Coliseum Apartments to get facelift

[Hoss]

I think this is great.  Once again, Eliot Nelson helps downtown.

http://www.newson6.com/story/28077254/historic-downtown-tulsa-apartment-complex-to-get-modern-facelift

[TheArtist]

Very good. Like that it may not have much onsite parking once more development moves forward. Thats the kind of development that will actually help downtown get more pedestrian traffic and support downtown retail and transit.

[DowntownDan]

Does anyone have insight about the proposed office building next door that Nelson references towards the end of the video?

[sgrizzle]

Does anyone have insight about the proposed office building next door that Nelson references towards the end of the video?

Would explain why the houses were demo'd

[sauerkraut]

By the time they re-do it the place will likely look nothing like it was. The historic element will be lost. In many cases when apartments are re-modeled or updated, the rents triple and the old tenants can no longer afford to live there when the place opens back up.

[dsjeffries]

By the time they re-do it the place will likely look nothing like it was. The historic element will be lost. In many cases when apartments are re-modeled or updated, the rents triple and the old tenants can no longer afford to live there when the place opens back up.

Read the story linked in the first article.

The tiny 36 apartments will remain 36 apartments, and prices will be affordable for people who don't want to pay more than $600 or $700 a month in rent.

"I'm hoping that income range can afford to live here in this complex and walk to work, and keep people down here and make it a real 24-7 neighborhood," Nelson said.

[Conan71]

...derp.

Nothing to see here, folks.

[swake]

...derp.

Nothing to see here, folks.

he's just trolling. That's all it is.

[DowntownDan]

Read the story linked in the first article.

Well $600-$700 is dramatically more than $0, which is what the vagrants have been paying for the last few decades.  He's still wrong though that the increase is "triple" because $0 x 3 is still $0.

[Hoss]

Well $600-$700 is dramatically more than $0, which is what the vagrants have been paying for the last few decades.  He's still wrong though that the increase is "triple" because $0 x 3 is still $0.

Maths!

[DowntownDan]

They put up "now leasing" signs today advertising studio apartments.  I suspect they will fill up pretty quick with youths.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Coliseum: Historic site made anew
New downtown digs: Coliseum apartments officially begin a second life
Affordable units added downtown

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/new-downtown-digs-coliseum-apartments-officially-begin-a-second-life/article_1588c11f-5519-5896-8028-53f17d87eb22.html

The Coliseum apartments at 635 S. Elgin Ave. were originally built in 1925 to provide housing for support workers in the oil and gas industry.
So it's only fitting that the first tenant in the renovated Coliseum is Zak Clark, an accountant with Seminole Energy.
"I had been wanting to live downtown for a while, but the price point and location were a problem," he said. "The Coliseum is the right price and the right location."
He wasn't the only tenant for long. Though the $3 million redevelopment by Nelson Stowe just wrapped up two weeks ago, over half of the 36 units already have tenants, said Casey Stowe, co-head of Nelson Stowe along with restaurateur Elliot Nelson.
"We figured it would lease quickly, but this is amazing," he said.
Though The Coliseum is one of the smaller housing developments in downtown Tulsa, its transformation cleaned up one of the most blighted buildings downtown.
Stowe said the building was in a horrible state of disrepair — even when empty, the building generated a $700 water bill from all the leaks.
Even with the deplorable condition, the apartment building was rented out before Nelson Stowe bought it — technically.
"When we bought it four years ago, we had six people paying us, and there were more than six people living here," Stowe said.
Nelson Stowe bought it with the intention of improving the neighborhood, and soon decided to move everyone out and start fresh. The group enlisted the help of architectural firm Kinslow Keith & Todd and construction company Ross Group for a complete overhaul.
"We went all the way down to the studs," Stowe said. "Of the inside, we were only able to keep the hallway flooring and the interior of the exterior walls."
But because the project relied on historic tax credits, they worked to keep the building as close to its roots as possible. Each of the units, which are roughly 500 square feet in size, kept the same floor plans they had in 1925, with the exception of the front units moving their doors somewhat to accommodate modern fire regulations.
Each of the units got new hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances and granite counters to ensure the units are appealing as well as affordable at $600 to $650 per unit, Stowe said.
"We didn't want it to feel like a $600 apartment," he said.
American Residential Group is managing The Coliseum. They're also partners with Nelson Stowe on The Edge, formerly known as Hartford Commons, a $26 million, 162-unit development at 215 S. Greenwood Ave. that's under construction now.
Nelson Stowe is also developing The Boxyard, a retail-focused center at the southeast corner of Third Street and Frankfort Avenue that will be built out of over 30 large metal shipping containers.
Though The Boxyard is still in the design phase, Stowe said they've already signed letters of intent for more than half the space, including some names familiar to Tulsans, Stowe said.
Additionally, Nelson Stowe planned the redevelopment of the Gates Hardware building at 216 N. Elgin Ave. across from ONEOK Field until it was purchased by KSQ Architects, which is now heading the $5.2 million redevelopment.
When that development is finished in September, KSQ will move into the upper floor, while Nelson and Marshall Brewing Co. will open up a brew pub on the ground floor.

Finished 2 weeks ago! Impressive. Professional and beneficial development for downtown. Maybe Sager could learn a thing or two from this guy!

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

To be fair, they purchased it 4 years ago. However, there wasn't any major announcement until February of this year so we weren't waiting around for a decade expecting it to be fixed up like the infamous First Street Lofts.

[Tulsasaurus Rex]

Interestingly, he says they're 50% leased and have been open two weeks. I think I've read on TN before that most other recent downtown living has wait lists before they opened. We also hear a lot that downtown needs more affordable housing and that the current fleet of lofts opening are too expensive. Stowe's comment is just one anecdote, but it made me think: maybe there's something wrong in the way we've all analysed the downtown housing market. Maybe there's more demand for high end rent than low rent? Who knows. There are all kinds of other factors. Like maybe their leasing office sat on their hands.

[carltonplace]

One of my friends has been trying to get a place downtown for some time now, he told me that there are long waiting lists for existing lofts and apartments like 420 Mayo and even for the spaces that are under construction or have not started like the TransOK building. He got lucky when he met someone that was moving out of 420 and took over their lease.