City officials plan to employ a mechanism they’ve commonly used for commercial development to build more housing.
Tax increment finance districts, or TIF districts, use tax dollars from designated districts to support development in those areas.
Tulsa has established TIF districts to boost Route 66, but now officials are looking to use this mechanism to develop the Crutchfield neighborhood east of Highway 75 and north of Admiral Place.
“TIFs were actually created for housing, and so this is an opportunity to use a TIF in the original way it was designed to be used,” said City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, whose council district includes the area.
Sales and ad valorem tax within the district will support development to the tune of more than $78 million over 25 years. Officials estimate the initiative could produce more than 625 homes and generate at least $90 million of economic value.
One of the main developers whose projects would benefit from the district is Stuart McDaniel.
“There’ll be low-rise apartment buildings to quadplexes and six-plexes, to single-family homes and townhouse-style, and a mix of retail and commercial development. It’s really a wide array of types of property and development within that area,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel and Hall-Harper said there’s a need for projects like this in north Tulsa, which has suffered from a lack of investment for years. Hall-Harper said McDaniel has worked to not displace people “who have lived in the area for decades,” which she appreciates.
“He’s actually moved some people out of their home temporarily, reestablished, put foundations, basically remodeled their homes and moved them back in,” Hall-Harper said.
Hall-Harper also said the district plays into the city’s broader mission to build more housing in Tulsa. The mayor’s office aims to get 6,000 affordable homes operational by 2028.
On Tuesday, Mayor Monroe Nichols affirmed a commitment to achieving "functional zero homelessness" by 2030. He announced the creation of a homeless encampment decommissioning team, plans for a new winter shelter with increased bed capacity elsewhere, and a mayoral coalition on eviction mitigation.
