PROJECT DESCRIPTION

For Professional Services

Innovation District Plan

Introduction

The City of Midwest City, Oklahoma is looking for a qualified professional firm to provide research and planning services to create an Innovation District Plan for an area near Tinker Air Force Base and Rose State College within the city limits of Midwest City, Oklahoma.

Project Description

The long range plan for this project is to create an Innovation District (surrounding the Rose State Campus) in partnership with the City of Midwest City, TBIP (Tinker Business and Industrial Park) Tinker Airforce Base and Rose State College. An Innovation District is designed to promote a high level of interaction and connectivity within a compact area. It facilitates accidental business collisions and serendipitous business choreography through deliberate urban planning. Innovation districts and the innovation economy rely upon a technically skilled workforce, specifically those in the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) fields and environments that encourage collaboration.

The project will consist of a district plan (including a combined feasibility study and implementation plan) to create an urban-style district with high density housing units, supporting businesses and pedestrian activity. The district plan would outline the assets of the chosen area as well as identifying obstacles and making recommendations for land use and connectivity. The end result would be the creation of a place that would appeal to the next major workforce, providing a place for interaction, activity, technology and more freedom from automobile dependence.

The plan would identify key findings, along with the purposes and goals for the Innovation District. It should include an inventory and detailed description of existing buildings, facilities, and uses of properties as well as property owners. The plan should also include the various redevelopment components, including proposed office, research, retail, housing, mixed use development, green spaces, and open spaces.

The plan would also identify desired re-uses of properties, zoning and land use conflicts. It would address transportation routes and transit systems. Identifying tax incentives and sources of funds to pay costs would be necessary. It should include a description of activities and projects needed to accomplish the principal goals of the plan and redevelopment cost projections.

Background

Midwest City is located about 15 minutes east of Downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma via I-40. Tinker Air Force Base, originally the Midwest Air Depot, abuts its southern boundary. Midwest City is roughly 26 square miles and home to 56,756 people. Midwest City was originally founded in the early 1940s to facilitate the base and it remains heavily dependent on incomes derived from TAFB and its contractors. The generation entering the workforce is considerably different than the one we have known in the past. Jobs and the workplace are ever evolving to be more technical in nature. Midwest City must prepare for the future in a changing world.

The Rose State College campus is comprised of 25 buildings spread out over 120 acres. It is a 2-year college that offers more than 60 skilled occupational programs and associates degrees to about 13,000 students every year. Rose State is known for some unique programs and partnerships. They are aggressively developing and providing additive manufacturing training programs through partnerships with the defense contractors. Rose State is a nationally recognized hub for Cyber Security training. Also, Southeastern State University's Aviation program is located on the Rose State campus. RSC has progressive leadership who is currently discussing the expansion of STEAM offerings with flagship universities.

Tinker Business and Industrial Park (TBIP) is a 70-acre Planned Unit Development, specifically designed to enhance the mission of Tinker Air Force Base. Today, TBIP North consists of three buildings totaling over 170,000 square feet. More than 50 entities with approximately 1,000 employees, (500 to 600 on-site) account for $1 billion of the $2.2 billion in sole source contracts awarded by Tinker AFB annually. Upon completion, TBIP North will feature 12 to 15 buildings, approximately 4,000 employees and a total of 1,000,000 square feet.

TBIP offers a cadre of defense contractors, the largest concentration of technology companies at any one location in Oklahoma. TBIP is a unique environment where public institutions, private sector businesses and academia are clustered together to create a dynamic synergy with partnership potential. TBIP is sector specific, serving those companies who are engaged in aerospace/aviation, environmental sciences and telecommunications. By clustering companies engaged in the three sectors represented at TBIP, partnerships of both people and ideas are deliberately fostered.

Tinker Airforce Base (TAFB) Today, with more than 26,000 military and civilian employees, Tinker is the largest single-site employer in Oklahoma. The installation has an annual statewide economic impact of $3.51 billion, creating an estimated 33,000 secondary jobs. Tinker owns 4,048 acres, leases 810 acres and has 642 acres of easements. The total number of buildings including Bldg 9001 is 458.

Tinker is also home to eight major Department of Defense, Air Force and Navy activities with critical national defense missions. TAFB and local defense contractors are in dire need of entry level engineers and engineering techs.

Project Area Map

The proposed district boundaries encompass an area of one square mile, which includes land from S Sooner RD to S Air Depot Blvd and from SE 15th Street to the SE 29^th Street.

Scope of Work

The scope of work for the project will consist of, but not be limited to, the following:

• Identify appropriate boundary and Create District Plan (Feasibility Study + Implementation)
• Include an inventory and detailed description of existing buildings, facilities, and uses of properties within the proposed area
• Identify a location for an anchor corporate campus within the boundary of the district and or a possible location for an Innovation Center in partnership with Tinker Airforce Base as they expand their additive manufacturing capabilities.
• Include redevelopment components, including proposed office, research, retail, housing, mixed use development, green spaces and plaza spaces
• Identify property owners (single family residential areas might be best represented as a whole with an average lot size, # of parcels and average
• Identify desired re-uses of properties
• Identify zoning and land use conflicts
• Address transportation routes and transit systems and potential to increase mass transit access)
• Explore potential for expansion of pedestrian and bicycle routes/paths/ lanes
• Include a description of activities needed to accomplish the principal goals of the district plan
• Identify projected redevelopment costs
• Explore public/private partnership potential
• Explore and identify appropriate incentives
• Summarize key findings and goals
• Explore potential for increases in property values, property taxes, sales tax revenue, commercial and workforce development.

The above list may not be comprehensive of all tasks, but it provides the current thinking on the project. These tasks will be refined with the assistance of the consultant team.

Project Budget

The City has appropriated $125,000.00. The project will be funded through a grant from the Hospital Authority Trust and matching City funds. The project cannot exceed the appropriated budget under any circumstances.

Contact Information

Julie Shannon, Comprehensive Planner
City of Midwest City
100 N. Midwest Boulevard
Midwest City, OK 73110
(405) 412-5518
jshannon@midwestcityok.org

Additional Resources

The following may serve as useful resources:

1. City of Midwest City website – www.midwestcityok.org
2. Rose State College – www.rose.edu
3. Midwest City Chamber of Commerce – www.mwcok.com
4. Tinker Business and Industrial Park – www.tbip.net
5. Tinker Air Force Base – www.tinker.af.mil