This is a historic building on the SW corner of 23rd & N. May that was formerly home to Terry's Two-Way Radio and is now being renovated for lease.

It was built in 1933 as a Deep Rock gas station. Undergoing remodeling to remove interior sheet rock and reveal brick walls and installing garage doors.

Would be great spot for a pub before Energy matches, as it's right across the street from Taft Stadium. However, would have to be ABC-2 (serve food) because the middle school is also right there.

Massive improvement over what was there before and lower May Ave. has a lot of cool older structures prime for adaptive reuse. Looks like the urban wave is finally coming to this part of town.


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Great! Nice to see some of the momentum shifting west on 23rd. If this winds up being a pub/casual restaurant, I'd be there a lot.

Snapped a couple of pics today while driving by. Looks like they're removing all the stucco covering the original brick (yay!), and there's all this writing all over the brick. It also appears they've replaced some windows and the garage door. I can't wait to see what's going to become of this little building.

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It's nice to finally see some dignified development activity further west on 23rd Street. A very nice change.

I'd really like to see that as a pub.

I'd really like to see that as a pub.

Me too. Unfortunately, it's too close to the school.

It could be ABC-2, that is it could have a bar but 50% of sales theoretically comes from food. Examples of such places: R&J, TapWerks, Slaughter's Hall, Saints, McNellie's, Fassler...even Skinny Slim's is licensed this way, though I'm not sure how closely they comply.

I've always wondered how Skinny's is licensed that way. I mean they used to have a few food items, but they have completely eliminated that now so I'm not sure how it works.

They originally committed to building an attached kitchen and serving sandwiches, etc. I think the thing is that once you are licensed nobody ever bothers to follow up, audit food vs. liquor, etc.

Obviously if this place were licensed, its proximity to the school would place it under a much bigger microscope.

Today I was able to go inside and get some pictures. The renovation looks like it's going to be awesome! My understanding (from one of the contractors working there) is that the owner is preparing it for lease, but there isn't a for-sure tenant yet. I really, really want to buy the thing and do something with it, although I have no idea what. It's just the neatest little building, and it's got so much character. Parking would probably be an issue for whatever goes in there. There's no real parking, and I'm not sure any nearby is available (but I'd have to revisit the site to look at that again).

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It's very similar to the buildings recently demolished for Maywood II in Deep Deuce.

It's very similar to the buildings recently demolished for Maywood II in Deep Deuce.

Yep, the contractor said he thought it had originally been a gas station (but of course this is anecdotal...don't know for sure). So glad it didn't meet the same fate as the ones in DD.

If I was going there I would park in the mid first bank parking lot.

Yep, the contractor said he thought it had originally been a gas station (but of course this is anecdotal...don't know for sure). So glad it didn't meet the same fate as the ones in DD.
Yes, it was a Deep Rock. That "Cotswald Cottage" style was common with early service stations all over the country. Around here it was mostly Phillips 66 and Conoco. The demolished buildings in Deep Deuce were a Conoco.

Yes, the bank parking lot would be ample, assuming they'd allow it. There's also a vacant lot (grass and trees) just to the south and west of the building. It could probably be purchased and turned into parking if necessary.

In the 90s I lived just a few blocks from that building, and always wondered what it once was. Anyone have any photos of it when it was Deep Rock?

On my way back from lunch today, I noticed they were taking off the EFS or whatever you want to call it to expose the brick underneath. Should be really cool when finished. Curious if they are going to paint it or not. I really hope not.

From warreng88:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/2900nw23042115.jpg

Took these yesterday; such a cool little building.

You can see where they are starting to clean the brick in the second photo.



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Oh wow...that building is going to look so good. The difference from when it was the two-way radio building is simply an amazing transformation!

How is that brick cleaned so thoroughly?

I remember that building from the mid sixties forward. It was a huge place for car stereo installation in the '70s.

I can't wait to see what they do with it. I grew up in the area. Went to Taft. Worked for a few years in the building next door when it was Eales Electronics. I've always thought the building would be great for something if restored. Only thing is that the building is really small. It might be 1000 sq. ft. but no bigger. Not much room to work with. And not much of a lot for room to add anything. There's only about 15 feet of space the the south. It sits pretty much on the line to the west. There is grass between it and the building building to the west but I'm sure it belongs to the building Eales used to be in. We parked our service trucks there often. As I remember there was some talk that we couldn't but it was proven that the land was not Terry's but Eales's.

I love this building! it's about 3 blocks from me and its been a joy seeing it transformed. true it has little parking but is super cute and look forward to seeing what is done with it. not sure what would work if you didn't secure parking but I'm sure something will make it work.

There is a large parking area and then more vacant land owned by Midfirst Bank to the south. This is in addition to the parking on the bank property itself.

Would probably be pretty easy to pay them a bit of money to allow customers to use that extra parking and even pave more of the lot if needed.

In fact, I would try and go this route then use the actual on-site parking for this little building as a big patio with tables and umbrellas. Incredibly busy and visible corner that could draw in lots of biz:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/2900nw23052615.jpg

Any news on this building? Has a for sale sign up.

Went by there yesterday and nothing had changed.

