Atlas Life Building, to be hotel.

[TheArtist]

According to the TW, the Atlas Life Building, a Kanbar Property, is going to be turned into a Boutique Hotel.

However the article mentions that the building contains Kokoa Kabana and once Sorannos.  I thought Kokoa Kabana was in the Philcade? And didnt think Sorannos was ever in the Atlas Life Building either?


http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectID=11&articleID=20080301_1_A1_hTheA80155

[swake]

Sounds great.

It would have to be a very small hotel. And I hope the Atlas Grill can stay.

[sgrizzle]

It says they were tenants for "the buildings" meaning all of Kanbar's properties.

Regional hotel magnate John Q Hammonds is big on building Marriots.. I wonder if he was the buyer

I think putting a hotel right in the middle of downtown like that is a big step, just like putting apartments in the philtower, it will show a need for retail deep in downtown and not just in the east end or brady.

[AVERAGE JOE]

[]

[TheArtist]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

It says they were tenants for "the buildings" meaning all of Kanbar's properties.

Regional hotel magnate John Q Hammonds is big on building Marriots.. I wonder if he was the buyer

I think putting a hotel right in the middle of downtown like that is a big step, just like putting apartments in the philtower, it will show a need for retail deep in downtown and not just in the east end or brady.

Aaah my bad, read too quickly and misunderstood. And yes I am really glad that great old building will see new life. That long hallway/lobby could acutally be done quite nicely as a Hotel Lobby. Couches, plants, nice lighting. I do hope they keep a cafe in it though. Would be nice to have even if it were a hotel. Perhaps they will put their own cafe in. Just to the left of the front entrance is a deli. I wonder if that is considered part of the Atlas Life Bldg?  Also from the pic, it looks like there is a space above that deli on the roof where you could possibly put a rooftop patio/garden/break area for hotel guests.

[we vs us]

That's so huge.  

*applauds

[sgrizzle]

According to the Journal Record the new owner is a local group and they will have a press conference monday.


http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=86710

[dsjeffries]

I'm stoked!

One thing I'm concerned about, though, is the sign... I sincerely hope it isn't removed--that sign is an icon in and of itself.

Press conference at 2pm Monday.

[Composer]

SJS Hospitality is a great developer.  Their Holiday Inn Express in Broken Arrow at Stone Wood Hills is really nice.

[sgrizzle]

I'm betting that the sign will stay, it is too much a part of the building. It's not like Atlas Life is just now leaving the building. They can just ad a marriot sign or two. They may even call it "Marriot Tulsa Atlas Building" or something to that effect.

[dsjeffries]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

I'm betting that the sign will stay, it is too much a part of the building. It's not like Atlas Life is just now leaving the building. They can just ad a marriot sign or two. They may even call it "Marriot Tulsa Atlas Building" or something to that effect.

I like "the Atlas Marriott"   []

[TheArtist]

The "Marriott Atlas" or just the "Atlass Hotel"

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by DScott28604

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

I'm betting that the sign will stay, it is too much a part of the building. It's not like Atlas Life is just now leaving the building. They can just ad a marriot sign or two. They may even call it "Marriot Tulsa Atlas Building" or something to that effect.

I like "the Atlas Marriott"   []

Atlas Hotel by Marriott?

[Kenosha]

I hope the New Atlas Grill won't be permanently relocated....it would be a great addition to a hotel lobby.

[Kenosha]

http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=86710

quote:Hotel operator acquires Tulsa Atlas Life Building
by Kirby Lee Davis
The Journal Record March 3, 2008

TULSA – Downtown Tulsa's 13-story Atlas Life Building may become a Courtyard by Marriott hotel within 18 months.

Current Edition

This could mark a welcome trend in transforming other Class C and D office structures dotting Tulsa's skyline as the 18,000-seat BOK Center construction and the Tulsa Convention Center renovation draw close, said Suzann Stewart, senior vice president of the Metro Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"There's been some interest expressed in a couple of the other buildings," said Stewart.
SJS Hospitality LLC of Broken Arrow paid an undisclosed price for the 95,000-square-foot Atlas Life tower, SJS co-owner Jeff Hartman told building tenants, which includes the Tulsa bureau of The Journal Record. He postponed discussing further developments Friday for a press conference at 2 p.m. Monday.
"SJS's other projects are very, very good-looking products," said Mike Craddock, the Tulsa managing broker for HotelBrokerOne of Oklahoma City. "They put a lot of thought into what they do."
The Broken Arrow company operates a 42,000-square-foot Candlewood Suites just off U.S. Highway 169 on Tulsa's 71st Street retail corridor, and a 65,000-square-foot Holiday Inn Express beside the Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow. Hartman said the firm will complete construction on a neighboring Town Place Suites in November.
Kanbar Properties manages Atlas Life for San Francisco investor Maurice Kanbar, the creator of Skyy Vodka, who acquired it and 15 other downtown landmarks in late 2005 and early 2006 under various corporations. Kanbar's Navajo Properties LLC had paid $1.4 million for the site, according to Tulsa County Courthouse records. It transferred the building under a special warranty deed last month to Atlas Life Building LLC.
Navajo also transferred the Adams Building, Oil Capital Building, Pythian Building, Secure Agent Building and Transok Building to individual limited liability corporations, all using 68 OS (2001) Sec. 3201 to not file any document stamps.
Taking the 86-year Atlas Life from the ranks of office buildings will do little to improve Tulsa's 21.6-percent vacancy rate, or even downtown's 25.9-percent rate, said Ken Tooman, who this year completed his 20th survey of the market.
"That little building, it's not what you would call super-competitive in today's multi-tenant market downtown," he said. "But from a broad perspective, I think anything that the market does that takes those buildings that may never compete well with the office market again out of the playing field is good for downtown."
He also thought the addition of more hotel space downtown would improve the office market there.
"I think it's great to have that kind of use downtown," he said. "It speaks well of people's opinion of our use of the Central Business District."
Even with the refit needs, Stewart thought starting with the Atlas Life structure could carve six months or more off the startup time needed for such a hotel – and she welcomed the addition of suite space promised by a Courtyard by Marriott.
"I think it's a great location," said Stewart. "It's not the 500- or 600-room big property we need adjacent to the facilities, but this will certainly provide big options for us in helping us host and attract big conventions to this city. We're at a point where the two large hotels downtown can not even give us the block we need for large conventions because our occupancies are so high right now."
Tulsa's 13,000-room hospitality sector finished 2007 with a 61-percent occupancy rate, she said, up about 5.4 percent from 2006.
"The trend right now is to take old buildings like the Atlas Life and turn them around," she said, suggesting the hotel would appeal not just with business and convention travelers, but OSU-Tulsa guests and many others. "And having the suite-type of situation really gives us an option that we don't really have down here."
While he thought the renovation a "great concept," Craddock wondered if they would be able to draw the 100 to 120 rooms usually needed for a Courtyard out of the existing structure.
"It all depends on how well the architect can work within the structural walls of the building," he said. "You should be able to get quite a few rooms in there."