The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Sprouts Farmers Market entered the OKC area last year and is coming to Tulsa now.  They have plans for two stores from what I hear.  One will be at 41st and Harvard and another in Bixby on the southeast corner of 101st and Memorial near CVS. 

 

Wish they would repurpose the Homeland at 31st & Harvard or the soon to be closed Drug Warehouse across the street.

We made our second trek to Fresh Market on Sunday to get some bulk meats and produce.  I'm very impressed with the quality of produce there.

Nothing says healthy, sustainable and environmentally friendly like constructing a new building when other nearby properties are available for repurposing.  It's almost like all that enviro/eco friendly stuff is just marketing crap for the gullible. :o

The 101st & Memorial building is already under construction.

An Einstein Bagel will be built across the street...

Inteller must be super pumped.

Has the 41st and Harvard location been officially announced yet?

Inteller must be super pumped.

A development proposal that would include the city's first Sprouts Farmers Market specialty grocery store was put on hold Wednesday after the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission heard numerous complaints about the project from neighborhood residents.

As proposed, the grocery store would occupy about 26,000 square feet on the southeast corner of 41st Street and Harvard Avenue.

The store would be part of an existing planned unit development - or PUD - that the developer would like to modify to include a drive-through fast-food restaurant - a sticking point with most of Wednesday's speakers.

"We just feel that we worked hard to get an acceptable PUD with its limitations and that included no fast food," neighborhood resident Michael Claxton told commissioners.

After a two-hour public hearing, the commission voted to continue the case until Oct. 31 to give the developer an opportunity to respond to the residents' concerns and possibly modify his proposal.

"We appreciate the Planning Commission giving us the time to try to recast the project in a way that would be supported by the neighborhood," attorney Lew Reynolds, representing the developer, said after the meeting.

Reynolds was before the commission seeking to amended the PUD to increase the height and the maximum floor area of the Sprouts store, as well as to allow a drive-through window in the restaurant property.

Speaker after speaker rose to say he or she was not opposed to the grocery store but did have trouble with its size, proximity to the neighborhood and proposed landscaping.

Neighborhood resident Elizabeth Alpert described Sprouts as a "reputable organization" and said the store would be welcomed in the neighborhood - but not as proposed.

"What we have here is a big-box store," she said, adding, "Sprouts has actually been built all over the U.S. in all sorts of configurations and sizes, so there is flexibility.

"It's just what is about the bottom line: Is it about the developer making more money, or is it about bringing Sprouts to town?"

The project is being developed by Armstrong Development Properties Inc. of Chandler, Ariz.

Pete Shimkus, a vice president with Armstrong, said the company has spoken with McDonald's and other fast-food restaurants about being part of the development.

But he indicated that Sprouts' presence on the site was not necessarily contingent on there being a fast-food restaurant, as well.

Sprouts Farmers Market broke ground earlier this month in Bixby at 101st Street and Memorial Drive.

Shimkus told commissioners that Sprouts hopes to open in Tulsa next year.


Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20121018_16_A13_Adevel616233

I don't think a form based code on this property has any relevance. The Sprouts will get built...

I also think that a Mickey D's sucks here...especially with one a mile away. But this land is being developed on a land lease and that makes it problematic to develop.

A fast junk food restaurant in front of Sprouts? Yech.

Credit worthy triple net lessors make it difficult to find any alternatives...

ideas? How about a QT? Plus, QT owns their sites and do not usually build on leased property....or is QT going at Harvard and I44?

I don't think a form based code on this property has any relevance. The Sprouts will get built...

I also think that a Mickey D's sucks here...especially with one a mile away. But this land is being developed on a land lease and that makes it problematic to develop.

A fast junk food restaurant in front of Sprouts? Yech.

Parking behind the buildings would keep the ugliness at a distance from the homes next to the property and there would be no McDonalds in front of any building.  It would all line the streets behind a sidewalk.

No. Auto emissions and noise would be worse for the neighbors. And besides, grocers don't like that type of layout unless it's a high density great demographics area and they have no other choice.