The process to create a technology park for defense contractors includes a new agreement with an Oklahoma City firm to analyze the space.
Members of the FISTA Development Trust Authority voted last week to sign an agreement with Frankfurt-Short-Bruza & Associates (FSB) to provide the architectural and engineering services necessary to inspect, evaluate and design the FISTA facilities that will be placed in the old Sears department store of Central Mall.
The City Council created the FISTA (FIRES Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator) Development Trust Authority earlier this summer to handle efforts to create a technology park that will put defense contractors working with Fort Sill and its two U.S. Army Cross-Functional Teams under one roof. While the council agreed earlier this summer to lease the 105,000-square-foot Sears space on the west end of Central Mall, members also voted in October to expand plans from merely leasing some space to buying the entire mall.
The “due diligence” associated with those two decisions are going on at the same time, said Clarence Fortney, the Great Plains Technology Center superintendent who chairs the FISTA Development Trust Authority. While the lease contract specifies it will remain in effect for 10 years (with an extension possible), that lease can be replaced by a purchase contract if the City of Lawton takes that route, according to a clause in the agreement.
So, while the “due diligence” period for investigating what needs to be done with the Sears space has begun, city officials also have launched the process for the entire mall, said City Manager Michael Cleghorn.
That process includes hiring an architect/engineer to do the work, and city entities actually have two agreements with FSB: the City of Lawton for the due diligence on the entire mall and the trust authority for due diligence on the Sears space. FSB was the architectural firm the Lawton Economic Development Corporation used to analyze the Fairmont Creamery when it was being considered for the FISTA.
FISTA Director James Taylor said the trust authority’s agreement with FSB sets a $9,600 fee for work specifically associated with the Sears area. The contract, dated Oct. 30 and approved by the trust authority last week, states the firm assessed the space to evaluate the systems for continued operations, and now will incorporate that data and recommendations into a comprehensive master plan for a phased improvement. The agreement states FSB will provide the architectural services for that master plan, to include a conceptual floor plan and an analysis to determine exiting paths, corridor layouts and restroom requirements for each phase. Phases will have a detailed scope list, and a conceptual budget and schedule for the build out. The assessment is to be completed in 45 days.
Trust authority members want those plans expanded to include the entire mall, arguing Lawton already has enough interest in its FISTA to fill empty space beyond the Sears site. That interest was cited by city leaders as the reason for buying the mall, rather than focusing on vacant space.
“We need to start looking at what we need for the entire mall,” said local developer Ron Nance, a trust authority member.
Deputy City Manager Richard Rogalski said the agreement with FSB is only the first of what city officials expect to be a series of agreements designed to renovate empty retail space to technology use, as the city proceeds with plans to buy the entire mall for $14.6 million.
Taylor said this initial work is part of the due diligence process for Sears, and will be expanded under a separate agreement to a master plan for the entire Sears complex. The goal, Taylor said, is to “get the ball rolling” on the build out of the Sears space.
Fortney said it is important to remember that as of now, city officials only have access to the Sears space, under a $28,500-per-month agreement city leader signed with mall owners earlier this summer.
“We don’t have that other space yet,” Fortney said.
Nance said the sooner the trust authority gets feedback on the entire mall, the sooner that design process can begin. Taylor didn’t disagree, but said “we are under a tight deadline right now with Sears.” Officials say at least two defense contractors want to move into the Sears space as soon as possible, and one of those contractors wants half of the available space.
Trust authority members ultimately set an agreement with FSB for the Sears space, but said they also will look ahead to the entire mall so that process can begin as soon as possible.
The Link LonkNovember 08, 2020 at 02:00PM
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Work on FISTA begins with hiring architectural firm for due diligence - The Lawton Constitution
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