Cathedral District - South end of Downtown Tulsa

[Townsend]

Cathedral District wants to change its 'parking crater' image

Coalition gives area name and focuses on development of open spaces, kicking 'parking crater' image

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

Once labeled the worst "parking crater" in the nation, the south part of downtown Tulsa remains well-known for its sprawling asphalt lots. But community leaders hope to begin changing that Wednesday with the launch of a coalition to promote the "Cathedral District."

Named for six historic churches located in the area, the Cathedral District will join more than half a dozen other "districts" across downtown, all trying to lure development and revitalization.

The Brady Arts District on the north side of downtown and the Blue Dome District in the northeast have been the most successful, but they had something that the Cathedral area conspicuously lacks — numerous historic buildings and shopfronts to be renovated and repurposed.

On the other hand, so-called "urban renewal" flattened much of south downtown during the 1960s, '70s and '80s, leaving relatively little infrastructure to be revitalized.

Those wide-open parking lots, however, might turn out to be the Cathedral District's biggest asset, said Lauren Brookey, vice president of external affairs at Tulsa Community College and a co-chair of the new Cathedral District organization. The lots provide both ample parking for events and potential locations for new developments.

"The important thing," Brookey said, "will be finding a balance between the need for parking, especially on Sunday mornings when the churches need it, and the need to address the issues of walkability and density."

The group will officially launch itself with a public luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the first-floor Cyntergy Community Room at 810 S. Cincinnati Ave. The area is already known colloquially as the "Cathedral District," but this will be the first concerted effort to organize business leaders and promote it.

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.

In addition to TCC, partners include Cyntergy, Foolish Things Coffee and several churches.

"We're going to be looking for ways that we can collaborate and work together on issues like parking, transit and branding," Brookey said.

In 2013, Streetblogs mockingly awarded downtown Tulsa a "Golden Crater" award after asking readers to vote on U.S. cities with large swaths of surface parking. The Cathedral District, where some parking lots cover entire city blocks, easily beat the competition.

City Councilor Blake Ewing called it "the biggest field of potential development in the city."

Encompassing a stretch of historic Route 66, the Cathedral District borders the Deco District to the north, East Village to the east and the smaller "Gunboat District" to the south, all vying for investment. But the more the merrier, Ewing said.

"Great cities have lots of different destination areas that each take on an identity of their own," he said. "Some have historic charm. Some will be more modern.

"The Cathedral District, I think, will develop in its own unique way."

Wouldn't it be great if this did something?

[BKDotCom]

#pointless

[Cats Cats Cats]

Going to take some big money with a long lease to build some sort of parking garage + retail or residential development.  Also the churches giving up some control. Maybe the churches make enough to do these projects themselves? Dunno. But if people aren't already approaching them to do projects I'm not sure what they are going to accomplish for quite a while.

[RecycleMichael]

I like it. It is distinctive, simple, and classy.

Unlike the new flag.

[DowntownDan]

I'm not sure what instant gratification you might be expecting.  It's a start aimed at a better future.  I like it.

[MostSeriousness]

I learned from another Tulsa World story that First Presbyterian owns the Cyntergy building. And when a new company comes in this fall, they'll be 100% capacity. With a tiny lot on the space. Maybe that's incentive (they own other buildings/lots in the area?) to work on a garage?

[SXSW]

Better than Parking Lot District.  

The lots by All Saints Holy Family would be a logical place to initiate development.  I love the cathedral square idea that has been floated around.  Boston Ave is definitely an attraction for the architecture.

[Cats Cats Cats]

I'm not sure what instant gratification you might be expecting.  It's a start aimed at a better future.  I like it.

These initiatives seem to lose steam with no progress. Hopefully there is a project they can announce soon even if it never gets built to get up excitement.

[DowntownDan]

The lot across from Holy Family would be great for green space with businesses surrounding it.  Maybe an underground parking garage to share.  Lots of development needs to occur on top of all the asphalt.

[Dspike]

MostSeriousness:

First Pres bought the "Cyntergy building" in 2013 when it was still the run-down "Avanti building." We renovated it for commercial use, and we use all funds earned over the operating costs to fund our local mission work in Tulsa. And it did lease up quite quickly. As for early 2016, it was at 80%. And the announcement yesterday that Ingredion will take a floor means it is now 100% leased.

The Cathedral District kickoff event today was in the 8:10 Building (what most call the Cyntergy building). And the large churches in the area are all members of the Cathedral District itself, along with Cyntergy, TCC, PSO, and Foolish Things.

Here's an older article with some more details on the church-led renovation of the 8:10 Building:

"The biggest downtown Tulsa speculative office renovation project in years didn't come from a traditional developer or a real estate investment trust.

It came from a church.

Bob Pielsticker, a broker with CB Richard Ellis in Tulsa, said First Presbyterian's transformation of the Avanti building at 810 S. Cincinnati Ave. into the 8:10 Building turned out better than anyone expected, since it's already 80 percent occupied."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/first-presbyterian-s-building-in-demand-in-downtown-tulsa/article_fbe1e41f-efcf-5f4b-b5ce-4ffb86cee907.html

And here is one of the brochures from the 8:10 mission effort: https://firstchurchtulsa.org/files/9614/9071/9948/810_CmpgnBro_NoCrops.pdf

[guido911]

There's a Cathedral District? Seriously?

[erfalf]

Who knew that high class office space was in demand downtown, even in areas a bit removed from the "action".

Sarcasm off....

[MostSeriousness]

MostSeriousness:

First Pres bought the "Cyntergy building" in 2013 when it was still the run-down "Avanti building." We renovated it for commercial use, and we use all funds earned over the operating costs to fund our local mission work in Tulsa. And it did lease up quite quickly. As for early 2016, it was at 80%. And the announcement yesterday that Ingredion will take a floor means it is now 100% leased.

The Cathedral District kickoff event today was in the 8:10 Building (what most call the Cyntergy building). And the large churches in the area are all members of the Cathedral District itself, along with Cyntergy, TCC, PSO, and Foolish Things.

Here's an older article with some more details on the church-led renovation of the 8:10 Building:

"The biggest downtown Tulsa speculative office renovation project in years didn't come from a traditional developer or a real estate investment trust.

It came from a church.

Bob Pielsticker, a broker with CB Richard Ellis in Tulsa, said First Presbyterian's transformation of the Avanti building at 810 S. Cincinnati Ave. into the 8:10 Building turned out better than anyone expected, since it's already 80 percent occupied."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/realestate/first-presbyterian-s-building-in-demand-in-downtown-tulsa/article_fbe1e41f-efcf-5f4b-b5ce-4ffb86cee907.html

And here is one of the brochures from the 8:10 mission effort: https://firstchurchtulsa.org/files/9614/9071/9948/810_CmpgnBro_NoCrops.pdf

Thanks for clarification! For some reason I thought I read somewhere Cyntergy or one of its managers was the property owner. Good info to know. Looks like it's the perfect poster child development for the future of the district

[Dspike]

For those interested in the Cathedral District, it has its own website now as well:

http://tulsacathedraldistrict.com/

[Conan71]

There's a Cathedral District? Seriously?

I figured you, more than anyone, would appreciate one more district in Tulsa.