11TH ST DEVELOPMENT

[LandArchPoke]

The 11th & Lewis Mixed-use development is supposed to break ground in Q1 or Q2 2021. Financing is in place I believe so it's a matter of getting construction docs and permits ready.

251 units, rents will range from low $1,100 per month for the smallest one bedroom to over $2,500 per month for the largest two bedroom units and three bedroom units. Rooftop deck for the apartment complex facing downtown. 2 story Route 66 Museum on the corner of Lewis & 11th still similar size that was mentioned prior. 

Architecture firm: https://www.hcm2.com/studios/housing-mixed-use/

Not sure if these are the renderings that have been posted but I think these more closely resemble what is planned to be built and looks like the courtyard area is going to be more open to the street which is a good thing versus some of the other renderings I've seen where it's more closed off.

[SXSW]

Absolute game changer for this part of town.  This area along with the stretch of 11th between Peoria and Utica have seen a lot of positive changes.  Hopefully the "gaps" in between them are next between Utica and the tracks, and also the stretch next to TU.

[TheArtist]

I give it a B-   

1. Having the museum on the corner, while great to have the museum, will create a dead zone there.  As designed, and that could change, only once in a blue moon would anyone be standing out in front of it there, otherwise "boring looking dead zone with no pedestrians". Especially with the lot of trees and grass behind it going up Lewis.  But if they want any potential retail corridor to end in this area and keep it quiet and residential, that will work.

2. I get the covered area will be great for "showing cars, festivals, etc." but the majority/rest of the time it again "pushes the lively pedestrian streetscape" further back from the sidewalk. Giving up one thing, for another.  Will have to see how it plays out in real life.  If they are able to bring any new development on the opposite side of the street up to the sidewalk, that might help, but even there, I wouldn't put my retail business there as the risk is the street will often feel too quiet and thus not as attractive as say the core of Brookside or Cherry Street. 

It's a good development in a way, but not good if the intent is to create a lively pedestrian corridor up and down Lewis "fail" up and down 11th, "ok-ish".

[Tulsan]

The 11th & Lewis Mixed-use development is supposed to break ground in Q1 or Q2 2021. Financing is in place I believe so it's a matter of getting construction docs and permits ready.

251 units, rents will range from low $1,100 per month for the smallest one bedroom to over $2,500 per month for the largest two bedroom units and three bedroom units. Rooftop deck for the apartment complex facing downtown. 2 story Route 66 Museum on the corner of Lewis & 11th still similar size that was mentioned prior. 

Architecture firm: https://www.hcm2.com/studios/housing-mixed-use/

Not sure if these are the renderings that have been posted but I think these more closely resemble what is planned to be built and looks like the courtyard area is going to be more open to the street which is a good thing versus some of the other renderings I've seen where it's more closed off.

Where did you find the renderings--is that public yet? 

[DTowner]

I give it a B-   
It's a good development in a way, but not good if the intent is to create a lively pedestrian corridor up and down Lewis "fail" up and down 11th, "ok-ish".

In fairness, the museum is celebrating a highway....

[SXSW]

Does this mean the Route 66 Museum originally planned for SW Blvd & Riverside won't be happening?  I personally liked that concept and location next to the Avery Bridge.  I wonder what happens to that site now?

[TheArtist]

Does this mean the Route 66 Museum originally planned for SW Blvd & Riverside won't be happening?  I personally liked that concept and location next to the Avery Bridge.  I wonder what happens to that site now?

Though I have great respect for the folks wanting the museum on Riverside, I do think that having one here is better.  I no longer have a shop in the Mother Road Market, but this will be great for all those local shops and restaurants in the area. Spending money to build a museum on SW Blvd & Riverside would benefit no one really. There is only so much money out there to do these things and you know people like me who are pushing to build something great, to grow our dreams and make the city better.... would really appreciate the money being spent in ways that can have synergies with what we are working on as well. 

Been keeping tabs on what other areas along Route 66 are planning, including some pretty impressive resort type developments.  The competition is going to be tough.

What places are people going to drive past and point.
What places will people stop, get out of their cars, take a quick photo and then leave to make it to their hotel destination? (you can only do so much in a day)
What places will people decide to stay for several hours or even stay the night?
What places will people decide to stay for a few days?


The last 2 are what I would like to see Tulsa aim for.   If we spread things out too much and don't have one or two great stops where people can stay for several hours (see some sights, shop, eat, see some more sights) then we will continue to be the first two.

And we need to think about this in terms of competing sites up and down Route 66 that will be saying (Stay here! we have all of this!)

Santa Fe is a great example of a place along Route 66 where you can stay the night and spend a day or even two, seeing lots of sights, shopping and dining in their downtown and arts district which you can take in entirely on foot once you get to your hotel.

[Vision 2025]

Does this mean the Route 66 Museum originally planned for SW Blvd & Riverside won't be happening?  I personally liked that concept and location next to the Avery Bridge.  I wonder what happens to that site now?

