Clarification on Hargreaves

I got a letter in my email about the Hargreaves post that went up yesterday, from Grant Humphreys, the developer of The Waterfront (among many projects). The Waterfront is the downtown airpark redevelopment site he's been working on, that he commissioned Hargreaves to design a centerpiece park to anchor the development. This is the park framed on one side by the river, on the other by a line of mid-rise development, and anchored by the Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel that Grant bought on eBay. I think the way I worded it might have created some confusion about whether Hargreaves was commissioned by the Developer or the City. I'll let Grant's email sort out any confusion on the matter:

I just came across the blog post you put up about the Hargreaves design work in OKC. Thanks for tracking what's happening in downtown OKC - it's an exciting time. I wanted to correct one piece of information you blogged. The recently approved design contract with OKC and Hargreaves was not related to either the NAICC or the Waterfront (our project). It was related to the conceptual design for the Core-to-Shore park element to be located south of the existing I-40 alignment between Hudson and Robinson (in the event that the C2S vote passes later this year). The Waterfront and NAICC design contracts with Hargreaves were not funded with public dollars. Our work on the Waterfront Park design took place earlier this year in the Spring and all design fees were funded privately as part of the soft design costs associated with our project - The Waterfront. So, the C2S park concept plan is at least their third project to participate in that affects downtown Oklahoma City. Quite an impact.

Thanks again for tracking what's happening in OKC. I wish you the best!

Thanks,

Grant

Here's what I said that probably led to the confusion:

What Oklahoma City projects am I speaking about? I am glad you asked. I'm talking about two new exciting parks being developed along the Oklahoma River that the City of OKC has had very little (so far) to do with.

What I meant by that is in the case of the AICC, it's possible that a MAPS 3 item could include a funding supplement to finish this, so that they don't have to go back to the state asking for more money, or who knows what. As for how that statement pertains to The Waterfront, I was suggesting after the park was developed, I don't know if it would be given to the Parks Dept to maintain, or if The Waterfront would maintain it, and it's also possible that TIF funding could go towards helping cover some development cost for Waterfront Park. But make no mistake, for right now the egg that's hatching this awesome new park is the developer of this new community.