After nearly a two decade stalemate, development plans are moving forward for the over 235 acres of vacant land south of Sam’s Club and behind the Parkway Plaza shopping center on Ed Noble Parkway.
The property was owned by ANTHEM- a partnership between Robert “Bob” Moore, the late car dealership owner, and Mickey Clagg, president of Midtown Renaissance who owns several properties in Midtown OKC. The two formed the partnership in the 1980s.
After formation, the partnership ran into trouble and development ground to a halt in the mid 2000s. The full build out of the development was never realized and the development areas that were built have struggled over the past decade.
In 2015, Moore’s R.W.M., LP sought judgment against ANTHEM for breach of promissory notes totalling over $24 million. The court found in favor of the Moore family in 2020 and the case finally ended in 2021.
In October 2022, signs appeared around the land with a conceptual site plan under the name Bob Moore Farms. Subsequently in March 2023, land was transferred into a newly formed entity, Bob Moore Farms North LLC.
The development is proposed by Black Oak Partners LLC, a company owned by the Moore Family.
The original concept plan showed a mix of retail and entertainment uses spread across the site. Proposed buildings included a grocery store, hotel, and amphitheater.
Internal feasibility documents for the development obtained by Norman Development noted Norman’s “significant vacant commercial space” and that “the market currently cannot absorb the intensity of C2 zoning allowable uses.”
In addition to the commercial concerns, the feasibility study noted that additional residential dwelling units are needed in the Norman market. These factors drove the plan to be transitioned to predominantly high-density residential with limited commercial use.
The north side of the site, south of Sam’s Club and the Norman Public Library West, is contemplated to be 4 retail buildings along an extension of Creekdale Drive that will connect to the roundabout at Norman Centre Drive. The Creekdale extension will separate the commercial traffic from the residential developments to the south.
Two separate apartment developments will fill the remainder of the site north of Willowbend Road with over 600 units total. Most units will be in typical 3-story apartment buildings.
Seven buildings, and 66 units, are proposed to be a new-to-Norman product called “Big House,” a type of multi-family development coined by Dallas-based architect Humpreys & Partners Architects who is the architect for Bob Moore Farms North.
The Big House Apartment style is built to resemble single-family architecture and typically feature private entrances, attached garages, and fewer units per building.
The plan proposes lots of greenspace and trail connections between the existing residential uses south, through the residential uses proposed, and the existing commercial developments to the north.
Construction will take place in phases, with total construction estimated to be $140 Million
The approximately 43 acres of land contemplated in the latest submission is only part of the 235 total acres proposed in the full development.
Documents obtained by Norman Development showed the full conceptual master plan for all the Bob Moore Farms North property, including property south of Lindsey Street that has been proposed as a Canadian River Park.
Approximately 50 acres of the remaining land is proposed to be 145 single family lots, an additional 200 units of Big House Apartments, 475 units of traditional apartments, and 15 acres of commercial development that would front Lindsey Street along the curve to 36th Avenue.
The 130 acres south of Lindsey Street is set to be parkland, including a trail loop that runs through the site and along the Canadian River in the southwest corner of the site.
The voter approved Norman Forward initiative set aside $2 Million for park development but that fund did not include an allocation for land acquisition. It is unknown at the time of publication how the Moore Family’s development could coincide with development of the Canadian River Park.
