Jan. 19--The prospective new owner of the Camelot Inn formally announced plans for the 40-year-old hotel Friday, detailing a proposed independent senior living community. 

The 166-000-square-foot, eight-story structure will be called Camelot at Brookside. 

Steve Pereff of Country Charm Development in Bixby said the 5.9-acre property at 4956 S. Peoria Ave., just north of Interstate 44, will be converted into 180 living units. 

Pereff said he is working with several partners, though they are not being identified. 

Real estate brokers announced Thursday that the Camelot will be acquired for $5.1 million from the Marharishi Ayur Ved University World Plan Executive Council of the United States, Boone, N.C. 

Larry Kelley and Todd Herndon of Herndon & Kelley Commercial Real Estate are handling the deal. 

Stephen Carr, an urban planner with the city of Tulsa, has been working closely with the Camelot buyers regarding "infill development." 

Carr said a comprehensive plan will be released soon concerning the Camelot and other major changes in the Brookside area. 

"We're encouraged by the amount of participation by the homeowners and the businessmen and women to work on the overall plan," he said. 

Brad Gemeinhart, president of the Brookside Business Association, said Friday there has been a tremendous response to the redevelopment of the Camelot as an independent senior living community. 

"The neighborhood association and the business association have been concerned about the Camelot. It has drawn vagrants, and the fact that it has been vacant for a number of years is bringing down property values of existing businesses, said Gemeinhart, owner of Salon Nouveau & Decora at 3633 S. Peoria Ave. 

The Camelot transaction is not expected to close until some "due diligence" work with the city is completed, Pereff said. 

"We will complete the work by April 2, closing the deal on April 3," he said. 

Contents of the Camelot will be sold beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday and continuing daily for several weeks, sale organizers said. 

The sale will serve to liquidate the entire contents of the hotel, including more than 10,000 items such as 800 chairs, 300 dressers and desks, 400 pairs of drapes, mattresses, pillows, 320 tables, lighting fixtures, china, glassware, kitchen pots and pans, 500 pieces of artwork, and linen bedspreads, blankets, towels and sheets. 

Even the windows, carpet, electrical and plumbing works, and commercial kitchen equipment will be sold by John Klesch of International Liquidators Diversified Group of Detroit. 

The sale, expected to bring in more than $1 million, will be transacted only in cash, money orders and certified checks, Klesch said. 

During its heyday, the Camelot Inn was popular for conventions, proms, honeymoons and other special occasions. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford stayed there, as did Vice President Spiro Agnew. Klesch said nostalgia is rampant among Tulsans who want to purchase Camelot items as keepsakes. 

Pereff said he is not involved in the contents sale but he and his son, Steve Pereff Jr., chief financial controller of their group, will start work on asbestos removal in the structure as soon as the property contract is completed. 

The architect for the new project will be David Thompson of Thompson Architects, Liberal, Kan. The construction manager will be John Smith. Ainslie Perrault was the original developer of the Camelot, built in the early 1960s. Butz-Piland Architects & Engineers also played a role. 

"The building is built like a storm shelter," Pereff said. 

Other commercial real estate experts have described the hotel as being "built like a fort," which ironically seems applicable to the castle-like motif. 

The new Camelot at Brookside is expected to retain its castle-like charm. The carpeted apartments will be from 300, 600 and 900 square feet each, with kitchens, living areas, bedrooms, walk-in closets and bathrooms that will have easy-access, low-curb showers with a built-in seats and hand-held sprayers. 

Each room will have personal emergency response systems, phones and cable TV outlets, developers said. Utilities will be paid. 

The new facility will have many lounges and common sitting areas, Pereff said. There also will be housekeeping and laundry service, an outside pavilion with outdoor covered cooking, an inside/outside walking trail, lighted carports, planned social activities, 24-hour gated security and lighted parking. 

Also planned is a full-service restaurant, beauty parlor and barber shop, shuttle service, dry cleaning, grocery delivery, a drug store, visitor overnight suites and a chapel. 

Pereff said the Camelot at Brookside should be open for occupancy in 18 to 24 months. 

More information may be obtained by calling 369-5041 or 488-1995. 

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(c) 2002, Tulsa World, Okla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.