The Plaza District Festival is Saturday from 11 AM - 10 PM!

Something I've been following since moving to Gatewood is the amount of multi-family projects going up around the district. it seems like the Plaza is driving most of this development, as more people want to live near this booming district. Most of the projects are in the University addition of Gatewood. There have been several new builds in the area along with some renovated buildings which were previously vacant.

Since moving to the area in 2016, i have seen several projects come online and more under construction, slowly increasing density in the area around the Plaza.

The more substantial projects include:
Flamingo Apartments- 31 Units (Complete)
20th and Blackwelder- 12 Units (Complete)
19th and Blackwelder- 12 Units (Complete)
Classen 16- 48 units (Under Construction)
Victory Assembly of God- 18 units (Under Construction)
Gatewood Place- 17 units (Complete)
Loper Townhomes- 5 Units (Under Construction)
Plaza Lofts- 14 units. (Complete)

That totals 157 new living units in less than 4 years in an area that is approximately .25 sq miles. not a ton of density, but pretty substantial for an existing north side neighborhood outside of downtown in Oklahoma City.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vL-7UQ8Mw0AdwTFKQgWew-mo90U&usp=sharing

Just found this interesting and wanted to share. Probably missed a few projects. Seems like good momentum for the Plaza and the surrounding neighborhoods imo.

Love to see this because it's hopefully what will keep rents affordable in OKC even as the city continues to become a more desirable place to live. I think that the Paseo, Jefferson Park, and Central Park are primed for similar development in the upcoming years as well. Some of the apartments on NW 29th street in the Paseo are in the process of undergoing a nice renovation.

Why does no one think of doing a simple diner open late? Literally every city has something like that.

Only thing I can think of is that no entrepreneur/restaurateur so far in OKC has wanted to cater to drunk people between 2 and 4 AM (which can get kind of rowdy). Yes, I love those kind of places and I think it would be a nice concept but would I want to be responsible for running it? Probably not. If somebody was up for it though I think it could be killer.

Phoenix has 5 & Diner which is exactly the kind of place you are talking about. It's excellent and I think OKC could use something like it. I'm not sure the Plaza District would be the right location, however.

https://www.5anddiner.com/uploads/1/2/9/1/12912276/1342211959.jpg

Only thing I can think of is that no entrepreneur/restaurateur so far in OKC has wanted to cater to drunk people between 2 and 4 AM (which can get kind of rowdy). Yes, I love those kind of places and I think it would be a nice concept but would I want to be responsible for running it? Probably not. If somebody was up for it though I think it could be killer.

Phoenix has 5 & Diner which is exactly the kind of place you are talking about. It's excellent and I think OKC could use something like it. I'm not sure the Plaza District would be the right location, however.

https://www.5anddiner.com/uploads/1/2/9/1/12912276/1342211959.jpg

Perry’s is open 24/7 and does well in all meal segments but they get packed around 2am when the bars close. Great owner and very well ran...they have a ton of regulars that keep them 0n their toes...

Give me a great mom and pop like Perry’s anytime over a place like that...

Oh and Perry’s is a mile from my business and just a few miles my home :)

16th Street (between Indiana and N. Gatewood) will be closed to vehicle traffic on Saturdays between the hours of 8am-6pm. Begins this Saturday and will continue through October.

16th Street (between Indiana and N. Gatewood) will be closed to vehicle traffic on Saturdays between the hours of 8am-6pm. Begins this Saturday and will continue through October.

This is most welcome news.

Yes, starting this Saturday and for every Sat in Sep & Oct, NW 16th will be closed for traffic between Indiana and Gatewood from 8A to 6P.

They will have art, music and seating for the area restaurants.


Great idea!

Yes, starting this Saturday and for every Sat in Sep & Oct, NW 16th will be closed for traffic between Indiana and Gatewood from 8A to 6P.

They will have art, music and seating for the area restaurants.


Great idea!

the outdoor seating could make this big to help these restaurants survive

So... How will the bus run through this area? And will we have to park along the neighborhood streets?

https://www.velocityokc.com/clientuploads/directory/super_blog/Plaza_District_Festival_2017-1.jpg


Plaza District website: https://www.plazadistrict.org/

https://www.velocityokc.com/clientuploads/directory/super_blog/Plaza_District_Festival_2017-52.jpg

So... How will the bus run through this area? And will we have to park along the neighborhood streets?

The bus stop is just outside the closed street; I"m sure they'll just drive around.

This is only one block. Not that many spaces will be affected.

Really excited for this -- planning on biking to the Plaza for the first time this weekend to participate. Hoping this sets a precedent to maybe make this a permanent feature. I remember reading about the complexity of these types of pedestrian efforts in Walkable City, but my hometown closed a stretch near downtown lined with bars, restaurants, and shops, and it has practically become the hub of the city and is overflowing with people most weekend nights (at least pre-pandemic). I imagine the overflow of restaurants onto patio spaces in the street will only get more popular in this new world.

