The problem that OKC has is the same problem most communities have. The richest and most powerful people in town usually get special consideration. It just so happens that in OKC, the richest and most powerful people in town are the oil and gas guys, and they're the ones who have been driving the "big" developments. Whatever you might say about them, they are not experts on urban planning.

I bet you any amount of money that Larry Nichols was absolutely dumbfounded that people would criticize his new tower. "But, look... BIG! Big building!" Complaints about its orientation to the street and the presence of a parking garage beside it probably sounded like someone bitching that their unicorn was sick. He's just going to scratch his head and say "Wha?" He's a great oil and gas guy, but he's behind the times as far as urban design goes.

On the smaller scale, I think a lot of OKC developers are really starting to "get it". They're doing a lot of creative re-use and Midtown is really shining right now. What we're probably going to see here is another 10 years or so where the big office towers draw the wrath of Spartan and JTF. But a lot of the smaller developments are really knocking it out of the park. This city is in transition, and a lot of the big money guys here still don't quite grasp what it is we're trying to do. But people are gradually coming around and beginning to understand it.

Here's the thing: The oil and gas towers aren't sustainable. It's always boom and bust. So I don't really know that it will last much longer or that it will come around again for another 20-30 years. We won't stop doing land assembly at any cost for it though.

New site plan shows how this property will be configured:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/swamsonsmarch.jpg

Here are a few of the Barrios space... They should be starting work soon.

In the last photo, where you see the multi-colored cider blocks is where you will access the large outdoor courtyard that will be a big part of this concept.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/barrios031816a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/barrios031816b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/barrios031816c.jpg

So much potential!

love the worn finish of the interior walls as they are, but i have to wonder if they're going to have to do a bunch of abatement for lead based paint. -M

The rest of the space in this project is similarly cool.

The little free-standing building to the east is going to make a very cool bar, and the entire bigger building is very interesting on the inside.

More detailed site plan:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/swansons041816.jpg

Work starting on Barrios space:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/barrios042616.jpg

Progress; 2nd photo is inside future location of Barrios:



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/swansons051716.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/barrios051716.jpg

They're bust'n tail now. Looking good.

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Here's another one I took this AM:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/swansons062716.jpg

They are putting up these really cool weathered metal (?) panels on Swanson's Tire / Barrios. Looks great in person.

Also, in the last photo you can see they have excavated the courtyard in the center of the project which will be for Barrios.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/swansons071116a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/swansons071116b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/swansons071116c.jpg

Ran by there today, looks really really cool in person.

WOW!
We were just getting the plans in December and it looks like they're rolling.

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http://newsok.com/former-swansons-tire-in-midtown-oklahoma-city-expected-to-house-restaurant-bar-bank-and-retail/article/5523124

This is turning out astonishingly well.

Noticed this signage in the old Swanson's area.

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Noticed this signage in the old Swanson's area.

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Linky no worky

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Still not working...

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I don't know what else to do except keep uploading.

(also the last two seem to both be working for me, but the first one is definitely broken)

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I don't know what else to do except keep uploading.

That will be a great fit. It sounds like the thing that Kaiser's/Grateful Bean should have been doing all along. I think they could still do it, but looks like they would be playing catch-up.

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I don't know what else to do except keep uploading.
This one worked for me. Great find!

Met one of the founders and learned today that Capitals Ice Cream in this space will be opening mid-May. They will eventually serve alcoholic shakes but maybe not at first as ABLE is taking forever with their licensing. They will basically be a coffee shop in the morning, a desert place in the afternoon/evening, and an adult deserts place in the late evening. Cool idea and a departure from, say, Roxy's. They're also using a different technique in the way they make their ice cream.

Met one of the founders and learned today that Capitals Ice Cream in this space will be opening mid-May. They will eventually serve alcoholic shakes but maybe not at first as ABLE is taking forever with their licensing. They will basically be a coffee shop in the morning, a desert place in the afternoon/evening, and an adult deserts place in the late evening. Cool idea and a departure from, say, Roxy's. They're also using a different technique in the way they make their ice cream.

Sounds exciting. My doctor will be less than pleased. :)

I had an alcohol shake in St. Louis a few years ago and I’ve since wondered why its not more common. ;)

Capitals Ice Cream scoops out a space in Midtown

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record May 16, 2018

OKLAHOMA CITY – Five friends are putting three of their favorite things into one 350-square-foot space.

Connor Cox, twin brothers Landon and Layne Ferguson, Ibsen Crespo and Eric Gilbert have nationwide plans for their Midtown dessert stop, Capitals Ice Cream. The first one will open Friday at 1006 N. Hudson Ave. in the Swanson’s Midtown development.

The shop will offer an ice cream style that hails from New Zealand, but the partners are calling it custom-swirled ice cream. People can pick two items to be processed with the vanilla or chocolate base.

There will also be locally roasted coffee and craft beer. All the coffee and beer selections will come from capital cities. The monthly special ice creams will highlight capital cities as well. The goal is to take the concept to other capital cities.

“What we’d love to do is to put one in all 50 states,” said Landon Ferguson, CEO.

This expansion could come in the form of franchising or being owned by the founding partners, Ferguson said.

The capitals name was strategic, with the potential of getting into other cities.

“We wanted to be something that was more than a single place,” said Layne Ferguson.

For now, the team is focusing on operating their first store. They’ve all pitched in money from their savings accounts and they received a loan from the Community Action Agency. There are investors involved as well.

The original idea was to start small as a food truck. They entered the retail concept idea that Price Edwards & Co. broker Allison Barta Bailey hosted last year.

With the contest being only for a few months of lease time in the building, that wouldn’t work for a food concept. There are too many hoops to jump through compared to a soft-goods retail store. But Bailey wanted them in the building, so she offered them a multi-year lease.

“It complements the other tenants in the building well,” she said. “We noticed there were a lot of people that wanted to stay and hang out at the building, but they wanted to change locations.”

The Swanson’s Midtown development is home to Hall’s Pizza Kitchen and Barrios, along with other retailers. It was designed by Gardner Architects.

Bailey said it will be a welcoming spot for families after their meals, and for friends who are hanging out late in the district.

Layne Ferguson said they tried to make the most use of the small space, with angled tables and an angled bar.

Bailey said they can easily fit the concept into another city. Landon Ferguson said they’d like to move into an up-and-coming area.

“I think ice cream is a timeless concept,” Bailey said. “Their ice cream is different, it’s light, and it can evolve with changing tastes.”

I'm a little surprised there isn't more discussion on here about Capitals Ice Cream.

They were so busy the day they opened that they ran out of ice cream! I return Sunday and the owners said that this last Friday they set a new record, and then Saturday they broke it again. So it seems they are off to a hot start.

The model is basically a high-end Blizzard. You pick vanilla or chocolate ice cream, two toppings (think sugar cereals, fruit, syrups, or candies) and then they have this weird sort of blender thing that converts it to soft serve. I had a special, "The Mesta Park" which had an entire slice of blackberry pie swirled into vanilla ice cream. Pretty tasty. Nice presentation too.

I think this place is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and will do gangbusters. If I have a misgiving it is the inexperience of the operators. It is basically a group of friends not far out of college who joined forces to start this place.

It's my fault because I interviewed them a long time ago and then got so swamped I never wrote the article.

Glad they are doing so well as they seem like good guys.