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New Commercial Developments In Western Oklahoma City Could Bring Increased Tax Revenue

A layout of the planned $50 million, 450,000-square-foot retail development at the intersection of NW 10th Street, N. Czech Hall Road, and Interstate 40 near Yukon.
Courtesy Rendering
/
The Journal Record
A layout of the planned $50 million, 450,000-square-foot retail development at the intersection of NW 10th Street, N. Czech Hall Road, and Interstate 40 near Yukon.

The Interstate 40 corridor in western Oklahoma City and Yukon is growing fast and some companies are looking at development prospects in the area.

The Journal Record's Molly Fleming reports GBT Realty Corp. plans to build a $50 million, 450,000-square-foot retail development on 80 acres at the intersection of NW 10th Street, N. Czech Hall Road, and Interstate 40 near Yukon.

The Market at Czech Hall will be the company’s first time building a shopping center in Oklahoma. However, it has been leasing shopping centers since 2008. GBT Realty is still in the process of acquiring the land, which it expects to complete in spring 2015, with the center to open summer 2016. GBT Realty Managing Director of the Shopping Center Division Jeff Pape said that, over the past year, the company has frequently heard from national retail tenants that they want to expand their presence in the Oklahoma City market. “We see this as a great opportunity,” Pape said. The center is 40-percent leased, with final negotiations underway with grocery and sporting goods anchor tenants. The area will also have five junior box stores and 11 outparcels for banks, restaurants and other service providers at the property’s front.

The newspaper's managing editor Adam Brooks says commercial growth could bring increased tax revenue to the area, but any new shopping centers will have to compete with already existing retail options.
 
"They're looking at anchoring it with a grocery store - and we've heard some rumors that it's going to be an Oklahoma City based grocery store - as well as a sporting goods store," Brooks says. "It will probably provide a lot more retail options and a few other things for Yukon residents, but it's possible it will draw some traffic away from existing retail in Yukon."

Sales tax revenue is the main driver for municipalities in these kinds of developments. Oklahoma City and Yukon hope that they can create a rising tide of growth with these projects.

Greater Oklahoma City Chamber President of Economic Development Kurt Foreman said the center confirms the growth that is happening in Canadian County. The Yukon School District, which includes some of western Oklahoma City, has grown from about 5,000 students in 2000 to 8,092 students in 2013. The high school was built four years ago with extra classrooms, but all the class space is filled now. “It’s an attractive place for retail growth because of the numbers there,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity to bring more services to a region in the city that is growing.”

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The Business Intelligence Report is a collaborative news project between KGOU and The Journal Record.

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Brian Hardzinski is from Flower Mound, Texas and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. He began his career at KGOU as a student intern, joining KGOU full time in 2009 as Operations and Public Service Announcement Director. He began regularly hosting Morning Edition in 2014, and became the station's first Digital News Editor in 2015-16. Brian’s work at KGOU has been honored by Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI), the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters, and local and regional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. Brian enjoys competing in triathlons, distance running, playing tennis, and entertaining his rambunctious Boston Terrier, Bucky.
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