There's so much parking in both Gatewood and Classen Ten Penn if you're willing to walk a block or two (and frankly it's so hard to find parking on 16th on a good day that ends up happening anyway). This really shouldn't be an issue.

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This is awesome. Sidenote, I was in Fort Collins recently visiting some friends and we went to the area pictured above and the first thing that came to my mind was permanently closing NW 16th street would be awesome (urban planning wise... definitely not traffic-wise). Unlike in the pictures, the area was packed and all of the outdoor patios were full. There were microshops and it was so easy to get around. They did have an abundance of parking not too far away and idk how the Plaza District would get around that but I think it would be great for the area.

So... How will the bus run through this area? And will we have to park along the neighborhood streets?
Does the catholic church on 18th tow cars if anyone parks there?

Looks like a anti-masking rally. Smh. This city population just doesn’t ever learn.

To clarify, this is in response to the pics below.

Looks like a anti-masking rally. Smh. This city population just doesn’t ever learn.

To clarify, this is in response to the pics below.

They are happening in every city, pretty much daily. I was in PORTLAND, OREGON (yes, that Portland) about 2 weeks ago, and there were 100's of people protesting masks all over the city.

There were a bunch of photos in the Oklahoman of high school football games.

Almost no one in the stands (students & others) were wearing masks and people were tightly grouped.

They are happening in every city, pretty much daily. I was in PORTLAND, OREGON (yes, that Portland) about 2 weeks ago, and there were 100's of people protesting masks all over the city.

There’s definitely some folks who are burned out, but it’s such an easy thing to do. Businesses are literally giving masks out for free, and there are a lot of people who actually look more attractive when wearing a mask.

Not sure why this needs to be so F’ing complicated

There’s definitely some folks who are burned out, but it’s such an easy thing to do. Businesses are literally giving masks out for free, and there are a lot of people who actually look more attractive when wearing a mask.

Not sure why this needs to be so F’ing complicated

Oh, I am not anti-mask. Just saying that people in even the most liberal of cities are tired of them, and are protesting. It is easy to wear them, and most allow you to take them off right after entering, even in those liberal cities.

Oh, I am not anti-mask. Just saying that people in even the most liberal of cities are tired of them, and are protesting. It is easy to wear them, and most allow you to take them off right after entering, even in those liberal cities.

Portland and the entire NW has a big and growing alt-right population and a big problem with white supremacy groups:

https://apnews.com/f2c9c20176ea427fa3833bbcbbe1a265

Portland and the entire NW has a big and growing alt-right population and a big problem with white supremacy groups:

https://apnews.com/f2c9c20176ea427fa3833bbcbbe1a265

Right. And I'm not sure "hipster" is the same as "liberal" anyway.

weird hours for the closure though. -6pm??

MOST other major cities with similar infrastructure I've been to/lived in will have the closure all night or tied to the bars closing. .. Seems weird to have the closure until 6pm then "allow cars the rest of the night??".

Should have closure at 11pm on Sat (or later) and add Friday to that.

There are plenty of places for people to get drunk and that population isn't one that needs to be targeted. From looking at the list of shops and activities, I think that this was intended for families and more responsible citizens to get out and support the local businesses. After seeing all the pictures with the lack of masks and social distancing though, the responsible ones may just stay home.

I heard an after-action report from the Paseo art walk Friday. My diligent mask-wearing friend attended and he said he felt very safe. He said many people were not wearing them on the street (he was), but dutifully put them on when they entered the galleries.

Looks like a anti-masking rally. Smh. This city population just doesn’t ever learn.

To clarify, this is in response to the pics below.

Are we sure the photos aren't pre-covid? I find it hard to believe that there would be no-one wearing a mask. I went to the Farmer's Market at Scissortail before the mask mandate and even then about 50% of the patrons were wearing masks.

Are we sure the photos aren't pre-covid? I find it hard to believe that there would be no-one wearing a mask. I went to the Farmer's Market at Scissortail before the mask mandate and even then about 50% of the patrons were wearing masks.

The photos were pre-covid.

Well this is all fake news then! =P I actually thought about it and assumed the woman on the far right of Laramie's picture was holding masks. I see that Sasquatch is in the wrong place in the picture now though.

I still think compliance wasn't great though:
https://okcfox.com/news/local/crowds-gather-for-16th-street-saturday-in-the-plaza-district

Well this is all fake news then! =P I actually thought about it and assumed the woman on the far right of Laramie's picture was holding masks. I see that Sasquatch is in the wrong place in the picture now though.

