Two-thirds of the Journal Record Building in downtown has a new owner after an investment group led by Oklahoma City-based Heritage Wealth Management purchased the building’s commercial unit.
The portion of the historically significant building on Robinson Ave. is being sold by the Oklahoma City Industrial and Cultural Facilities trust. The Oklahoman’s Brianna Bailey reports the trust approved a deal to sell the property for just over $7 million last year.
Heritage plans to redevelop about 100,000 square feet of the Journal Record Building into Class A office space.
““he Journal Record Building is an Oklahoma City landmark and we want to ensure the building continues to play a central role in the community,” Bond Payne, Chairman and CEO of Heritage Wealth Management Company and Manager of JRB Holdings, LLC said in a statement. “This undertaking includes a restoration of the physical structure, but also a restoration of the scars on our urban landscape. To us, we are restoring a building, a neighborhood and a community.”
The 92-year-old Journal Record Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It originally served as a Masonic Lodge. It sustained heavy damage during the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building across the street, and its west end now houses the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.
“I’m very pleased to know this historic landmark in downtown Oklahoma City will be given a new life and an opportunity to once again become a lively, active center of our downtown community,” Oklahoma Historical Society executive director Bob Blackburn said in a statement. “Bond and his team at Heritage understand the historical significance of this structure and will be great stewards of its renovation and future management.”
A $40 million dollar renovation is planned for the five-story building, which will involve adding a glass-encased sixth floor and a parking garage with 409 spaces. Heritage plans to relocate its headquarters to the site, and lease about 70,000 square feet of retail and office space. The first phase of renovations should be complete by next year.
“The Journal Record Building is an important and historic piece of downtown Oklahoma City’s landscape, and we look forward to its restoration,” Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said in a statement. “We know it will continue to thrive for many years to come as a symbol of Oklahoma’s resilience, perseverance and hope for the future.”
Last month the Oklahoma City Council approved a revised version of its $4.75 million agreement to help pay for redevelopment of the Journal Record building. City manager Jim Couch called it an otherwise “marginal” building that’s had several past financial issues, but he did acknowledge its significance.
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