ENID, OK - Broadway Tower officially has new ownership as of Tuesday evening. Kriztofer Cole, CEO of Cole Investments, closed the deal with prior owners Johnny and Dana Peart with the final signature bringing ownership of Enid's tallest building back under local control.
Broadway Tower, which stands at 14 stories, is recognized as a historic building on the National Register of Historic Places. A group of disgruntled businessmen formed a corporation and built the building in 1931 in response to the Bass Building and Youngblood Hotel. The corporation that built the tower did not last long and went bankrupt in 1932.
In 1943, Mr. Garrison Munger, Sr. purchased the building. It remained in his family's ownership until 1981. It was then owned by Tower Investment Company and Oklahoma partnership. Bob Berry and Lew Ward then sold it to the Peart's in 2012.
B.H. Tower LLC, managed by Dana and Johnny Peart of Niagara Falls, N.Y., intended on renovating the building to create a boutique hotel in downtown Enid. Construction began on most of the 14 floors but eventually came to a halt.
The Broadway Tower Hotel at 114 E. Broadway, was going to feature 72 rooms and suites on floors two through nine. A small eatery, a cigar bar and the Enid Buzz offices were the last businesses to occupy the ground floor until 2017. The tower was closed soon after that and has remained unoccupied.
Cole did not disclose the terms of the sale, but said he has a general contractor ready to begin renovations. Their plan for the building will include commercial space on the ground floor with a combination of commercial and residential above.
The investors plan to spend $3 million on the building renovation which will include new windows and working elevators. Eight floors will be residential, five commercial and one floor will be turned into a penthouse. "It will be at least a year to get the major renovations completed," Cole stated.
Enid residents can own a part of the building and live downtown. Cole wants to ensure the tower has local ownership involved and wants the tower to come back to the people of Enid.
The property sold includes the tower, the buildings to the east and parking lots north, east and south of the tower. Cole also has plans to bring in new businesses to the east buildings.
Rental leases and property sales in the building will be handled by Jensen Hurley Real Estate and Property Management.
Cole and his partner, William LaVigna, CFO of the company, also own the first three floors and the basement of the former Knox Building with the ownership of the fourth and fifth floors remaining with the Enid Symphony Orchestra. That property is now called the Cole Building.
