Price Edwards & Company has managed and leased properties in Tulsa throughout its history and its Tulsa area business is growing. As a result, the firm is opening an office at 7633 East Memorial Place to better serve its Tulsa clients. The firm currently manages and leases nearly one million square feet of retail space and over 1,500 units of apartments in the market. Price Edwards has been Oklahoma’s leading full-service property management, leasing & brokerage firm since its formation in 1988 and currently handles over 10 million square feet of property throughout Oklahoma and north Texas. Tulsa has a vibrant real estate market and Price Edwards looks forward to being an expanded part of that community.

The dramatic stimulus plan has finally reached Oklahoma City. I’m not talking about the Economic Recovery Act of 2009. I’m talking about the Weather and Destruction Act of 2010 (WDA). This morning the City reported a 15.08 percent increase in sales taxes for the month of July 2010, year over year. It seems the devastation and destruction inflicted upon us in May and June had a silver lining, the mass consumption of building supplies and auto parts in the hundreds of millions, if not more than a billion dollars. My response was not of surprise but what took so long? I expected June 2010 sales tax numbers to be more robust than they were. But I think this lag was a function of the insurance process where casualties had to be assessed and estimates and settlements made.

The good news is that the source of a lot of this money was from insurance claims and therefore represented “new money” which would not have otherwise been in the economy. Therefore it didn’t have to come from people’s salaries and wages which were still available to spend on other things. The additional good news is that I think we are only about a third of the way through the process as most roofing companies and auto repair shops have waiting lists which extend well into the fall. So I would expect the August through October results to be equally as robust.

The bad news is that this is (hopefully) a onetime event and therefore will have a positive impact only over a limited time. While I believe the economy is generally improving, I don’t think we can expect 15.08% year over year increases indefinitely into the future. The other bit of bad news is that since the source of most of this “stimulus” was insurance proceeds, I think we can expect to repay this over the long term.

However, as is the case with any good stimulus program, the purpose is to “prime the pump” to put enough money back into the economy to get real sustainable sales back to a level of long term grow. Maybe WDA will be enough to do the trick.

May Ten LLC paid $1.2 million to May Ten Trade Center LLC for a retail property at 2927 NW 10. Cordell Brown handled the transaction.

Falls Creek LLC paid $990,000 to Arapahoe Limited VII for an apartment property at 7032 NW 10. Phillip Mazaheri handled the transaction.

Fitness 19 leased 9,825 square feet of retail space in Casady Square Shopping Center, at Britton Road and N Pennsylvania Avenue, and 9,838 square feet at Edmond Plaza, 15th and Broadway in Edmond. Laci Jackson handled the transactions.

Flourish Pharmacy leased 985 square feet of industrial space at North Pointe Shoppes, 13925 N May Ave. Mazaheri handled the transaction.

Raster Masters LLC leased 9,375 square feet of office space at 7008 N Broadway Ave. Craig Tucker handled the transaction.

Ricky J. Lawson leased 450 square feet of office space in Quail Ridge Tower, 11212 N May Ave. Derek James handled the transaction.

James Wheeler leased 1,017 square feet of office space in Quail Ridge Tower. James handled the transaction.

Craig Elder Oil & Gas LLC leased 3,821 square feet of office space in the Caliber Center, 3817 Northwest Expressway. Tucker handled the transaction.

Dollar Jewelry and More leased 1,000 square feet of retail space in Walnut Square Shopping Center, Interstate 240 and S Pennsylvania Avenue. Everest Ernst handled the transaction.

Dr. Cody Greenhaw leased 1,482 square feet of retail space in Plaza Court, NW 10 and Walker Avenue. Ernst handled the transaction.

Braselton & Co. Inc. leased 5,700 square feet of industrial space at 3817 S Missouri Ave. Ross Hall handled the transaction.

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