Here you go...
Q & A: Michael Sager a driving force in downtown resurgencehttp://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/q-a-michael-sager-a-driving-force-in-downtown-resurgence/article_04160ce8-2453-5777-b5e9-4fe2a1b172a1.htmlAt the back of a small parking lot across the alley from the long-gone Jacobs Hotel on First Street, I could make out a patio with a barbecue grill, a 1918 headstone from the old hotel and mannequins with differing numbers of arms and legs lounging on the outdoor furniture.
I made my way through a side door into an office area filled with a lot of this and that — sofa, easy chairs, antique stove, barber chair, neon signs, bigger-than-life mannequins, fireplace, bar, books, maps, photos. It was the kind of office one suspects belongs to a free-wheeling personality. It does.
“This is where we do business,” said Michael Sager, in dark-rimmed glasses and wearing an orange dress shirt and jeans.
For more than three decades Sager has been one of the driving forces behind the resurgence of downtown, especially in the Blue Dome District. That resurgence did not come quickly or easily.
Sager said that after graduating from Cascia Hall in 1964, he lived all over the country and traveled the world after founding an international shipping company in California.
“I’ve had family living in Tulsa since 1918, and on a trip home I came across a development opportunity, a 1,000-acre rural subdivision near Bixby,” Sager said. “I sold the shipping business and my house on Manhattan Beach and moved home.”
He said he and two partners purchased the Jacobs Hotel building in 1979. Today it houses S&J Oyster Bar & Seafood Cafe and Whiskey Business liquor store, and eventually will hold the Sager-developed First Street Lofts and another retail space.
“For years we wondered why we ever bought that building,” Sager said. “It was like the Wild West down here.”
The first breakthrough came when his group bought the Patrick Building on Third Street between Detroit and Elgin avenues and founded Carmichael’s restaurant.
“That got some people looking our way, and it was a very good restaurant,” Sager said. “It wasn’t about me; it was the talent. We had people like Kim Michie (Wild Fork), Tom Farrell (Farrell Family Bread), Lola Palazzo (Lola’s Caravan) and Joe Tierney (Progressive Produce and Farm).
“After that, in 1989, I decided to get out of housing real estate and buy all of downtown I could. A partner, Stanley Synar, and I bought the Blue Dome Building, and one thing led to another.
“I felt there was significant building inventory that was abandoned and derelict. I thought I could make it work.
“There were other people, like David Sharp and Glenn Strobel, who had visions for downtown, too, and they’re still actively trying to make a difference. It takes landlords willing to take a risk. It’s expensive to take on an old building that functionally is obsolete.”
He recalls that his first tenant was the “Barnes family from north Tulsa” who opened Good Fellas nightclub at Second Street and Detroit Avenue.
“Every time one person has a tiny bit of success, it opens opportunities for other people,” Sager said. “It’s always a stair-step process. There’s no magic potion, but I’ve always believed entertainment, arts and food are the initial attractions to a new district. Then other things will follow.”
His mother, Patricia, has joined the business after living for 30 years in California. An earthquake wiped out her beach home.
“She said if I found her a home overlooking the river here she would move back,” Sager said.
They both have desks surrounded with books, maps, aerial photos and architect drawings near the front door.
Sager has sold the Blue Dome Building and said he is concentrating his efforts on the First Street Lofts.
“We’ll have 23 lofts for lease, from 780 to 2,000 square feet,” he said. “I wanted all different sizes because I want this to be a neighborhood, and downtown is the core of the city.”
We also asked Sager his thoughts on some more personal matters.
What are you?
... reading, watching or listening to recently?
Reading “Chapman Piloting & Seamanship” as late this summer I shall pilot a trawler named Inspiration from Seattle to Los Angeles. I’m watching Science Channel’s “Strip This City.” Its subject is deconstructing major cities and seeing “what’s under the obvious.”
And, of course, “Chicago Fire.”
... seeing in restaurant development in downtown Tulsa?
Restaurants are the new area generators, not big-box retail stores in a sea of parking. In the downtown area, the equation of diversity of cuisine plus decor equal success. We all eat daily, so all price points and types of food can flourish.
... like to see happen in future general development of downtown?
Recognition that downtown is the cultural hub of Tulsa, which includes new hotels, PAC, BOK Center, ONEOK Field, Folks Urban Market, churches, restaurants and retail stores. Infilling with other local retail stores, plus the residential explosion, all supplement the office environment in making downtown a 24/7 area.
... most likely to choose for your next special-occasion dinner?
Tallgrass Prairie Table at 313 E. Second St.
... loving about living in Tulsa?
The ease of accessing activities of interest, whether Grand Lake, downtown or shopping areas.
... likely to prepare for your favorite meal at home?
Barbecue of some form, brisket or pork shoulder.
... thinking is a perfect night out in Tulsa?
A perfect evening will be the Tulsa Tough races under the lights in the Blue Dome District on June 6, or gather at my “Batcave” on First Street, go for cocktails at Hodges Bend or something like a Bruce Springsteen concert at BOK.
