The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Anyone know what is going on there?  Note, this appears to be different the GKFF work on the SE corner of Cameron St. & Main Street.

GKFF has a master lease for all of the buildings from Brady to Cameron and Main east back to the alley.  These buildings have very cool plans, but not sure what is ready to be made public.  Expect office, retail and lofts.  I've heard the alley will be updated to be a pedestrian friendly space.

More Teach for America Lofts or will they be open to anyone?

Alley being opened up for pedestrians? Could be cool..

Isn't the SE corner of Cameron & Main going to be a brew pub ran by Prairie Artisan Ales? If not, that is going in somewhere north of the Tavern on Main.

Hadn’t heard that one.  I knew Marshall’s was rumored to be part of one near the ball park.

That would be effin awesome.  I've been wondering if they would keep the Chandler Park facility or open something in or near downtown for their 3.2 offerings after they move to Mounds.  I love Prairie, but I'm probably not going to drive that far very often for growler fills.

I don't know..after finding out that growler fills were limited to just 3.2, I was like 'what's the point?'.  Peer pressure however is starting to take hold.  If a low point beer can have full flavor, I'd be all for it.  It just seems however that would be difficult and my palate would know the difference.

There are lots of low point beers that are full flavor.  There has been low point beer brewed since its inception.  Just because bud and bud light are flavorless has nothing to do with its alcohol content.  I've had the Marshall and Prairie low point growler offerings and they are pretty darn good.  Coop Brewery in Oklahoma City sells three varieties of low point beer in grocery stores and all three are even better than the local growler beers in my opinion.  Low point beers have a stigma because of the stupid law in Oklahoma that uses 3.2 as some sort of significant threshhold.  It's not.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/12/10/368038601/for-more-drinking-with-less-buzzing-session-beers-gain-fans

Plus remember, our is 3.2 alcohol by weight and most others are measured in alcohol by volume.

If you were to measure our 3.2% (by weight) beer in the same fashion as everyone else (by volume), they're really 4.0% beers. This percentage is in many cases just slightly less than the average alcohol content of most mainstream beers.

Draught Guinness comes in at a whopping 4.2% abv.   

Great point, TD, just the point I wanted to make.  Alcohol doesn’t really “add” flavor to lower ABV beers.  I, for one, could not begin to tell someone what I thought the ABV of a session beer was if you gave me ten samples to try of varying alcohol levels from ABV 4 to 6%.  When you get into imperials or barley wine, it’s more obvious you are in high point land.

There’s many things you can do with mash temps, grain selection, and hop schedules which can make a really outstanding 4.0 ABV.  I brewed a 4.6 stout before the holidays which was an overwhelming favorite amongst my beer snob friends compared to higher percentage offerings I had in bottle or on tap.

I bought a growler of Marshall's Mosaic Pale Ale.  I liked it.  Good flavor and I couldn't tell it was only "3.2".  It's also NOT a 3.2 version of Arrowhead.  It's different.

It will be a brew pub downstairs, Josh Royal is connected to this project.

http://m.tulsaworld.com/scene/scenelatest/antoinette-baking-co-plans-second-location-in-the-brady-arts/article_42ab7388-a765-11e4-a442-03620ef12df8.html?mode=jqm

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Antoinette Baking Co. announced that it will have a second location in the Brady Arts District later this year.

They plan to be next to the The Tavern restaurant and said the second location "will offer even more of what you already love."

The popular bakery celebrated its second year at its Brookside location last year.

In the announcement, they thanked the George Kaiser Family Foundation for helping make the second location a reality.

They have done well for themselves.  Unfortunately, I gain five pounds any time I visit their FB page or walk in their original location.

Last night's Channel 6 news... Speakeasy... brewery... bakery... apartments...


Downtown Continues To Grow With Brady District Development
http://www.newson6.com/clip/11080419/downtown-continues-to-grow-with-brady-district-development

Go get 'em, Elliot!!!   8)

***On a side note, got my first taste of a $10 brew from Prairie Ales... Apple Brandy Barrel Noir... for a connoisseur of Coors, Pabst, Old Style, and Bud light like myself, my first impression was that it tasted a little flat... then... "biff, bam, boom, zowie!"   ;D

That's great news! When I was at Prairie brewery a couple months ago, the guy who runs Willow Family Ales mentioned the brewpub at that location. 

"The alley way just off of Brady and Boston, behind the Tavern Restaurant, will be the only entrance to a soon to open brewery, which will be developed by Elliot Nelson."

