Truck part maker Muncie Power Products will bring its Tulsa operations under one roof as the first tenant of the Peoria Mohawk Business Park.
Muncie Power Products will build a 300,000-square foot, $50 million plant in the Peoria Mohawk Business Park at Peoria Avenue and 36th Street North. The company currently works in two buildings with a combined space of less than 200,000 square feet.
"Certainly, we’re going to gain a lot of capacity and a lot of business development from this, but more than that, we’re going to be a part of something bigger for the entire area," said Muncie Power Products President and CEO Ray Chambers.
The Peoria Mohawk Business Park is in City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper’s district. Hall-Harper said it will bring good jobs within walking or biking distance of many residents who currently have to work in other parts of the city.
"That can really make the difference in people being able to get to work, to get to work on time and to be able to spend the monies that they earn in the community that they live in," Hall-Harper said.
Hall-Harper says partners like Tulsa Tech will be vital in training residents for jobs with Muncie Power Products and future business park tenants.
George Kaiser Family Foundation Program Officer Josh Miller said increased wages will kickstart redevelopment.
"As a result of that economic infusion, you bring in other resources, like retail and other essential services. And so, when you increase that, everything comes and follows after that. So, we hope it’s a stimulating effect for a more comprehensive neighborhood redevelopment strategy," Miller said.
GKFF donated more than 120 acres for the business park, and Vision Tulsa included $10 million for public improvements like increased storm sewer capacity there.
Other investments in the area include the Aero bus rapid transit line, development of a mixed-income community and a proposed special taxing district to subsidize further public improvements.
