Retail Corridor for Northwest Tulsa

[Hometown]

Northwest Tulsa is home to a good number of Middle and Upper Income Tulsans but it is lacking in retail.

I have been trying to determine what area of Northwest Tulsa has the most potential for retail development.  Or better yet what retail area in the Northwest Quadrant is best suited for refurbishing and re-use for retail?

Is there one central location that residents of Owen Park, Crosby Heights, Gilcrease Hills, Reservoir Hill and Brady Heights travel to or through every day?  I imagine Riverview should be included as well even though they are near but outside of the boundaries of the Northwest Quadrant.

What part of the Northwest Quadrant of the City do you believe would be suited to retail?

[carltonplace]

I think the answer for all the below except Gilcrease Hills would be simple: Down Town. When these neighborhoods were built, that is where the denizens shopped. Now that the people are coming back and occupancy is up in these neighborhoods the natural place for retail is in the middle.

[Hometown]

I've thought Downtown makes sense too.  Would you go north to say the Edison and Denver area or the Brady District?  I think plentiful parking close to the facility would be important.

Also, can anyone tell me why the old Safeway on Denver near the BA Expressway is not being used?

[Nik]

Also, can anyone tell me why the old Safeway on Denver near the BA Expressway is not being used?

What an eye-sore. Are there any plans for this?

[Hoss]

What an eye-sore. Are there any plans for this?

I lived in that area in the late eighties/early nineties.  That shopping center was actually quite busy in the day.  I think the only think left over there is the Drug Store, the Sinclairs and I heard they re-opened the Subway that used to be in there.

I don't think the shopping center itself is an eyesore.  It is in it's current state; any property left to fester with no new tenants will be one.  My Grandmother lives in Skyline Ridge and it's actually a nice little middle class neighborhood.  Closest grocery store for her is the Warehouse Market at 1st and 49th West Ave.

[SXSW]

What an eye-sore. Are there any plans for this?

I hope it's torn down and replaced with an urban grocery that comes up to the street with parking behind.  I think something like that, an 'anchor' especially a grocery store, would spur more residential development in the vacant areas east of Denver around the churches over to TCC's parking wasteland.  That would be a good place for NW Tulsa patrons too with easy highway access and also its Denver location.  I could see Denver being more mixed-use with retail and restaurants in the future that would serve NW Tulsa; it's the best link from the NW side to downtown and the river.

[carltonplace]

I've thought Downtown makes sense too.  Would you go north to say the Edison and Denver area or the Brady District?  I think plentiful parking close to the facility would be important.

Also, can anyone tell me why the old Safeway on Denver near the BA Expressway is not being used?

I don't think this kind of retail will be in the Brady Distric ( I assume you are refering to clothing/shoe stores, electronics, books, grocery, pet goods, household goods, package store) because of the Art Distric plans and Ball Park that are on the horizon. To me, the East End makes the most sense for a regional shopping/entertainment area with easy access to and from US 75. There are already plenty of empty lots that perfect for "ground up" development and plenty of existing buildings that could change in a more organic fashion for small developers, and there is a Home Depot already there. I would just hope that retail develpment would be more urban and make maximum use of space instead of suburban style big box retail (and leave room for Land Legacy's park).

I'm not certain what is going on with the old Homeland..and I'm not hating the site as is for a grocery. I certainly prefered the old Homeland store at 15th and Lewis to the Office Depot that replaced it, so I wouldn't want to just tear down the Denver store just to replace it with something that is potentially worse.

[Hometown]

I don't find the old Homeland on Denver an eyesore.  It's not a bad example of architecture.  And there's a ton of hungry well-off customers close by. 

Have you ever noticed there is an unfortunate tendency to tear things down here.

Now, Sometimes I use the Home Depot downtown (instead of my favorite Lowe's at 15th and Yale) because it is closer and more convenient.  And I can see the Northwest Quadrant using downtown retail like southerners use Promenade or Woodland Hills malls.

But I believe there is need for retail closer and more convenient and central to the northwest quadrant, and that retail should serve Gilcrease Hills as well as the historic neighborhoods of the NW quadrant.

The one existing Shopping Center that Hoss referred to is a natural for consideration.

And there is that one small retail development on Apache east of Cincinnati that is a wonderful example of architecture but I believe it's too far north and east for the time being.

I need to get out and drive around the NW quadrant more but off the top of my head the area around the Indian Smoke Shop on Pine west of Tisdale would seem to be well situated for retail development.

I can picture rolling out of bed on Sunday morning and pulling on my sweats and running over to the close by upscale Deli Bakery for a good cup of coffee and a bagel and a copy of the New York times.   Then running next door to the Walgreens to pick up some items I forgot to get earlier in the week. 

Life could be so sweet with some northwest quandrant retail.

[Hoss]

I don't find the old Homeland on Denver an eyesore.  It's not a bad example of architecture.  And there's a ton of hungry well-off customers close by. 