To date the level of private fund raising necessary to augment the Vision 2025 necessary for that concept has not been successful.

[SXSW]

To date the level of private fund raising necessary to augment the Vision 2025 necessary for that concept has not been successful.

I guess I wonder what happens to that site if the museum goes in at 11th & Lewis?  It's a great site for...something other than an empty lot at the western gateway to downtown.

[SXSW]

Heard this week that the mixed-use development at 11th & Lewis is moving through the city approvals process and should start construction this fall. 

Also Wildflower Cafe is now open in the old Corner Cafe spot at 11th & Peoria.

[tulsabug]

The city really needs to come up with a master plan for redoing 11th Street from downtown to at least Yale as all this new infill is really going to up the traffic level. At the very least lower the bike lanes from 2 to 1 and integrate that into the sidewalk and with a physical curb to separate it from the street - then add a consistent suicide lane to Yale or Sheridan. The bike lanes are a confusing mess for motorists (based on the number of cars I see using them as turning lanes or just, y'know, lanes), not really being used my bicyclists, and have really caused a lot of backed up traffic. I'm all for a bike lane and I'm all for the new development (my wife and I have had a business on 11th since 97) - but this half-assed approach to the street is silly. This is Route 66 - the street IS the attraction and it should be presented in a much better way, both functionally and aesthetically.

Separated bike lanes like this would be much better and much safer for bikers and motorists.

[SXSW]

Completely agree on the 11th St streetscape from downtown to Yale.  A rebuild of the sidewalks, better integration of the bike lanes and the future BRT stops and more street trees.  It's great to see this corridor getting some attention now the city needs to step up with some improvements.

[Red Arrow]

Completely agree on the 11th St streetscape from downtown to Yale.  A rebuild of the sidewalks, better integration of the bike lanes and the future BRT stops and more street trees.  It's great to see this corridor getting some attention now the city needs to step up with some improvements.

Maybe even real, steel wheel on steel track, electric powered trolleys on 11th instead of the BRT.

[LandArchPoke]

Heard this week that the mixed-use development at 11th & Lewis is moving through the city approvals process and should start construction this fall. 

Also Wildflower Cafe is now open in the old Corner Cafe spot at 11th & Peoria.

I'm like 90% sure the Route 66 museum has been cut out of this project too - anyone else heard anything similar? The newer rendering look amazing though, if they actually build it to what it looks like now it will be one of the nicest apartment projects in Tulsa design wise. Will make most of the ARG projects in downtown look like cheap ****.

The city really needs to come up with a master plan for redoing 11th Street from downtown to at least Yale as all this new infill is really going to up the traffic level. At the very least lower the bike lanes from 2 to 1 and integrate that into the sidewalk and with a physical curb to separate it from the street - then add a consistent suicide lane to Yale or Sheridan. The bike lanes are a confusing mess for motorists (based on the number of cars I see using them as turning lanes or just, y'know, lanes), not really being used my bicyclists, and have really caused a lot of backed up traffic. I'm all for a bike lane and I'm all for the new development (my wife and I have had a business on 11th since 97) - but this half-assed approach to the street is silly. This is Route 66 - the street IS the attraction and it should be presented in a much better way, both functionally and aesthetically.

Separated bike lanes like this would be much better and much safer for bikers and motorists.

The above project will start a 'masterplan' for streetscape along 11th Street. Similar to what was done with Guthrie Green, where it set streetscaping standards for the Arts District and as projects were completed they adopted those standards. Unfortunately I don't think it will be done in large portions anytime soon.

The road diet that was done was critical to the area though and is at least slowing traffic down. Even if some idiots don't understand that the bike lines are not parking or loading areas. It's far far better than what was there. You don't build or make bike lines with the assumption that right away there will be thousands of bikers. They are slowing building around a vast network around the core that in years down the road will actually make the city more livable and offer people who live in these areas alternatives to driving. Cities like Portland didn't become a bike city overnight, they built out the infrastructure for it and people adopted that lifestyle because they had the option to do so. The same hopefully will happen here when they've been able to do more road diets. Slowing cars done is actually vital to making businesses along this corridor more successful. Having a car drive 25 mph by your building is 20x better than 40mph, it increases visibility and makes the area seem safer and 'busier' which are beneficial to retail businesses.

Maybe something as simple as large planters could help a lot and be a temporary fix especially for the part between Hillcrest and Peoria until better streetscaping can be done. Here's an example of planters used: https://www.universitycity.org/streetscapeimprovements

That was the biggest failure of the Cherry Street rebuild is there were not permanent planter beds or vegetation added anywhere - just adding flowers and native grasses that are low maintenance in the bump out areas would have made a huge difference in making the street feel a lot better. This would be easy to implement on 11th Street now in just planter boxes for example in many areas that could be made permanent down the road. 
 

[SXSW]

^ Planter boxes would be easy to add along the new Cherry Street streetscape.