Tulsa Club Building - Ross Group to begin renovations

[Conan71]

Tulsa is pretty fortunate to have someone like the Ross Group and the Sniders to repurpose these old buildings.

[sgrizzle]

Tulsa is pretty fortunate to have someone like the Ross Group and the Sniders to repurpose these old buildings.

Two groups which will be making money hand over fist in a few years leaving other developers and property owners who have done absolutely nothing crying fowl.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Update on the Club Building:

City councilors get closer look at Tulsa Club building restoration work

Ben Kimbro likes to brag about the Tulsa Club building. Wherever his work takes him, whether it be London or Hong Kong or Guadalajara, he brags on it.

Wednesday, he stuck around home and touted the downtown building's virtues to his fellow city councilors.

"If you've lived in Tulsa and you have a little gray hair, you have a tie to this building," Kimbro said. "You have an Easter brunch, a wedding reception or a Christmas party, or some fond memory tied to this building.

"So to see it come back better than ever, yeah, I'm exceedingly proud of the guys I work with."

Kimbro led the tour because his day job is at Ross Group, the Tulsa construction company that spent $1.5 million in 2015 to buy the long-neglected art deco building at 115 E. Fifth St. The company is spending $22.5 million to rebuild it into a posh, 96-room boutique hotel that will be operated by Tulsa-based Promise Hotels.

It is expected to open in about a year, Kimbro said.

"One of the things that, certainly not me, but the Ross Group does really well are historic renovations," the councilor said.

For the Tulsa Club building, the renovation has been a long time coming. The 11-story structure was built in 1927 as a joint venture between the Tulsa Club and the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce. In its heyday, the building had visits from stars like John Wayne and Rita Hayworth.

But since 1994, when the Tulsa Club closed, it has been beset by absentee owners and vagrants looking for shelter.

Wednesday's tour was the first opportunity many city councilors had ever had to step inside the building. And that can be a trip. Long the forgotten haunt of the homeless, the inside walls are still covered with graffiti in many areas. Some of it actually looks cool.

"Little by little, some of my favorites are going away," Kimbro joked. "I've got photos to preserve them."

But what is coming is expected to be out of this world. Kimbro said he believes the hotel's ballroom will be the best in the state. Sixty of the 96 rooms will have unique layouts. Plans also call for a roof-top terrace and fine dining. Valet and car service will also be available.

Standing in the ballroom, Councilor Phil Lakin recalled his two previous visits to the building, including one for a high school social function.

"It was a cool place to get to come to because it was downtown," Lakin said. "I'm a south Tulsa guy, so I rarely even came downtown.

"I specifically remember looking out these big windows toward the east and looking down and thinking how cool downtown was."

Councilor Jeannie Cue, who had never been inside the building before Wednesday, said she loves all of the historic preservation going on around the city.

"It brings a lot of history back and makes our city unique," she said. "We're blessed to have citizens investing back in our community."

Kimbro, senior director for special projects for the Ross Group, reminded anyone within earshot that without the historic tax credits, the Tulsa Club property would be a parking lot.

Thanks to those credits, the city is set to reap a great financial windfall, he said.

"Without the miracle of historic tax credits, we wouldn't have changed the value of this building up north of $50 million onto the tax rolls," he said.

Article:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/city-councilors-get-closer-look-at-tulsa-club-building-restoration/article_243fb6fd-395c-5fa0-8d5a-ad27ee9cb3a1.html

Updated photo gallery:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/photovideo/slideshows/updated-gallery-more-photos-from-inside-the-tulsa-club/collection_f92692b3-62dc-5415-b9b6-fbec3682e4db.html

[AdamsHall]

Really excited about this project.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Compelling Comparisons: TULSA CLUB Ballroom, February 2017 + March 2019. Save this post - it will be useful the next time someone tells you a building is beyond salvation. Hats off to Ross Group, Rosin Preservation, Promise Hotels Lilly Architects, W Design, Forrest Perkins, and their partners for the restoration of this amazing Bruce Goff building. Thank you, City of Tulsa Gov, for starting this journey a decade ago and working hard to make sure the iconic Tulsa Club would survive.

https://www.facebook.com/tulsaarchitecture/photos/pcb.10155865699041644/10155865685656644/?type=3&theater

[swake]

Have they opened?

