Homeless Hi-Rise at Admiral and Yale

[RecycleMichael]

It is more than that.

Here is a link...
http://www.tulsapreservationcommission.org/nationalregister/districts/whitecity/significance/

Glenn Braden founded Oklahoma Natural Gas company. He also had a big family dairy farm.

He was quite the benevolent person and would hire people down on their luck to whitewash his home, his barns and his picket fence. They all had many coats of fresh white paint and was known as that "white city" outside of town.

His home later in life still exists at 9th and Braden street. It is white, but hidden behind large bushes. His original pond is where the park is today.

[AMP]

SIGNIFICANCE:

Glenn T. Braden, founder of Oklahoma Natural Gas Company and one of the first proponents of using Oklahoma's wealth of methane gas for fuel, bought the land that later became the White City neighborhood from the Creek Indians in 1912. Early histories of Tulsa indicate that Braden, a Pennsylvania native, brought a herd of Jersey dairy cattle to this area during World War I. He established the White City Jersey Dairy Farm four miles outside the city limits. It was so named because of the color of the buildings and silos Braden built there. After his death, Braden's children closed the dairy, platted the land and began selling lots to employees of the nearby steel and oil field supply companies.

The W.D. McCoy "organization" was put in "...active charge of developing White City and the sale of its acreage tracts." Targeted at Tulsa's middle class, the addition offered "...something new and inviting -- modern suburban acreage." The addition was platted into large acre tracts of various sizes. Many of the streets were graded, rolled and oiled or chatted. City land records show 1946 to be the high-water mark in White City land sales. The open fields began to fill with homes.

One of the important amenities included within the original White City Addition was a park area for the neighborhood. Located towards the southern end of the development, the park was originally called "White City Park." However, within a few years of the neighborhood's opening, the name changed to "Braden Park," under which the park continues to operate. A popular attraction in the park during the 1930s through the late 1940s was a wading pool. The city of Tulsa closed all wading pools in the city in the late 1940s due to a polio scare. In the late 1930s, the WPA undertook some improvements on the park but nothing on a significant scale. Although the facilities in the park have changed over the years, the park continues to be a focus of the neighborhood. Significant churches serving the neighborhood include the White City Baptist Church, the Yale Avenue Presbyterian Church, the Will Rogers Methodist Church and several others.

[AMP]

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/tulsa/whitecity/history.html

[AMP]

Recent reports indicate the cost of this new building will run upwards of $7 million.

70 units would be an average of $100,000 per unit for a one bedroom.

Wonder if that includes a private bath or a common shower area?

What of the apartments down at 61st and Peoria, did the developers have that much invested in those per unit?

[waterboy]

Conan and Swake: good posts that reflect more sane and responsible views. I agree that the two councilors were scared to tell their constituents or were convinced by the donors to keep it hushed because they knew what the response would be. Advice to them is grow some nads and do your duty.

Also agree Swake, considering your "core" philosophy, that there might be better locations near the port or an industrial park. Perhaps open notice might have stimulated some conversation about that but would also have likely driven up acquisition costs.

BTW AMP, wading pools were open all over town during the 1960's. I remember playing in Kendall, Tracey, Braden pools. Some large pools closed over the polio scare, Newblock indoors (Waterworks bldng) I think, but most remained open into the seventies.

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Recent reports indicate the cost of this new building will run upwards of $7 million.

70 units would be an average of $100,000 per unit for a one bedroom.

Wonder if that includes a private bath or a common shower area?

What of the apartments down at 61st and Peoria, did the developers have that much invested in those per unit?

Its a "Housing First" program for the umpteenth time. Of course each unit will have its own bath and kitchen, living area, bedrooms etc. These are supposed to be homes, not a place to "crash" or spend a few nights.

[FOTD]

quote:Originally posted by AMP



What of the apartments down at 61st and Peoria, did the developers have that much invested in those per unit?

No. More like $10,000 per unit. But that was over 30 years ago.

[waterboy]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Recent reports indicate the cost of this new building will run upwards of $7 million.

70 units would be an average of $100,000 per unit for a one bedroom.

Wonder if that includes a private bath or a common shower area?

What of the apartments down at 61st and Peoria, did the developers have that much invested in those per unit?

Your per unit cost includes land acquisition. But I don't think those at 61st & Peoria were built for the same purpose and the land costs were cheaper for the ones built in the 60's. They may have been low income subsidized though.

[FOTD]

Land costs? I'd think the Helmerichs would be donating the old Warehouse Market. But maybe they sold it in the last two years to some other party who is "flipping" it for profit.

[AMP]

$100,000 per unit.  

How many square feet is each unit and are they limited to one person or multi people in each unit?

Is $100,000 for that number of square feet the standard costs for construction for apartments today?

[waterboy]

Sorry,did a McCainism. I don't know if the land is going to be donated or if someone is handling a sale. Its just not a good comparison on several fronts.

[AMP]

Believe the land at Lewis and I-244 is already owned by the City of Tulsa.  Where the old Whitier school was.  

Also what about the corner of Peoria and I-44, didn't the City take that when the Camelot was destroyed.  That building would of been good for this purpose.

[Ttowndad]

No I believe Quiktrip owns that.  

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Believe the land at Lewis and I-244 is already owned by the City of Tulsa.  Where the old Whitier school was.  

Also what about the corner of Peoria and I-44, didn't the City take that when the Camelot was destroyed.  That building would of been good for this purpose.

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

Believe the land at Lewis and I-244 is already owned by the City of Tulsa.  Where the old Whitier school was.  

Also what about the corner of Peoria and I-44, didn't the City take that when the Camelot was destroyed.  That building would of been good for this purpose.

I dont think it would have been good for this purpose at all. It would have cost vastly more to have refurbished that building and to have turned the rooms into apartments. There may have been a few rooms large enough but then you would have had to have combined most of the rest of the rooms into apartments, then added a kitchen in each of the apartments and that alone would have taken a lot of work and money. Plus, I dont know if you want it to be that large and have that many residents in one spot.  

This isnt just a room or a place to stay like a hotel room, its supposed to be a real home.

Have any of you even looked up what "Housing First" programs are all about? I keep hearing comments that suggest otherwise.

[MDepr2007]

and now back to the council exempting other buildings downtown but not the Y, why?