Neighborhoods Near Tulsa's Gathering Place Are Changing Fast

Tulsa’s Gathering Place opens to the public in just four days and the neighborhoods surrounding this premier park are changing fast.

Homes are being built and renovated and purchase prices are skyrocketing.

Small homes are being renovated and flipped and some tiny lots now have larger homes on them.

Becky Mushrush has lived in her home on South Boston Place for almost 30 years and says she has no interest in selling.

“I would just like the neighborhood to not be overtaken by big new houses,” she said.

But her neighbor’s lot sold quickly, and that is exactly what happened.

“Harriet’s little house sold for like $179,000 and they had people in line to buy.  That’s just for the lot,” said Mushrush.

These homes sit right next to Gathering Place and the hundreds of acres surrounding the park, from Peoria to Riverside, are in serious demand right now.

“When you’re gifted half a billion dollars into a small area, I think the only place for the housing market to go is up,” declared realtor Dustin Thames.

Thames says homes being built in the area are being marketed 200 to 300 percent more than the existing homes.

“Nobody knows for sure yet if prices are going to go up with the park, but everyone has a sense that is where it is going to go,” he said.  “It is almost now that people are trying to get ahead of the curve and do it now rather than later.”

So, will these homes sit because prices are too high?  Will the smaller homes continue to be torn down for new builds?  Only time will tell, but many neighbors like Becky just hope the neighborhood doesn’t lose too much of its existing charm.

“I like the diversity of the bigger houses and little houses and old and new houses, but I am sad to see the little ones go,” said Mushrush.

So, what could this mean for property taxes in the area?

Under Oklahoma law, if a property stays as is, even with all the development around it, property taxes cannot be raised more than three percent per year.