North Texas, Oklahoma Report Region will rebound, but it will take time

...rebuilding the Downtown Inner Dispersal Route. The $75-million project, which includes 44 bridges, is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Walton Construction Co. of Dallas received a $20.4-million contract last fall to build a 165,000-sq-ft defense logistics warehouse and distribution center at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. Completion is scheduled for 2011.

Oklahoma private projects JE Dunn is building the $50-million, 46-bed Oklahoma Heart Hospital South Campus, and Thompson also expects to start construction on two rural hospitals in the coming year. The company has several other projects in the pipeline. He anticipates health care will stay a vibrant market.

“It’s just a matter that the bond markets haven’t gotten strong enough,” Thompson says. “The projects can be well supported by need.”

A joint venture between Holder Construction of Atlanta and Flintco of Tulsa broke ground on Devon Energy’s $750-million, 50-story, 1.9-million-sq-ft headquarters building in Oklahoma City.

“Our workforce of more than 1,500 people in Oklahoma City is distributed among five buildings, so this will allow us to bring everyone in under one roof,” says Devon Energy spokesman Chip Minty.

Manhattan Construction is working on a few jobs in Tulsa’s Brady District: a $10-million geothermal program that will provide heating and cooling for a $15-million television studio and offices for KOTV, the CBS-affiliated television station, and a $12-million renovation of the Matthews Building into an art gallery.

“We have a lot going on,” Jack says. “The only disappointment is the commercial is not there, and that has a lot to do with the banks not lending money. Until that starts, we’re not going to see job creation or commercial interest in doing things. It’s going to take some time.