That is an interesting idea. I wonder how that will go, maybe less foot traffic but more like a stowed-away gem.

I concur with all the posters talking about session beers with low alcohol but a lot of flavor. Other examples include many of the great English ales. If you go to London, they have multitudes of house ales and "Real Ales" around 2.9% which are outstanding. I enjoy great flavored well-made beer, regardless of the %Alc.

Marshall's Mosaic Pale Ale is delicious. Prairie Vous Frances (sold at brewery in bottles & at Siegi's) is maybe the best sour ale I've had in a long time and I've had dozens. Their others they have for growlers are all good. Out of 6 varieties of 3.2 (or  4.2% abv) I've tried from them, only 1 was ok and it was just a bad batch. All of them were far-and-away better than anything sold at QT and even better than most in liquor stores.

I love absolutely everything about this.  Even the Apple Brandy Barrel Noir.  ;)


There are definitely some great session beers out there.  Both Choc's and Westbrook's Goses are some of my favorites (Choc really, really needs to put out that gose again - it's outstanding!). 

Glad to hear that about the Prairie Vous; I have yet to get out there for a bottle, so hopefully there will be some available at Saturday's tour.  I understand they're trying to get it into Whole Foods, too.  That Prairie Cross was pretty delish, really enjoyed that one. 

McNellie's Group is not doing a brewpub in this location.  Their brew pub is on Elgin across from OneOK Field.

Josh Royal of R Bar is doing the brewpub in this development.  McNellie's Group is expanding The Tavern and opening a cocktail bar/speakeasy with an alley entrance.

Thanks for the clarification, rdj.
When hearing R Bar in the same story as Elliot Nelson, I got a little confused.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage1/kaiser-foundation-assembles-restaurant-all-stars-for-brady-renovation/article_f2a00977-7d1e-52ae-9c1c-d26444350293.html#user-comment-area (http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage1/kaiser-foundation-assembles-restaurant-all-stars-for-brady-renovation/article_f2a00977-7d1e-52ae-9c1c-d26444350293.html#user-comment-area)

From the Tulsa World

(https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQCuuzJOKQO6Qvsf&w=470&h=246&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com%2Ftulsaworld.com%2Fcontent%2Ftncms%2Fassets%2Fv3%2Feditorial%2Fc%2F06%2Fc0657968-3212-5657-b95e-5ccb00cad299%2F54ca601257f5a.image.jpg&cfs=1&upscale=1)
Elliot Nelson, head of the McNellie's Group, Josh Royal, owner of R Bar, and Molly Martin, owner of Antoinette Baking Co. are among the restaurateurs that will open new or expanded locations in a block of historic buildings being renovated by the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

Stanton Doyle, senior program officer with the foundation, said work has already begun on the $16 million conversion of the Fox Hotel and Universal Ford buildings on the east side of Main Street between Brady and Cameron streets.

When finished, the buildings will feature 31 new apartments that will be rented out to participants in Teach for America and the foundation's new Tulsa Artists Fellowship, 5,000 square feet of office space for small start-up companies and shared workspaces as well as the three restaurants.

Doyle said the foundation, which had previously built 12 apartments for Teach for America above the Living Arts of Tulsa building and another eight above the building on the west side of Main between Brady and Cameron, said the foundation believes strongly in bringing more activity to the Brady district.

“We think it’s important more people live downtown in the arts district, so we believe we need to activate the buildings to keep pushing toward the critical mass,” he said.

Nelson will use the renovation to expand his existing Tavern on Brady restaurant, he said. The added 5,000 square feet will add more seating, private dining rooms, storage, an expanded kitchen and a new wine cellar that will augment the restaurant's wine offerings.

Additionally, Nelson will create a speakeasy lounge connected to the north with an entrance facing the alley between the buildings, he said.

"We'll build a piano into the bar, so it'll have a lounge feel," Nelson said.

The original Tavern space will also be renovated. Nelson said the restaurant will remain open during the renovation, which is scheduled to wrap up in November.

Martin's contribution will be an additional location of Antoinette Baking Co. in the Fox building, which has its original location at 3305 S. Peoria Ave. When finished in October, it will feature a similar bakery and pie nights as the first location, only with lunch specials, brunch, expanded bread baking and more.

"We'll be getting a liquor license, so we can offer adult beverages like spiked milkshakes," she said.

