussing specific plans for the development, and few other records the agreement required Mayfield to provide to the TDA prior to making the loan, such as incorporation documents, environmental inspection reports on the property and other documents.
Jot Hartley, general counsel for the TDA, said there were some documents that were withheld from TDA’s response to The Frontier, but declined to provide a “privilege log” listing what documents were withheld and why.
Hartley also did not provide a copy of the letter sent to the Development Authority by Mayfield, LLC requesting the additional 180 days for commencement of construction approved on Thursday by the board.
O.C. Walker, executive director of the Tulsa Development Authority, said the letter from Mayfield, LLC states the delayed start date will not affect the anticipated time for completion, and will not change the repayment date of the loan.
Walker said the secrecy surrounding the project mostly has to do with the Hanson brand. The Tulsa-based band Hanson, consisting of brothers Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson, won international fame in the 1990s with their hit song MMMBop.
The 180-day extension pushes the beginning date for construction on the project back to December 2020, and under the terms of the agreement, Mayfield would then have two years — until December 2022 — to complete construction on the project.
The agreement states Mayfield, LLC must fully repay the loan by Tulsa Development Authority with a single $2 million “balloon payment” by Oct. 4, 2022.
The details of Thursday’s amendment to the agreement were discussed by the board in executive session, which is closed to the public, and approved unanimously once the board reconvened in public.
O.C. Walker, executive director of the Tulsa Development Authority, said the 180-day extension was requested because construction on the nearby Davenport Lofts, billed as a luxury high-rise condominium project, would be using the property around the LA King building as a staging area for cranes and other construction equipment.
The design and planning phase of the LA King building was originally scheduled to be completed by Dec. 31, 2018, though the board in April 2018 amended the agreement to push back all dates on the project by one year.
