Houses sold off north of OSU

STILLWATER - Houses in neighborhoods north of the Oklahoma State University campus are being auctioned off and hauled away from the future home of a planned athletic village.

Most of the neighborhood has been purchased by the OSU Foundation and given to the university.
OSU spokesman Gary Shutt said the university still is negotiating with owners of 12 of the 85 homes in the area between Hall of Fame and McElroy avenues. Eminent domain proceedings have not been a part of any purchase so far.

OSU will build a $90 million complex in the area, including indoor and outdoor practice facilities, soccer and track fields and tennis courts. The athletic village is part of a $165 million donation by OSU alumnus Boone Pickens.

Neighborhood resident Liz Doyel said it is difficult to spot changes in the neighborhood so far because rental houses normally become vacant when the school year ends.

"The rental people being gone is nothing new, Doyel said. "All of the destruction of our neighborhood has been on a personal level.

Some homeowners in the neighborhood have opposed the development. 

Neighborhood resident Liz Doyel said she won't consider selling until OSU agrees to pay all her moving costs and a fair amount for her property. 

Shutt said the OSU Foundation hired private appraisers to determine the price of the properties and offered to pay a price above fair market value. 

The university also agreed to pay moving costs and a "longevity bonus of $300 for each year the owner lived in the home, Shutt said.

Payne County Assessor Jacquie Rose said the offering prices including moving and longevity bonuses for homes she has seen have approached but not exceeded the value assessed by her office in 2004. Without those bonuses, the offering prices fell far short of the assessed value, Rose said.

Rose said she has no way to view all the prices for homes in the area because the OSU Foundation is a tax-exempt entity. As such, it isn't required to disclose its purchase prices to the assessor's office.

Bob Stallbaumer, OSU property management assistant, said most homes in the area were rental properties, which already have been sold to the university. OSU has auctioned off 73 buildings north of the stadium.

The auctions have brought in between $50 and $2,753 for a single structure. Four homes sold together for $6,129.

Homes that do not sell will be demolished. But first, representatives from Habitat for Humanity will have an opportunity to search the condemned homes for useful items, Stallbaumer said.

Neighborhood resident Ann Williams walks through the neighborhood every day and posts updates on progress on a Web site, www.okstateexpansion.com.

Williams said she has spotted several houses on beams, waiting to be carted away. Last Saturday, owners of an apartment complex sold many of the kitchen appliances from the abandoned units.

The buyers of the structures must make the arrangements to haul the buildings away from their current location.

Doyel said OSU officials might have to haul her away on a truck because she didn't intend to leave her home of 28 years on her own accord.

"If they come to get me, I intend to use every one of those 'Make My Day' laws when they get here," Doyel said.