Have you ever noticed there is an unfortunate tendency to tear things down here.

Now, Sometimes I use the Home Depot downtown (instead of my favorite Lowe's at 15th and Yale) because it is closer and more convenient.  And I can see the Northwest Quadrant using downtown retail like southerners use Promenade or Woodland Hills malls.

But I believe there is need for retail closer and more convenient and central to the northwest quadrant, and that retail should serve Gilcrease Hills as well as the historic neighborhoods of the NW quadrant.

The one existing Shopping Center that Hoss referred to is a natural for consideration.

And there is that one small retail development on Apache east of Cincinnati that is a wonderful example of architecture but I believe it's too far north and east for the time being.

I need to get out and drive around the NW quadrant more but off the top of my head the area around the Indian Smoke Shop on Pine west of Tisdale would seem to be well situated for retail development.

I can picture rolling out of bed on Sunday morning and pulling on my sweats and running over to the close by upscale Deli Bakery for a good cup of coffee and a bagel and a copy of the New York times.   Then running next door to the Walgreens to pick up some items I forgot to get earlier in the week. 

Life could be so sweet with some northwest quandrant retail.

I think that old Homeland store at Gilcrease Museum Rd and Edison would be a natural for a Harp's store, since they're making their way into the Tulsa market.

[Hometown]

Okay, I just got back from a drive to Gilcrease Museum Rd. and Edison.  The best thing about this shopping center is that it has already been built and it appears to be centrally located.  The negatives are that it has some low-end retail.  And the Gilcrease Hills homes behind it are nice but several of the Owen Park homes across the street are raggedy.  Maybe with an overhaul.

Edison and Denver area would be ideal except you would need to build something new and nearby Jail and John 3:16 and Salvation Army work against it.  The city has doomed this stretch to social services central and that's a terrible disservice to Brady Heights.

Anyway, area close to Gilcrease might be good for new upscale retail construction.  You could capitalize on positive image of Gilcrease.

Area near Indian Smoke Shop on Pine east of Tisdale would be good for new construction and surroundings are attractive.

And anywhere on the north side is also going to have to battle the perception of poor service from north side businesses.

My search continues.  Any thoughts are very welcome.

[Townsend]

Move the jail out to a lesser Tulsa neighborhood like Owasso or Broken Arrow and make it a Grocery and shopping area.

Oh...and place whoever thought that jail was a good idea in the first place in solitary.

[Hoss]

Okay, I just got back from a drive to Gilcrease Museum Rd. and Edison.  The best thing about this shopping center is that it has already been built and it appears to be centrally located.  The negatives are that it has some low-end retail.  And the Gilcrease Hills homes behind it are nice but several of the Owen Park homes across the street are raggedy.  Maybe with an overhaul.

Edison and Denver area would be ideal except you would need to build something new and nearby Jail and John 3:16 and Salvation Army work against it.  The city has doomed this stretch to social services central and that's a terrible disservice to Brady Heights.

Anyway, area close to Gilcrease might be good for new upscale retail construction.  You could capitalize on positive image of Gilcrease.

Area near Indian Smoke Shop on Pine east of Tisdale would be good for new construction and surroundings are attractive.

And anywhere on the north side is also going to have to battle the perception of poor service from north side businesses.

My search continues.  Any thoughts are very welcome.

The Owen Park homes are raggedy because they were built in the teens and twenties.  The raggedy homes can be kept up if possible; I think they have a lot of historical value.  Anything north of Edison is in Osage County.  Those homes (in Skyline Ridge, for the most part, from Edison north to Newton, in between Xenophon and Union) were built in the mid to late sixties.

I think that the Edison shopping center would be just fine to base a retail center out of, but like you said, it needs higher end retail.  A Git-N-Go and Homeland used to be the two anchors; now that Git-n-Go is essentially gone (Kum N Go won't last much longer in this market I think) it makes the center feel dilapidated.

[Hometown]

Hoss, I love Owen Park.  My home was built in 1927.  There are just a few homes across the street from the shopping center than have run down but they could be spruced up.  Maybe the landlord could consider paying for that as part of a shopping center overhaul.

[dbacks fan]

Having not been to Tulsa for five years, and not being north of the Brady area for even longer, forgive the dumb question I have. Is that new stretch of roadway I see on Google streets crossing Cincinnati between 31st and 36th street north the Gilcrease or the new Mohawk road?

[Hoss]

Having not been to Tulsa for five years, and not being north of the Brady area for even longer, forgive the dumb question I have. Is that new stretch of roadway I see on Google streets crossing Cincinnati between 31st and 36th street north the Gilcrease or the new Mohawk road?

It's the Gilcrease (Hwy 11 extension) and it's finished all the way to the Tisdale, but the last mile or so is not limited access like the rest of it is, so you have to turn right from northbound Tisdale to get onto it.  I took that on Christmas just to check it out.  I may try and get up there tonight and take some photos.