Large Downtown Tulsa Movie Theater

[Jeff P]

From what I understand that is owned by Mr. williams himself (I have no confirmation and may well be wrong about that) so don't expect him to sell anytime soon.

Forgive my ignorance... but who is Mr. Williams and why would he not be interested in selling the lot?

[LandArchPoke]

The last I've heard, the giant parking lot in the Blue Dome, is that the owner does not want to sell it. Most likely waiting to get top dollar for the site as more development goes on.

Like I said I would love to see this go in by the BOk Center to help give that side of downtown a little more life. You would have the Mayo Building Apartment, Mayo Hotel/Residences, YMCA building lofts, the Hyatt, the DoubleTree, Holiday Inn, the new ALoft Hotel, the new One Place development, Central Park Towers, Renaissance Uptown, and so on all with in a very short walking distance. This would help for convention efforts to have amenities like this so close to the Convention Center. Also if it is a nice dining theater then it has the ability to grab people coming in for events at the BOk Center.

While I think it would still do great in the Blue Dome, I think the demographics for something like this would be much better in the west area of downtown around the BOk Center.

Maybe built in one of the surface lots at



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3rd and Boulder or one of the lots around 5th and Cheyenne and Denver

[cannon_fodder]

There is an interesting mix going on downtown now.  Previously people would raze buildings or let lots sit as parking because nothing else was needed.  NOW... there is a growing demand FOR parking.    Not to raise the "there's plenty of parking" debate - there is.  I'm merely point out that parking lots have value, moreso now than 10 years ago.

The area around the BOk (and the Courthouse) has high value for parking.  Any development in that area will need structured parking to service both IT and to make money off of other parking demands.

But there are lots of options :  BOk area, the established Blue Dome, the BOOMING Brady, the under utilized East End.  Im confident anyone building such a thing will consider locations moreso than I am able... but i HOPE they take into consideration making it downtown friendly.  A movie theater, with lights, signs, placards, and foot traffic, has amazing potential to add life to an area.  Moreso than actual life - the appearance of life in the peak hours.

[SXSW]

I was hoping for something a little closer to the part of Blue Dome that's already more "densely" developed - the 2nd/3rd & Elgin area. 

That monstrous parking lot bound by 1st and 2nd and Elgin and Greenwood just seems perfect for a large development like a movie theater.  Filling that thing in would really make Blue Dome feel like a real destination district, if that makes sense.

But I guess as long as everything stays roughly along Elgin, that's cool too.  I suppose the 5th/6th Elgin site would spur more development to the north and connect to the area that's already developed somewhat?

+1. A big, bright, neon-lit theater there would be really awesome.  That's currently a major dead zone.

[jacobi]

What's funny is that it feels so dead, But there IS alot over there. The renaissance uptown, The blair, The mayo, The BOK, The sushi place, The doubltree, etc.  You're right though, it feels so dead on the west side of downtown.

[SXSW]

What's funny is that it feels so dead, But there IS alot over there. The renaissance uptown, The blair, The mayo, The BOK, The sushi place, The doubltree, etc.  You're right though, it feels so dead on the west side of downtown.

The full build-out of One Place, especially the mixed use and hotel on 3rd,  will really help liven things up in the west end around the BOK.  Just having that high-rise U/C with a big tower crane will be pretty awesome to see over there.

[TheArtist]

  Having a theater on either the west side of 5th or the east side of fith downtown would be good imo.  That nexus of 5th and Boston is really the heart of downtown where almost everyone, even visitors, at one time or another goes.  Especially as that area starts to "enliven" with more restaurants and shopping over time.  So being able to see a theater at one end or the other as you look down 5th street will work nicely.   Then whether the theater ties in with the stuff where the arena is, or eventually the Blue Dome/East End, is fine too imo.

I wish we would change 5th street to 5th Ave, just gives it a nice cache.

[jacobi]

I wish we would change 5th street to 5th Ave, just gives it a nice cache.

We already have a madison ave.  Parts of it are even swanky!

[custosnox]

I wish we would change 5th street to 5th Ave, just gives it a nice cache.

That would go against our whole thing of having Avenues going North and South

[Conan71]

One of the cool things this thread has uncovered (or made plain) is that there's now some pretty strong competition for downtown property.  Which to me goes to prove that the redevelopment of DT has now shifted out of the pioneering first phase and into a new one, where infill, consolidation, and competition are more prominent. 

There was a headline in the World this morning that essentially now it's time for more residential infill for more commercial enterprises to become viable.  If anyone can post the link, please do.  I maxed my paywall already.

[jacobi]

That article seemed to be phoning it in to me.  THe picture of the Metro was at least 2-3 weeks old.  They only listed a small number of the projects.  IMO, could have been a much better article.

[carltonplace]

There is an interesting mix going on downtown now.  Previously people would raze buildings or let lots sit as parking because nothing else was needed.  NOW... there is a growing demand FOR parking.    Not to raise the "there's plenty of parking" debate - there is.  I'm merely point out that parking lots have value, moreso now than 10 years ago.

The area around the BOk (and the Courthouse) has high value for parking.  Any development in that area will need structured parking to service both IT and to make money off of other parking demands.

But there are lots of options :  BOk area, the established Blue Dome, the BOOMING Brady, the under utilized East End.  Im confident anyone building such a thing will consider locations moreso than I am able... but i HOPE they take into consideration making it downtown friendly.  A movie theater, with lights, signs, placards, and foot traffic, has amazing potential to add life to an area.  Moreso than actual life - the appearance of life in the peak hours.

Just my opinion, but I would rather see a movie theatre in a spot that has plenty of extra space around it that needs to be built/developed rather than squeezed into an already developed area. A movie theatre has potential to kickstart other developmenmt because start and stop times for shows are set, and people need things to do if they are early or when they leave.

[JCnOwasso]

I hope it is more like the AMC in KC (power and lights district) or an Alamo draft house type place.  The theater in Bricktown looks forced and out of place... of course so does the bass pro.  So far the constuction in Downtown seems to fit the environment, even the BOK Center (oddly enough).  With Blake now on City Council, does that interfere with any of his developments? 

[Townsend]

With Blake now on City Council, does that interfere with any of his developments? 

Smooth it out maybe...I kid, I kid.  He's bigger than me.

[Oil Capital]

You need to look at the success of the New Mexico Railrunner.  http://nmrailrunner.com/  My sister uses it regularly but not exclusively to go to work.  It saves gas and wear and tear on the car.  She also doesn't have to put up with the idiots on I-25. 

It all depends on enough people going from the same places to the same places.

The Railrunner has average weekday boardings of 4,500 on a system of 97 miles of track and 13 stations.  Does that really count as a "success" worth emulating?