Three rising stars in urban core development purchased Uptown’s Tower Theater Friday afternoon, and armed with financing for construction, renovations are set to start within weeks.

David Wanzer, whose projects include the Sliver building in Film Row and the Haggard’s building the 16th Street Plaza District, and Ben Sellers, who renovated the Mesta Building on NW 23 into retail and offices, and Jonathan Dodson, lead banker for several prominent urban core redevelopments, teamed up to buy the Uptown landmark from Marty and Mike Dillon, who acquired it in 2006 with grand ambitions to turn it into an event center.

“It wasn’t for sale,” Dillon said. “I could have sold it before. People wanted to get rid of the theater and add a second floor for offices. I’ve known David Wanzer for 14 years. He is the only one who will finish it right. I’ve already gone through a mix of emotions. This was a lot of blood, sweat and tears. This was a lot of work for me and Mike. But it’s time to move on.”

“This was a lot of blood, sweat and tears.”

Fading fortunes

Wanzer praised the Dillons for protecting the theater, adding they did far more to get the renovation started than realized by the public, which only saw a restored neon sign lit up for the promotion of the district.

The Tower Theater, 425 NW 23, is one of Oklahoma City’s last grand movie houses with an intact auditorium and neon marquee. The theater was built in 1931 and remained a popular venue through the late 1960s, even boasting an Oklahoma City debut for “Cleopatra” with a successful 26-week run, and then an amazing 82-week run for “The Sound of Music.”

The theater’s fortunes faded in the 1970s, with bookings reduced to adult movies before it closed in 1989. The theater reopened briefly in the 1990s as a live music event venue.

“Mike and Marty purchased the property in 2006 with the vision and dream to keep it intact, not do something half-hearted,” Wanzer said. “They put a roof on which protected the building from the elements, they fixed the sign, they removed the asbestos, and they did the work they did on the historic tax credits to allow us to move quicker.”

Opening soon

The new owners are ready to move quickly. Cleanup and site preparation will begin within the next few weeks, with serious construction set to start after the holidays. They are planning to complete the redevelopment within one year.

“The neon Tower Theater sign is really the beacon that anchors Uptown 23rd,” Wanzer said. “This building is very important to the area’s revitalization.”

Wanzer promised to keep the theater intact, with ideal tenants involving university related uses. The team also is looking at renovating existing second floor office space and ground floor retail storefronts.

Sellers, who in 2012 redeveloped a half-empty, aging Mesta office building into a leased-out mix of offices with Pizza 23 and Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt on the ground floor, said the continued revival of NW 23 between Classen Boulevard and Broadway helped make the numbers work for redevelopment of the Tower Theater.

“A few years ago $12 to $14 (per square foot) for retail space on 23rd was laughed at,” Sellers said. “We expect rents higher than that at the Tower Theater. This is a lot of space, a lot of unique space. But we’re at a time when the rents justify the risks with this project.”

Dodson, Wanzer and Sellers also credited Wes Anderson with the Bank of Oklahoma for coming through on financing when other banks had struggled with navigating the complexity of the deal.

“Wes Anderson has done this before,” Dodson said. “We could speak in the dialogue about tax credits and tenants that might be suitable.”

Return attraction

Dodson added that Oklahoma City is ready for long-dormant landmarks to come back to life.

“Oklahoma City is entering a new phase where all the easy projects to be redeveloped have been done,” Dodson said. “So that leaves a real opportunity to do some complex projects. When I was in banking I worked with Ben and David doing new market tax credits and the more I got accustomed to that, I realized there was opportunity for people of their skill level.”

Dodson, who lives in nearby Gatewood, believes the surrounding neighborhoods will celebrate its revival.

“It means a lot of things to different people,” Dodson said. “Each person has a unique experience. I drive down 23rd every day when I drive my son to school and he asks every day, ‘When is that going to get renovated? When will it show movies?’ Some people were around when it showed “The Sound of Music” and would love to see it restored as a movie theater.

“This is a missing piece to 23rd — if we can fix this, Uptown will be a great place to live and work, people will be able to walk and there won’t be the dead spots.”

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