TULSA, Okla. — With an often unhappy crowd response, the city's lead economic growth agency PartnerTulsa looked to explain what went wrong with the Black-owned Be Good Development partners' $68 million dollar plan to revitalize nine acres containing the old Evans-Fintube industrial site.
"You're not going to see anybody who's any more disappointed than us at the fact that after over two years of work, we're having to restart from the beginning," PartnerTulsa Executive Director Kian Kamas said.
Kamas said the plan initially showed good signs, but that two key companies giving capital to the project backed out, forcing Be Good Development to resubmit its plans by June 1.
But last week PartnerTulsa said the resubmitted work did not meet the needed requirements, and they had to be dropped as master developers.
"That decision was not easy. It was very difficult," Kamas said during the meeting.
But disagreements arose many times from the audience during the meeting.
Several critical voices among the nearly 100 people who attended demanded more clarity and were not satisfied.
Natalie Sims was among them.
"We are toiling over this every night," Sims said. "This is 100 years of abuse from the city, and we are saying, 'Hey, give us the opportunity.' Equity is not about talk. There has to be action."
City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper said after the meeting that the city will organize more town halls to address concerns and hear from the development and capital groups involved.
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