OU has been in a cash bind for several years due to a series of events, including lower than expected occupancy rates in the new residential colleges and sharp reductions in state appropriations.

Also as part of the deal, OU negotiated leases for Cross Village’s commercial space and parking, with the intention of recouping at least part of the $7 million payment through rent and parking licenses.

OU’s partners, though, say it was understood that the payments would be an annual obligation to insure the project could meet its bond payments. According to the bond prospectus, those payments are $6.5 million this year but rise to $13.6 million in 2020 and to $15.7 million in 2029, and remain that much until the bonds are paid off in 2057.

In a Sept. 6 letter, David Dubrow, a New York attorney representing bond trustee UMB Bank, says the university “assured investors that even though the leases for the commercial space and parking were renewable on an annual basis, the University intended to lease all of the commercial and parking spaces for the life of the bonds ...”

State entities cannot enter multi-year obligations without voter approval, though, which is why the leases and bond documents say the agreements are subject to annual renewal.