Old YMCA building to become apartments

[SXSW]

Ideally, I would like to see most of the East Village (east of Frankfort to the IDL, from 4th to 6th) become primarily a residential neighborhood with low-rise (2-3 stories) and midrise (4-7 stories) apartment/condo buildings and row houses, with a mix of some resident focused retail and a few restaurants.  While apartments in converted office buildings and high rise buildings will appeal to folks who want the full urban living experience, many want more of a neighborhood feel with an urban overlay, from which it is an easy walk to anywhere downtown.  I think of the Back Bay neighborhood in Boston along Commonwealth Ave. (with a more modern look instead of the cool 19th Century architecture and brownstones) as a great example of a neighborhood feel in the middle of an urban area.

I agree, and it seems that is the direction that area is moving.  It just needs a few larger projects to get things started.  It has a few older buildings that could be repurposed but is mostly a blank slate with lots of empty lots.  Perfect for neighborhood redevelopment. 

Tulsa has done a good job of renovating its existing Class C office buildings.  The next step is more new construction.

[saintnicster]

Old downtown YMCA plans change to keep historic look
http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/old-downtown-ymca-plans-change-to-keep-historic-look/article_f661874e-2ffb-5357-8cad-bb97da01c2aa.html

Developers of the old downtown YMCA reversed course on some of their plans recently, and fans of the historic building will appreciate the change.

A year ago, the owners said the building would be opened as affordable apartments by September.

Now, they are saying the project will be finished next August — at the earliest — with a lot of work yet to go.

The delay was caused by a new plan that will keep the historic, built-in-1953 building looking like it did in its prime.

John Snyder, of TDL Now and building co-owner, said the owners decided to pursue historical tax credits, which require major changes to plans to make the old building into affordable apartments.

"They won't let me paint the building," Snyder said. "I have to leave the building looking just like it is."

Snyder and his partners, including Neal Bhou, bought the building about three years ago for about $625,000. They plan to spend about $10 million to renovate it, which includes a $1.75 million interest-free loan from the city's Downtown Housing Fund.

"Repurposing is really tricky," Bhou said. "Very few people can repurpose a building like this."

Snyder and his crew are familiar with repurposing and turning around historic buildings. They previously transformed the Mayo Hotel, old City Hall and the Vandever Lofts, 16 E. Fifth St.

They began working with the Oklahoma Historical Society during the summer and made the decision in late August to pursue the historic tax credits.

While the new plans will save developers money, requirements for historical buildings mean all public areas have to maintain the original floor plan and structural look of the original building, Snyder said.

"It's all good. We just had a complete change," he said. "With the tax credit, it made it a little more economically viable."

In the end, Snyder said, his vision for the building is simply to make affordable apartments downtown for people who work nearby.

The terra-cotta tiling outside will remain, as will the YMCA signage around the building.

But Snyder said it will all get a thorough washing that should have the inside looking like new.

The building has three main areas: the original apartment tower, the racquetball-court wing and the basketball-court wing.

The courts will be getting transformed into two-story lofts with the original wood kept for flooring.

To keep with historical requirements, the apartment tower has some unique problems.

Snyder said the apartments will be larger than originally planned, but the hallway that connected them is considered an original public area of the building. So developers had to figure out a way to have twice as many doors in the hallway as there are apartments.

The answer: faux doors that can't be entered.

"It's kind of like (old) City Hall," Snyder said about his earlier project — now the Aloft Hotel.

"People thought it was an ugly building and should be torn down, but we fixed it up and found out it's not an ugly building at all."

[TheArtist]

Well drats. Was hoping it would be finished sooner, but still glad they will be repurposing this building. 

[sauerkraut]

Is this the building that is across the street from the court house?

[BKDotCom]

Is this the building that is across the street from the court house?

yes, the old ymca building

[saintnicster]

yes, the old ymca building

You mean the campaign billboard building for all the judges?

[brettakins]

The article says there will be 50 425 SF apartments that will rent for $450/month plus utilities.  That is a pretty good deal for downtown, but 425 SF is tiny. 

Where do you see that it says 50 apartments 425 sq ft? I do not see that. I read two different articles, one says 80 apartments and the other doesn't mention a number

[saintnicster]

Where do you see that it says 50 apartments 425 sq ft? I do not see that. I read two different articles, one says 80 apartments and the other doesn't mention a number

The post before that one mentioned a Tulsa World article.  A little leg work (google "tulsa world ymca", fourth result for me) brought up this one, with the same picture that was posted there.  http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/former-downtown-tulsa-ymca-being-transformed-into-affordable-apartments/article_b1e5fd5f-ff65-547f-ac16-7d87618b9f77.html?mode=story

[brettakins]

http://www.newson6.com/story/27434192/developer-giving-back-to-tulsa-building-that-gave-him-a-home

TULSA, Oklahoma - A local developer who came into the country with almost nothing is now living the American dream in Tulsa. He's helping give new life to the building that changed his.

In 1969 Neal Bhow had just moved from India to attend the University of Tulsa and stayed in a ten-by-ten-foot room in a YMCA.

Bhow is now partnered with a number of big developers in town and in about a year, what is old on Denver, will be new again. He's turning his first home into 83 new apartments.

"It is very personal to me," he said.

With hardly a dollar to his name, there weren't many options in Tulsa when Bhow first arrived for college.

"I stayed here the very first three nights because it was the cheapest place to stay," he said.

Now, decades later, Bhow has partnered with developer John Snyder and they are bringing the 125,000 square foot building back to life.

"Tulsa is my home, so I feel that Tulsa has given me so much and I want to preserve as much as I remember in '69," he said.

But this is no easy task. Snyder said it was "nasty."

"We knew we had major asbestos problem," he said.

The asbestos is out, the demo is done and now the walls are taking shape and the 83 apartments are set to be finished late next year.

Not only is the outside staying the same, but so is inside. A basketball hoop, old scoreboard and even an old vertical jump test aren't going anywhere.

"You gotta make it a little funky, people like that," Snyder said.

With a number of other renovations in the area underway, the city is trying to finalize a plan to extend 5th Street and spruce it up.

"We've got the convention center and BOK Center and this was designed to be a public space. We now have all the things triggering those people coming and we still have the falling apart plaza," said Paul Zachary with the City of Tulsa.

In another year, this part of town will look totally different.

"I came here in '95 and it was empty, and now it's going crazy," said Snyder.

Bhow said, "It has given me everything in my life. This is home for me even though I was born in India, Tulsa, this is home."

Bhow is also developing a Best Western Plus at 7th and Houston which used to be a city building and sat empty for years.

We got our first look at another project the guys are doing set for the area near 2nd and Hartford.

Another empty city building will be new apartments right near the Blue Dome District.