Downtown Development Overview

[Dspike]

"Typros did this way back in 2013/2014 and the winning project was basically ignored (not announced and hardly spoken of again). It was a mixed-use development with elevated sports field."

Indeed, one of our best StreetCred projects. Those creative ideas sparked a lot of discussion about what South downtown could be. Note, however, that the actual property owners were not part of that process. In fact, rumor has it that after TCC saw its property on the front page of the World with a bunch of crazy TYPros-inspired projects drawn over their parking lot, and they realized they needed to be more involved in planning the future of the district.

At the Cathedral District's kick off event in 2017, several noted the TYPros competition was a turning point in getting the property owners to be more proactive about what the district could and should be.

"The inspiration to start the group came partly from a 2014 Tulsa's Young Professionals Street CReD contest — with CReD standing for Community Redevelopment — to develop ideas for revitalizing the area. The winning concept, proposed by a group of local architects and design consultants, envisioned a soccer field sitting atop a parking garage south of TCC's Metro Campus, with the elevated sports complex stretching over 11th Street to connect to office and retail space and a park.

The new district won't necessarily pick up on that specific idea, Brookey said, but organizers were inspired to begin thinking about the area's potential."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/downtown/cathedral-district-wants-to-change-its-parking-crater-image/article_cc818ae9-d6d4-502f-80b5-1a7ff5047f21.html

[BKDotCom]

I also prefer the mixed use idea, but would be happy with anything above a parking lot. Even a chic fil a would be an improvement. That's a core necessity for any real downtown! (Not really though)

Waffle House

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Waffle House

It needs one of those so that FEMA can use it to gauge how bad a storm is!

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/13/us/hurricane-florence-waffle-house-storm-center-trnd/index.html

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

"Typros did this way back in 2013/2014 and the winning project was basically ignored (not announced and hardly spoken of again). It was a mixed-use development with elevated sports field."

Indeed, one of our best StreetCred projects. Those creative ideas sparked a lot of discussion about what South downtown could be. Note, however, that the actual property owners were not part of that process. In fact, rumor has it that after TCC saw its property on the front page of the World with a bunch of crazy TYPros-inspired projects drawn over their parking lot, and they realized they needed to be more involved in planning the future of the district.

At the Cathedral District's kick off event in 2017, several noted the TYPros competition was a turning point in getting the property owners to be more proactive about what the district could and should be.

"The inspiration to start the group came partly from a 2014 Tulsa's Young Professionals Street CReD contest — with CReD standing for Community Redevelopment — to develop ideas for revitalizing the area. The winning concept, proposed by a group of local architects and design consultants, envisioned a soccer field sitting atop a parking garage south of TCC's Metro Campus, with the elevated sports complex stretching over 11th Street to connect to office and retail space and a park.

The new district won't necessarily pick up on that specific idea, Brookey said, but organizers were inspired to begin thinking about the area's potential."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/downtown/cathedral-district-wants-to-change-its-parking-crater-image/article_cc818ae9-d6d4-502f-80b5-1a7ff5047f21.html

Glad that StreetCred made a difference for TCC and for the district! And that StreetCred was the first trial we had of rental bicycles (B-Cycle) and now we have them for real!

The StreetCred events preceded a lot of great revitalization work in Town West/RedFork and also the 11th and Lewis areas (Mother Road Market opens Friday Nov 2nd!)

[SXSW]

Glad that StreetCred made a difference for TCC and for the district! And that StreetCred was the first trial we had of rental bicycles (B-Cycle) and now we have them for real!

The StreetCred events preceded a lot of great revitalization work in Town West/RedFork and also the 11th and Lewis areas (Mother Road Market opens Friday Nov 2nd!)

Also the Pearl at 6th & Peoria.  I would like to see one on Frankfort between 2nd and 4th which is developing into a retail corridor but lacks any cohesive streetscape.

[Dspike]

"Frankfort between 2nd and 4th"

I'll make sure the idea gets passed along. Pretty sure they have decided on the 2019 location, but have not released it publicly. But there is always the next year.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

"Frankfort between 2nd and 4th"

I'll make sure the idea gets passed along. Pretty sure they have decided on the 2019 location, but have not released it publicly. But there is always the next year.

It would be neat if one year the focus was more "Lets make this good area great" rather than bringing attention to an area so severely devoid of life. They have been great and helped each area, but Tulsa's pretty neat areas could use a boost to showcase what's happening and what's needed and what the future could hold.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Requested amendment to downtown project could be 'deal-breaking' for Tulsa Development Authority



Developers want to eliminate a proposed ground-floor food hall at 111 S. Greenwood Ave. and shrink the building from five stories to four, retaining the planned 55 apartments.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/requested-amendment-to-downtown-project-gives-tulsa-development-authority-pause/article_0db31e59-255c-5854-82a2-74810c22e0c4.html

Interesting predicament by TDA. Do they hold to their guns and try to force developer to include retail on ground floor? They haven't always required that for developments. They do lose quite a bit of control/say in the process if they aren't providing the subsidized development loan.