[shavethewhales]

What a gem. And to think this awesome asset was just wasting away all this time. I love the vision to restore this huge piece of our art deco culture that's been slipping away. Lot of great events going to be had here that will make Tulsa look great.

[SXSW]

Yeah I thought we may lose this one, wonderful to see it restored to its former glory.  Which remaining downtown structures are in dire need of renovation?  I feel like the list is now pretty small.  One big one is the brick building at 1st & Elgin, it would make for the perfect market/food hall (like Mother Road Market) for downtown. 

[swake]

Yeah I thought we may lose this one, wonderful to see it restored to its former glory.  Which remaining downtown structures are in dire need of renovation?  I feel like the list is now pretty small.  One big one is the brick building at 1st & Elgin, it would make for the perfect market/food hall (like Mother Road Market) for downtown. 

The Sinclair Building comes to mind. It even has/had the same owner that let the Tulsa Club rot.

But The Tulsa Club is a home run all the way, one of the best Art Deco buildings there is, restored completely. Just a great, great job.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Compelling Comparisons: TULSA CLUB Ballroom, February 2017 + March 2019. Save this post - it will be useful the next time someone tells you a building is beyond salvation. Hats off to Ross Group, Rosin Preservation, Promise Hotels Lilly Architects, W Design, Forrest Perkins, and their partners for the restoration of this amazing Bruce Goff building. Thank you, City of Tulsa Gov, for starting this journey a decade ago and working hard to make sure the iconic Tulsa Club would survive.

Pretty much never beyond saving - unless someone with no vision has an urge to purge the old just to make a new glass covered 'nothing' of a building.  And the money to make that happen.  But then they would also have enough to re-do the old...

[SXSW]

The Sinclair Building comes to mind. It even has/had the same owner that let the Tulsa Club rot.

But The Tulsa Club is a home run all the way, one of the best Art Deco buildings there is, restored completely. Just a great, great job.

Yep it's probably the Sinclair Building.  Is 119 E 6th currently vacant?  I know they wanted to convert this building to condos and even built a model unit but wasn't sure it ever moved forward.

[SXSW]

It looks like they preserved the terrazzo floors in at least some of the guestrooms:


Great to see this corner a hub of activity again

[DTowner]

This looks awesome.  Saving this incredible building was very important for Tulsa.  It also was important to me personally - my wedding reception was there in 1992.  I look forward to celebrating anniversaries there for years to come.

[TulsaGoldenHurriCAN]

Yep it's probably the Sinclair Building.  Is 119 E 6th currently vacant?  I know they wanted to convert this building to condos and even built a model unit but wasn't sure it ever moved forward.

Good question. Listed in 2010 for $1.3 million and still shows probably the same thing:
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/119-E-6th-St-704_Tulsa_OK_74119_M81698-15419#photo10

That is a beautiful building with an exterior that has stood the test of time. Those terra cotta tiles were an amazing long-lasting choice! If they stay on, they're great, and with how they built them, they've stayed in place. A real testament to how well they did things despite the massive amount of construction going on in that era.

[swake]

Yep it's probably the Sinclair Building.  Is 119 E 6th currently vacant?  I know they wanted to convert this building to condos and even built a model unit but wasn't sure it ever moved forward.

119 E 6th is called the Towercade. That and a little building next door that I think is called the Tower Annex are both empty. The Parker Building is also empty. So those with the Sinclair, are there any more large empty buildings left downtown outside of warehouses and such? The last decade has brought a ton of buildings back to life.