Tulsa officials consider using revolving retail loan funds to secure HUD match for 36th North/Peoria revitalization

Tulsa City Council members spent an extended portion of the meeting discussing an ordinance that would appropriate city loan funds to match a HUD Choice Neighborhoods award focused on the 36th Street North/Peoria corridor.

Staff said the city would put $1.5 million of city funds into a retail revitalization loan program for that corridor and that HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods grant would match roughly $1.1 million. Rose, a city economic-development staff member, described how the program would operate: “It would be a part of a revolving loan.” She said the loan repayments and interest from earlier COVID-era business resilience loans have been returned to the city and could be revolved into the retail revitalization fund.

The program is designed as place-based economic development: staff described recruiting residents from the…