Helmerich & Payne has sold Utica Square — ending a 60-year chapter that linked the drilling company and the city’s civic life.
The buyer is Northwood Investors, LLC, a privately held New York-based real estate firm. Financial terms were not disclosed, though H&P said in a news release that after-tax proceeds exceeded $100 million, enough to largely retire the company’s remaining term loan balance.
Utica Square opened in 1952. In 1964, Walt Helmerich III purchased it.
With Helmerich behind it, Utica Square continued to become one of the city’s most enduring landmarks. Annual events like Lights On and Summer’s Fifth Night became fixtures for Tulsa families and remain so today.
What followed was a decades-long exercise in the Helmerich family personally selecting tenants. They rejected proposals from stores they deemed too large or a poor fit, preserving what regulars came to recognize as the square’s particular character.
Helmerich famously once turned down a business plan specifically because it called for removing an oak tree.
“Utica Square has been an important part of our company’s history and of the Tulsa community for many years,” Hans Helmerich, chairman of the board, said in a news release. “We believe Northwood is well positioned to serve as an excellent steward of Utica Square.”
Northwood assumed ownership and management of the property at closing, with its affiliate Northwood Retail LLC taking over day-to-day operations.
Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Utica Square’s early days.
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