The new, 4,000 square-foot Antoinette location will face Main Street, with Nelson's speakeasy lounge behind it.

Royal, in collaboration with Pauly Sorrentino, plans to be principles with a new 5,000 square-foot restaurant and brewpub within the Universal Ford building, Doyle said.

The yet-to-be named brewpub will be opened in conjunction with Tulsa's Prairie Artisan Ales, which will brew new beer on-site. Though Prairie won't be the only group brewing there.

“On a regular basis, we’re going to invite any Oklahoma brewer to brew with us," Sorrentino said. "We’re not about competition, we want to embrace brewing.”

Though current plans are to brew beer at 3.2 percent alcohol by weight, he said they're closely watching the progress of Senate Bill 424, which was introduced earlier this week by state Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, and allow breweries to sell any beer they produce on premises, no matter the alcohol volume.

"We'll be ready to do whatever the law says by the time we open," he said.

Sorrentino, who has partnered with others on the Old School Bagel Cafe and the Boston Avenue Grill, said they'll reveal what kind of food they'll serve closer to the brewpub's fall opening.

Though three existing businesses to the east of the Tavern facing Brady are technically part of the Fox Hotel building, they won't be affected by construction. These businesses include Chrysalis Salon and Spa, Gitwit Creative and Tulsa Artists Coalition’s TAC Gallery.

Doyle said the apartments will be on the smaller side, and range from 400 to 1,000 square feet. The apartments above the Fox building will house the studio apartments, with the larger ones above Universal Ford.

“We wanted smaller footprints to keep them affordable,” he said.

Rents on the apartments are estimated to be $1.15 per square foot, though that price will include some utilities. All 31 apartments will share a laundry facility within Fox Hotel.

Some of the apartments are another feature of the Foundation's Tulsa Artist Fellowship Program, which will award five to 15 artists with merit-based grants of up to $40,000 per person which includes housing, work space and a stipend.

Teach for America is a non-profit based in New York, New York that seeks to encourage college students to teach.

Though much of the lower floors will be taken up by apartments, 11,500 square feet in the Universal Ford building behind the brewpub will become an entrepreneurial hub and resource center, in partnership with the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.

I would hate to think what Tulsa would look like today without Mr. Kaiser’s generosity.  What a fantastic legacy for every Tulsan to enjoy.

Agreed

I really wish today's living options downtown existed when I was younger.  When I moved back to Tulsa, the only downtown living was the Rennaissance (meh), the Tribune Lofts, which weren't for rent, and the Philtower, which was full and above my price range anyway. 

Agreed.

I moved back from Kansas City in the Fall of 1987 and lived at Center Plaza (now Central Park Condos) for a year and a half or so.  Other than flop houses, that was about it.  It was still an apartment complex back then and had a very eclectic crowd living there.  YP’s, retirees, middle age divorcees, creative types, and professionals.  The decline in downtown had pretty well bottomed-out by then and it was not in very high demand.  Still no idea what made me an "aspiring urbanite" at the age of 21, but I was simply drawn to it.  Other than concert nights, there really was nothing to do downtown at night.  Any bars were pretty sketchy.  They did have a bar in the basement of the north building, but it was not heavily utilized.

At least back then there was a full service grocery down there, the old Safeway/Homeland at 11th & Denver.  Hopefully, that is not too far away again.

I've walked by this several times and wondered what it was. Glad to see that it'll bring more businesses and especially housing to Brady.

I go to the Cain's fairly often, and I typically park in the garage just across the railroad tracks on Main. The walk is great until the end of the block with this new development, and then there's a gap between the main part of the Brady District and the Cain's. I hope to see development spread north where there are currently metal warehouses and empty lots. Some new 2-5 story brick construction would be great.

The Mrs refers to him as Tulsa's Patron Saint of the Jewish Faith.

You're pretty much describing right now. Downtown sits at or near 100% occupancy and rental rates of $1.50 psf and up putting basically every apartment at over $1,000/mo.

"I really wish today's living options downtown existed when I was younger.  When I moved back to Tulsa, the only downtown living was the Rennaissance (meh), the Tribune Lofts, which weren't for rent, and the Philtower, which was full and above my price range anyway."

There is not much more today. Most are pretty pricey and are 100% full. I'm looking forward to more affordable apartments in the Brady that are open to everyone to rent.

I lived in the Uptown Renaissance in early 2000s.  The apartment was very nice and it was great walking to work, but there wasn’t much happening on that side of town.  On a positive note, my dogs and I meet some very “interesting” characters on our walks around the courthouse/library plaza.

