Originally published in Tulsa Business & Legal News 

The OSU-A&M Board of Regents on June 19 selected architects and construction management firms for the next phase of OSU Institute of Technology’s student housing project in downtown Okmulgee.

OSUIT will hire KSQ Architects and Oakridge Builders, both Tulsa-based firms, to oversee the design and renovation of two downtown properties.

The university purchased the properties in February and will turn them into loft-style apartments for students.

OSUIT purchased property on the northeast corner of Grand Avenue and Fifth Street consisting of two connecting buildings, Okmulgee’s original post office built in 1918 and the Barksdale Apartment Building, completed in 1919.

The university bought the half-block of buildings in January for $280,000 plus closing costs with plans to renovate them into a student housing complex for nontraditional students.

The second property purchased was the Bell Building, built in 1900, on the northeast corner of Morton Avenue and Sixth Street for $95,000 plus closing costs.

The university also intends to renovate this building, with the second floor becoming loft-style apartments for students. Final plans for the first floor, which faces downtown’s commercial stretch along Sixth Street, are still being considered.

Estimated renovation costs from the architects are still pending on both properties.

In other business during the meeting, Scott Newman was officially named vice president of Academic Affairs. Terryl Lindsey was named dean of the School of Diesel & Heavy Equipment.

Lindsey’s appointment follows an OSU-IT organizational change renaming divisions to schools and academic chairs to deans.