After just over two years, two failures to meet construction deadlines and two different city councils, Edmond developer Lap 7 and owner Brandon Lodge have officially scrapped plans to construct a brewery and golf simulator facility at downtown Edmond’s Festival Marketplace.
The project’s cancellation was revealed in a letter submitted to elected officials before the May 12 Edmond City Council meeting. Lodge and the newly-seated Edmond City Council had been expected to explore changes to the previous contract, which Lodge and his Lap 7 development group failed to uphold by not beginning construction between Nov. 11 and Dec. 15 last year.
Todd McKinnis, an attorney who has represented Lodge throughout the process, confirmed Lodge’s desire to move on from the project on Monday. Lodge explained his rationale in the letter.
“While I, my partners and tenants hate to see this project unrealized after so much invested time and capital, effort and emotion, it came time for a decision be made whether to keep investing to try and make the deal work to everyone’s satisfaction (…) or to step away from the project and clear the path and the questions for whatever the future plans for Festival Marketplace may be,” Lodge wrote in the letter. “My team and I discussed the future of this project extensively following the marathon city council meeting on April 28th, and after my meetings last week with city council members, it became apparent that both sides were approaching, or had already arrived, at deal fatigue.”
Ward 1 Councilwoman Maggie Murdock Nichols, whose ward covers the Festival Marketplace, said the city will now move forward with a “master plan” for the area.
The “marathon meeting” Lodge referenced in his explanation included Ward 2 Councilman Barry Moore expressing his own “blue hot” frustration with the project, and Murdock Nichols noting that she had not received answers on the project’s status when requesting an update in February this year.
To some, the development was controversial from the start. Multiple downtown Edmond business owners felt the city’s request for proposals process was “rushed,” and alleged city leaders already decided they wanted to move ahead with Lodge’s concept from the get-go in 2023. The original 25-year lease required Lodge to begin construction by no later than Jan. 1, 2024, but the city sent a notice of default after the initial deadline was missed. After a renegotiation of terms in April 2024, another notice of default was sent when Lap 7 failed to meet the Dec. 15, 2024, deadline, although site plans for the project were approved in August 2024 and the city-owned storage building formerly on the site was demolished.
Throughout the process, Lodge repeatedly referenced inflation, alongside rising construction and material costs, as an inhibiting factor to starting construction.
“While all projects face myriad difficulties that must be worked through, both anticipated and unforeseen, the ground lease itself, and the public nature of this project, presented some added complications — raising capital for a ground lease project and financing one is a more difficult process as a not insignificant percentage of both investors and banks are not able or willing to work within the framework of a ground lease,” Lodge wrote.
While it is unclear to what extent it may play into other factors preventing the project from moving forward, Lodge was named alongside a slew of defendants in a December 2024 civil relief foreclosure lawsuit filed by BancFirst against IceHouse Urban Creamery, a former tenant at Lodge’s IceHouse Project development. In the court documents, Lodge is listed as a guarantor on a loan of just over $1.1 million that BancFirst alleges IceHouse Urban Creamery has defaulted on.
Lodge, who did not respond to a phone call from NonDoc prior to publication, said he still hopes to contribute to Edmond’s future, despite the project’s fate.
“While I am disappointed with this outcome, I remain excited about the growth and potential of the downtown Edmond community,” Lodge wrote. “Edmond is my town — I grew up here, went to high school here, and I’ve been raising my four kids here for the last 20 years. I love this city and remain committed to being a contributing member in whatever ways I can, big or small. It’s home.”
Read Lodge’s full letter to the Edmond City Council