I hear this from a number of our younger employees.  However, unless the bottom falls out of the local economy (not so unthinkable given oil’s decline), I doubt there’s going to be much affordable housing stock in the middle of the action downtown.  It’s simply too expensive to rehab and repurpose existing buildings or to buy land for new construction. 

Hartford Commons should be resonable rates, at least on a par with rents throughout the city.

There are lots of apartments and garage apartments very reasonable in Riverview, Owen Park and Brady Heights.

I thought Eliot Nelson & Casey Stowe's project on Elgin and 8th (?) would be closer to suburban market rate?

Multi-family rental rates are rising throughout the city and the nation.  With the tightening of mortgage standards and the desire for mobility less people are buying their residence, single family or otherwise.  Most real estate investors will tell you the place to be is in multi-family.  This is the reason ARG was able to unload so much of their portfolio to fund their downtown Tulsa projects.

The Philtower was going for $2000+ a month.  I doubt any of the new stuff downtown is that high.

The 100 Boulder condos are about $200,000 each, and on top of your mortgage you owe $1600/mo in condo fees for 1000sqft.

$1600?  Per month? SRSLY?

Just re-read the page. They need to be more clear. Those amount are for the whole complex (WTH)

So per unit it is more like $100 per month.

(Keep in mind in these units you sleep on a murphy bed, have no real closet and a tub is not an option)

$200 to $225K for less than 1000 square feet.  Wow.  I’m sure that would sound like a bargain if I were relocating from NYC or San Francisco.

Exactly what I was thinking earlier, given the proclivity for those two metros to only have real estate available vertically...Tulsa?  Well, we're not so crowded in that market.

I would pay $200k for a kick donkey apartment downtown, especially if it was in the Brady District and maybe the Blue Dome.  People want to be near the fun stuff.

The problem with that project is that condos are unbelievably ugly.  They are a solid blank wall sandwiched between parking lots.  There are lots of ways you could make that lot work, but what they did is not one of them. 

Brick construction, differentiated units, detail and craftsmanship, something to make it look like it belongs to ANY architectural school (my preference for is replicating Tulsa's 1920s brick look, but really I would take anything).  What they have there doesn't look like anything.   

Wish I could find a way to insert images...

This is exactly what I think every time I walk by these. Other than being right up next to a huge parking garage, they've got a pretty decent location. But they're incredibly bland. Even just a little bit of color would go a long way to way to make this more appealing. Why did they paint to gray?

The inside is not much more appealing...they feel like a suburban apartment inside and there is zero thought to the urban view outside of the (if there were any) windows. There are no trees, there is no curb appeal and it's like the developer has never walked through an urban neighborhood in any big city.

I'm happy that we are building in the empty spaces, but geez...this is a true lack of vision = FAIL.

20th century brutalist design?

They were part of the Dwell in the IDL tour this year.  There were some details that were kinda neat, but also stuff that just looked bad.  Galley kitchen looked modern, but when I saw things like the glass shower door being installed crooked, or the HDMI cables just hanging out of the wall instead of going to a flush plug in the wall, it just looked sloppy.  Factor in that you're paying 1000 a month in mortgage alone, and it was just bad.

As soon as they put up those prices, I figured that they'd eventually be bought at discount by banks and other companies as executive apartments.  I don't know if anyone has bought a unit

I've seen lights on in a couple of the units at night, not sure if anyone lives there or not.

I saw a lady taking her dog out yesterday when I was running.

No, no, no, it's a classic 21st Century Bumgarnerist design.

Much worse.

(https://myaimistruth.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/spit-take.jpg)

They've either sold two with two more under contract or have sold four.  I can't remember exactly.  Didn't they pay under $100m for the dirt?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/the-first-of-a-stream-of-tenants-moves-into-the/article_e20551ea-aa36-5976-af7e-fae88665dfba.html (http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/the-first-of-a-stream-of-tenants-moves-into-the/article_e20551ea-aa36-5976-af7e-fae88665dfba.html)

The new Antoinette's space is amazing. I felt they'd do really well in the Brady but was a bit worried as there are fewer people living in that area than on Brookside. I look forward to them getting more of a handle on what business will be so they can keep it well stocked with goodies.

I would like more info about the Speakeasy. Exciting times in the Brady.  ;D

There was a tour of the space last night I had other commitments --- anyone make it out?