What to do with Empty Big Box Lots

[jtcrissup]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/style/2008/1116/bigbox/gallery.html?hpid=topnews

Interesting ideas...posting here to try and plant the seed in Tulsa if any real developers watch this board.  I am not a developer, just hate big box stores with big parking lots that are terribly underused.  Some of these ideas could be used not only in Big Box sites around Tulsa (Wally World has left us with a few, some have been reoccupied, but still a big inventory city wide) but in/around our downtown areas where affordable housing/mixed use development is needed and wanted.  Any thoughts out there?  Any developers wanting to better Tulsa AND make a buck, vs continue the march to mediocrity we have been on with our sprawling developments that are obsolete in 10-15 years?

Might be fun to list sites you would like to see something done on similar to what is shown in the artist renderings of this article.  One that jumps out in my mind is the NW corner of 71st/Memorial where the huge parking lot is never occupied and much of the big box that used to be a Builder's Sq is unoccupied. 

[dbacks fan]

Heres one of my favorites for empty big box places.....

http://www.f1racefactory.com/

[Breadburner]

Smart Car Salvage Yards.....

[dbacks fan]

Indoor boat storage, indoor antique mall http://www.brassarmadillo.com/index.htm

[joiei]

I think the left over big box stores (mostly wal-marts it seems) are already being reused here in Tulsa.  The church on 71st,  the offices in the one on Memorial,  the old Kmart on 71st is now a restaurant family play place,  the old store at 21st and Sheridan is now a Call center,  the whole darn shopping center (Eastland) is now an office complex.  I don't know that we have that much of a problem reusing these buildings here. 

[joiei]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/style/2008/1116/bigbox/gallery.html?hpid=topnews

Interesting ideas...posting here to try and plant the seed in Tulsa if any real developers watch this board.  I am not a developer, just hate big box stores with big parking lots that are terribly underused.  Some of these ideas could be used not only in Big Box sites around Tulsa (Wally World has left us with a few, some have been reoccupied, but still a big inventory city wide) but in/around our downtown areas where affordable housing/mixed use development is needed and wanted.  Any thoughts out there?  Any developers wanting to better Tulsa AND make a buck, vs continue the march to mediocrity we have been on with our sprawling developments that are obsolete in 10-15 years?

Might be fun to list sites you would like to see something done on similar to what is shown in the artist renderings of this article.  One that jumps out in my mind is the NW corner of 71st/Memorial where the huge parking lot is never occupied and much of the big box that used to be a Builder's Sq is unoccupied. 

Um, isn't that a Burlington Coat Factory store.  I have shopped there. 

[jtcrissup]

Yes, the building I referred to is partially occupied.  Don't know the name of the store, I just know when I do lunch at the Mekong behind Toys R Us I drive past about 25 cars supporting this business (Burlington, I guess) and then hundreds of spaces empty as the space next to Burlington is empty and obviously Burlington isn't in need of so many spaces...I am just saying that what HAS been done to re-utilize this space is no better, and in some instances worse looking, than what was there before and we STILL have the problem of a gigantic parking lot which is NEVER used.  Of course other than the occasional lunch there I rarely drive by this stretch of Tulsa, so what do I care? 

All the other adaptations around town are subject to not being attractive "re-uses" either (in my opinion), at least from the outside.  I have never been inside any of them, so maybe it is a whole new world inside and they spent all their money fixing the interior up...bottom line, I was trying to show some evidence that these are considered, by and large, not attractive structures to begin with, and there are folks out there who have ideas for trying to reverse that trend, re-use what is good, and create something nice out of an existing eyesore.

[cannon_fodder]

1. Quasi mega churches (usually not flashy enough for God, apparently)

2. Call centers

3. Indoor markets / quasi malls

4. High quality storage (waterproof, climate controlled [often not above 85F not below 55F, cuts costs and still takes care of the equipment], usually conveniently located, large).  RVs, boats, cars, documents.

5. Other big box retailers

6. Governmental offices (lots of cheap space, not flashy but plentiful)

7. Indoor entertainment:  paintball/lazertag, RC racing, go-cart track, miniature golf, etc.

8. Manufacturing:  High ceilings.  Often space.  Plenty of room.  Loading docs.   With some floor fittings to support machines and some other modifications they could make nice machine or fab shops.

9. Indoor car lot:  many have a car maintenance center attached already and have office space.  Indoor provides a climate controlled shopping environment and keeps the cars nicer.  No hail.  Rain.  Dirt. Whatever.

10. Indoor BMX track or skateboard facility.

11. Gym.

12. Recycling sorting facility.

[Red Arrow]

Tear down the building. Rip up the parking lot. Plant trees etc.  A little green in the middle of all the development would be nice.

[jtcrissup]

Tear down the building. Rip up the parking lot. Plant trees etc.  A little green in the middle of all the development would be nice.

+1

I came across the original link as I was searching for any research done on the effect of expansive buildings (aka big box) and parking lots to the local climate (i.e. hotter in the summer and colder in the winter due to the lack of trees/vegetation to help balance temperatures through evaporative cooling/shade in the summer months and wind breaks in the colder months).  Would be interesting to see how the extreme highs/lows at say 71st and Memorial (a typical "suburban sprawl" area) compare to the same extreme highs/lows on the same day within a rural/forested area within 25 miles.  Another good data point would be a denser area of midtown (21st/Utica and 21st/Peoria...both within 1/2 mile from each other but one is surrounded by high rises and Utica Sq and the other is surrounded by Woodward Park and neighborhoods).

[PonderInc]

Dallas can teach us lessons about the effects of asphalt on weather. (aka heat islands.)

I've noticed that when driving to Dallas, the temperature jumps 10 degrees as soon as you cross through Plano.  (If it's 70 north of Plano, it will be 80 before you hit Dallas.)

I was told by an air traffic controller that storms often "split" and go around Dallas b/c of the tower of hot air rising from the city.  And that there are times when rain won't actually fall in the city b/c it evaporates before hitting the ground.

[Wilbur]

Most of these big box empty stores, and small box empty stores for that matter, are usually not for sale by the owner.  They don't want to sell to a competitor, or even sell to a non-competitor on the off-chance the new non-competitor would turn around and sell to a direct competitor.

By only leasing, you control the types of businesses that go into your abandon spaces.