They had started to remove all the old paint and writing from the brick on the north side when I was last here in May and have done nothing since.

I'm not sure who owns the grassy bit behind and to the side of the building, but it appears that L-shaped bit was dug out sometime last week.

Looks like they gave up trying to strip the building down to the original brick and repaint instead:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/23rd121615.jpg

It's awful and looks even worse in person. So disappointing.

It's awful and looks even worse in person. So disappointing.

What part? The quality of the job, the color of the paint, all of it?

What part? The quality of the job, the color of the paint, all of it?

The quality of the job is fine. It looks like they taped off and lines are good. The color is really dark and I am pretty sure they did it this morning so it will dry darker. It is more disappointing that they could have gone with a vintage look of the building, but painted over it instead.

Is that paint or stucco? Hard to tell from that pic.

I think this spot would make an excellent coffee shop. You could get away with a smaller kitchen footprint (oven for pastries and standard brewing equipment), freeing up room for indoor seating. The nearest Starbucks is 13 blocks north on May and there's nothing to the south except District House all the way in the Plaza. You'd get foot traffic from MidFirst, Taft and Cleveland along with the neighborhoods surrounding the intersection. I live in Crestwood and would love to see more development on May between 23rd and 10th. There's lots of underused property in the area. It would be great to have a coffee shop at the mouth of the corridor.

Is that paint or stucco? Hard to tell from that pic.

It is paint. If you look at the left side of the building, you can see vague lines of the brick.

From warreng88:

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I actually thought the old ad paintings on it were sort of charming. it looks so much better than when the awning was on it for sure but not a huge fan of the paint color but I will take it.. now we just need a cute coffee or cupcake place to pop in there.

Or a great little bar and grill. There is the Energy pregaming spot everybody's been looking for.

You could never get an ABC3 permit because the middle school is directly across the street, so you'd have to serve food and that place is tiny (making a kitchen problematic) with almost no parking.

The tenant / landlord would have to work out a deal with the neighboring bank which has plenty of excess parking.

^^^^^^
Roomier than Sidecar or Powerhouse, and probably similar in size to R&J, all of which have ABC-2, which is perfectly allowable across the street from the school. Which is precisely why I said "bar and GRILL". ;)

Agree about needing to work out a parking agreement with the bank, but that particular Mid-First branch has been pretty involved in lending for urban redevelopment over the years; I would imagine they'd be receptive to making an arrangement of some type.

I'd say it would be a limited Grill at best. I live a block from it and I keep looking at it trying to figure out how to set it up in my head. Can you serve doughnuts and beer?..lol

I'd say it would be a limited Grill at best. I live a block from it and I keep looking at it trying to figure out how to set it up in my head. Can you serve doughnuts and beer?..lol

Rogue Ales & Spirits (http://www.rogue.com/rogue_beer/voodoo-bacon-maple-ale/) :D

I'd say it would be a limited Grill at best. I live a block from it and I keep looking at it trying to figure out how to set it up in my head. Can you serve doughnuts and beer?..lol

Have you been to Powerhouse or Sidecar? You don't need a big menu to be a place with good food. Will's at Will Rogers Theater is another tiny-kitchen example. Paninis, charcuterie, soups, a few other odds and ends and you've got a place that qualifies as ABC-2 AND is a decent place to grab lunch or a happy hour snack.

Oh! We just moved from the area so I haven't driven by there lately. So very disappointed about them painting over the original red brick/vintage ads. Like Bullbear said, they were charming. Well, it's done now so I guess we accept that and hope for a cool business to go in there.

Oh! We just moved from the area so I haven't driven by there lately. So very disappointed about them painting over the original red brick/vintage ads. Like Bullbear said, they were charming. Well, it's done now so I guess we accept that and hope for a cool business to go in there.

They took the stucco off and it's now just the original brick and ads again.

I'm so confused right now...

They took the stucco off and it's now just the original brick and ads again.

They have put on fresh paint over the bricks and old ads now.

I'm so confused right now...

I don't think metro had seen the new paint when he posted that.

Ah, whew

Word around the neighborhood is a vape shop is going in. Can anyone confirm?

Boooooooooooooooooo

If true, that was my reaction, but with a lot more profanity. I can't think of a worse tenant across from a middle school. This spot still has the potential to enhance the neighborhood. Fortunately, a lot of vape shops don't tend to stay open too long.

I just drove by that place on Friday, I hope that CB radio sign does not get thrown away and either someone buys it who appreciates that kind of nostalgia or it gets put in a museum.

Are you talking about the pole sign on the corner? If so, the pole might be old but the sign iself is just a backlit plastic sign; probably eighties-vintage.

I think the paint job looks pretty good in person:



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Yeah, it's not that bad in person...just wish they could've somehow incorporated the old brick with the red writing. The exterior flood lamps are especially cool.

Pete, was the "Available" sign still on the door?

Pete, was the "Available" sign still on the door?

No, and I meant to post that because they may have it leased.

Interesting...can't wait to see what goes in there, although I'm not as interested as I was when we lived nearby.

Drove by today and a banner hanging over the garage door displays the name "A&M Vape Shop". I'll get a pic tomorrow on my way to the gym.

Oh no...

Incredibly disappointing.