I still think compliance wasn't great though:
https://okcfox.com/news/local/crowds-gather-for-16th-street-saturday-in-the-plaza-district

That photo is quite old because as you point out, Sasquatch has been moved from the location shown for at least two years.

The setup for Saturdays now is to space out exhibits, performers and chairs. Looks nothing like what Laramie posted.

I spoke to the manager at up-down. They hope to drop the age restriction on Sundays after the pandemic. Positive news for the teenagers in the area.

There's another one of those "snout houses", as I think Urbanized called them, going in on the SW corner of NW 17 and Douglas, and this one sports a three-car(!) garage. It's been a vacant lot for a decade or more but it's shame they couldn't have come up with something more appropriate for the neighborhood!

Also, south of NW 16, the Planning Commission approved in January a SPUD for 5 detached townhome-style houses at NW 11 and Ellison (I believe they're calling it Ellison Eleven). However, I don't know if it made it through the City Council yet. I saw a for sale sign on the property recently, which was not there in January 2020 (per Google Street View) so I'm not sure if the project is moving forward. Obviously a lot has changed since the beginning of the year.

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Looks like 84 Hospitality is starting to get close to their NEON Coffee Bar completion. In the old Easy E location.

^

Been meaning to post about that.

Desing by Fitzsimmons Architects.

Any chance this means OKC is finally getting a late-night coffee place? Or will this close at 9 or 10 p.m. like seemingly every other coffeeshop in town...

Any chance this means OKC is finally getting a late-night coffee place? Or will this close at 9 or 10 p.m. like seemingly every other coffeeshop in town...

I work late often and used to regularly go to a place in Wichita that was a bar/coffee shop. It worked great.

^^^^^^^
Vanguard rules

Edit: oops, apparently I should have said “ruled”

I work late often and used to regularly go to a place in Wichita that was a bar/coffee shop. It worked great.

We went to Hodge's Bend in Tulsa last year that fits this bill. Our first thought was that we were surprised there wasn't something similar in OKC.

oh no, Vanguard closed! Argh. Loved that place. Yes, Hodge's Bend is a much nicer version of Vanguard. I liked the rugged, dive bar coffee shop feel of Vanguard though.

Any chance this means OKC is finally getting a late-night coffee place? Or will this close at 9 or 10 p.m. like seemingly every other coffeeshop in town...

This is all a guess, but that is what it looks like they are going to do. They created a window for people to order from outside. This might mean they will close the indoor part at a certain time, but you will be able to order from what will likely become a small patio area. There are so many people that walk around the Plaza after they have dinner or late drinks. It would be cool to order a coffee and walk the Plaza Walls.

God what I would give for a Hodge's Bend in OKC

I would love a coffee shop like café Brazil in Dallas. several locations 24 hours. great coffee shop and food

Rachel Cope (owner) says Neon will also have beer and wine and a front patio.

Food will also be available: easily portable, savory and sweet.

Hours aren't set yet.

Already put up their Coming Soon sign and added some Neon to the patio area! I am so excited about this spot!

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Nice vibes. I hope they put in some more outdoor seating. Plaza's needed a good coffeeshop since District House closed down.

^

I was told they'll have a pretty big outdoor patio.

^

I was told they'll have a pretty big outdoor patio.

That'll be perfect for that spot.

Hopefully someone will take over the old Maples spot across the street and activate that patio as well.

There is a huge pent-up demand for going out, especially with outdoor spaces.

Yesterday I saw a lot of movement on Blackwelder south of the Plaza District. Midwest Wrecking tore down 3 or 4 houses on 12th and Blackwelder. The live/work garage apartments, I believe the Strubles are developing, are close to complete. And then a sign went up on Blackwelder just North of ParkPl. Photo below of sign.

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Found some renderings on the noblereh.com website.

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^^ Love those

Are we into full fledged gentrification now?

I think we jumped the shark on that with OnCue...

https://www.oklahoman.com/article/5646493

What? No pics of Keanu Reeves enjoying an ice cream cone in the Plaza on Tuesday?

I'm still not sure if it was really Keanu, but if it was, time has been ROUGH on him... =P

That sign looks more down than up.

That sign looks more down than up.

I stand corrected. Pun intended.

I have been really curious about what is going to go on 12th and Blackwelder. It looks like the Strubles own the land that was cleared under the Blackwelder LLC name. That company also owns the land the Native Lands apartments are on. I am guessing they are going to create another infill community or more apartments. Just guessing and correct me if I am wrong about ownership!

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I think we jumped the shark on that with OnCue...

https://www.oklahoman.com/article/5646493

2019 wow, was definitely hoping to be using the new OnCue instead that horrifying 711 on NW 10th and Western by this point haha.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/12black1.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/12black2.jpg

Very Nice! Thanks Pete!!

https://youtu.be/SOBh4oXfC8U

Indoor lights for Neon Coffee