2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 35

It's so easy when you're running a city on a daily basis to be
thinking about tomorrow and not 10 years from tomorrow. "
-OKLAHOMA CITY MAYOR MICK CORNETT
Oklahoma City as " the city that was
bombed. " When Cornett became
mayor in 2004, almost a decade
after that horrible day, he sought
to change that association. " I was
trying to build an economy, and I
couldn't build an economy on tragedy "
he says.
Tapping into his background in
communications, marketing, and
branding, Cornett, a former broadcast
journalist, thought about how
he could start the rebranding. That
led to bringing in an NBA franchise,
the Oklahoma City Thunder, which
would go on to play in the 2012
NBA finals. The city also relocated
a portion of Interstate 40, a major
thoroughfare running through the
city, and built a new, landscaped sixlane
street named Oklahoma City
Boulevard downtown.
Another of Cornett's most notable
achievements while in office was
his passage of MAPS 3, a $777 million
capital improvements program
that, like the original MAPS initiative
from 1993, functions through a temporary
sales tax of one cent. From
2010 to 2017, that tax revenue went
toward debt-free projects intended
to improve the quality of life for city
residents.
Approved by voters in 2009, construction
of the MAPS 3 projects has
taken place over the last 12 years
and includes a new public park,
senior health and wellness centers,
a whitewater rafting and kayaking
center on the Oklahoma River, the
Oklahoma City Streetcar, and a new
convention center. The final project
of the program is anticipated to be
completed this year.
Cornett believes that to really
measure Oklahoma City's story,
you have to go back more than 30
years. " We probably had the worst
downtown, the worst economy in
the country, in 1990, " Cornett says.
" Today, we have one of the best
downtowns and [one of] the best
economies. Thirty years is a long
time, but no city has come as far,
as fast, as OKC. " He credits not only
the foundational guidance of the ULI
report but also the accomplishments
of his predecessors and the city's
current leadership, as well as the
city's business community.
Funding the future
The impact of the 1995 panel in
helping the city chart a path forward
continues to resonate in Oklahoma
City. Today, according to the latest
census data, the city has a population
of more than 700,000, a major
leap from three decades earlier.
Downtown Oklahoma City is a
vibrant, bustling area where more
than 5,000 housing units have been
developed, and both the public and
private sectors have made significant
investments. The city, recently
named one of the best places to
live by U.S. News & World Report,
drew more than 24 million tourists in
2023, contributing $4.5 billion to the
local economy.
Downtown Oklahoma City's transformation
over the last 30 years got
important help from the work done
by the 1995 panel and the report it
produced. The panel-and others
like it by ULI Advisory Services-is
something Klingbeil sees as critically
necessary to the organization. " I
think the Advisory Services Program
is probably the best thing ULI does, "
says Klingbeil, who previously served
as Chair of ULI and the ULI Foundation
and currently serves as ULI
Foundation Chair Emeritus.
The panels typically consist of
seven to nine professionals, who
spend a week convening and working
together on solving complex
problems around land use, in a process
Klingbeil describes as grueling.
" These people give up a week of
their time, and I think it's a real service. "
In
June, seeing that more funding
is needed for the panels, and
inspired by the impact made in
Oklahoma City, Klingbeil announced
a $1 million donation to ULI's Advisory
Services Program through the
Klingbeil Family Foundation. The gift
will go to a $7.5 million endowment
aimed at securing long-term funding
for the Advisory Services Program
and ensuring more communities
can enlist ULI members' expertise
to address difficult land use and
development challenges, regardless
of cost.
The strong culture of giving at ULI
is something that Klingbeil believes
to be among the organization's most
valuable strengths. Apart from monetary
donations, he sees the time
commitment by members who serve
on panels-especially ones who have
served on numerous panels over the
years-as ULI's most important asset.
" I think if you talk to the ULI people
[who] have contributed a tremendous
amount of time, you'd find that
most of those people feel like they
got more out of it than they put in, "
Klingbeil says. " You just learn a lot
by contributing a lot. " UL
HOLLY DUTTON is a Brooklyn-based commercial
real estate journalist.
FALL 202 4
URBAN LAND
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ULI FOUNDATION
2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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