Retail portion returns to proposed mixed-use development downtown

The Tulsa Development Authority on Thursday approved the addition of a retail element to a proposed downtown development on Greenwood Avenue.

Proposed by Hartford Crossing LLC, the project at 111 S. Greenwood Ave. will include a four-story building with 50 residential units and about 2,600 square feet of retail on the west end of the structure, developer Shaun Bhow said. It will feature 165 linear feet of storefront glass along First Street and Greenwood Avenue.

...

At the October TDA meeting, Bhow had asked the authority to amend the development agreement, allowing him to eliminate a proposed ground-floor, 11,500-square-foot food hall and drop the building from five stories to four.

So 2,600 ft2 instead of 11,500 ft2 of retail/restaurant space. That's a huge drop! 5 fewer apartments also. I get they are having trouble renting the Hartford building but that's a pretty big drop in the project ground retail. Better than nothing I suppose.

That's going to be pretty narrow retail space if there's 165 linear space for 2600 square feet.

[SXSW]

It would be neat if one year the focus was more "Lets make this good area great" rather than bringing attention to an area so severely devoid of life. They have been great and helped each area, but Tulsa's pretty neat areas could use a boost to showcase what's happening and what's needed and what the future could hold.

Agree, maybe Cherry Street as a "this is an established urban district that is growing, what can we do as a city to make it even better?" targeting creating a better streetscape, more trees/landscaping, lighting, etc. 

[Laramie]

Tulsa on Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSWKWqyGF9I

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Historic downtown bank building to undergo renovation

A Tulsa company will invest between $4 million to $5 million to restore a downtown office building that is close to a century old.

The former National Bank of Commerce building, an eight-story, Beaux Arts-style structure completed in 1923, will be the new headquarters of The Evolutions Group, which will move from its 611 E. Fourth St. location.

Barry Williams, president and CEO of The Evolutions Group, and partner Dr. Todd Johnson, an oral surgeon, purchased the structure — currently known as the Holarud Building — at 10 E. Third St. for $2.6 million. They will use historic tax credits to rehabilitate it, Williams said.


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"I really like the location," he said. "It's right in the center of downtown. I really feel like from an investment standpoint that it will maintain its equity and maintain its property values."

Revealed during the renovation will be iconic, three-story columns that were covered up by metal panels during a decades-ago remodeling. Also brought to light will be the National Bank of Commerce sign etched into the facade facing Third Street.

The Evolutions Group provides turn-key solutions for a variety of national small businesses, including those in the healthcare, design-build and tech sectors. The company has designed oral surgery centers in about 40 states, Williams said.

In the new headquarters, office space will be reserved from the third floor and up, and the second floor will contain conference rooms, he said. The first floor will have a lobby-security area and corporate gym. Design-Build Evolutions, an arm of the main company, is designing the redux and Michael Turner is lead architect.

Founded in 2008, The Evolutions Group has 32 employees and is expected to expand to 50 workers by the end of 2019, Williams said.

"As a result of our growth, we have more employees," he said. "And with more employees, we've grown out of our space."

The lawyers who currently work on the building are scheduled to vacate by year end, Williams said. Construction on the space is set to start in January with completion scheduled sometime in 2019.

"The historic stuff is really fun," Williams said. "I would say when we started that was not necessarily the goal, but it certainly was intriguing.

"Todd and I, we're not real estate investors per se, so we're not Warren Ross or Stuart Price. But when we saw the price at $2.6 (million), we just felt like there's a ton of value there. And the reality is we can move in as-is from the fourth floor down."

https://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/historic-downtown-bank-building-to-undergo-renovation/article_0f1be291-4669-565f-aaad-fe5e8c3d7b19.html >

[swake]

https://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/historic-downtown-bank-building-to-undergo-renovation/article_0f1be291-4669-565f-aaad-fe5e8c3d7b19.html >

That looks great, amazing that those pillars are still under there.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

That looks great, amazing that those pillars are still under there.

I agree. I love that they had kept a record of it and even have a massive photo of what it looked like  originally in entry lobby.

Glad they had the foresight to keep preserve them with the new modern facade (although might've also been the cheapest option). I'm glad the new owners looked into that and are going back to that. The building looks ok now, but the historic charm will be a huge upgrade.

I wonder what other easter eggs are hidden behind modern facades around downtown...

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

It looks like the Parker building next door might have its original facade hidden as do plenty along that next street:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/10+E+3rd+St,+Tulsa,+OK+74103/@36.1534287,-95.991081,3a,52.4y,116.17h,96.33t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMvhoK9CmIRbGCYOk5NGVug!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x87b6eb791051c081:0xa4ee8466d0301237!8m2!3d36.1533562!4d-95.9904804

That Parker building might not have anything salvageable underneath. It looks horrible with the old terra cotta stripped away and the mod podge modern features on bottom and top added on. I don't understand how they thought that looked better than leaving it as-is. Maybe was cheaper than rehabbing.

[hello]

Does anyone know if a business is still going in the first floor of the Archer Flats? Fingers crossed for a coffee shop.