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  1. #1

    Paseo Paseo revitalized

    Twelve years ago, Craig Travis opened his gift shop Craig's Emporium, now at 3004 Paseo Drive, and to this day, he remembers being the only business in the area with an open door.

    "Most of the artists kept their doors locked,” he said.

    While his business didn't necessarily suffer from it — Travis said he's always had a wide customer base — Oklahoma City's historic arts district was a virtual ghost town, he said.

    Most artists were using the old storefronts as work spaces, and few kept regular hours, making it difficult for retailers to get much traffic.

    "It just wasn't conducive to people doing what Paseo means, which is to take a stroll,” Travis said.

    Today, things are different. In just over a year, the Paseo has welcomed a handful of new restaurants and retail businesses ranging from a yoga studio and hair salon to a fine dining restaurant and a full-service coffee shop that also serves pizzas and handcrafted ales. At the same time, a growing number of artists have chosen to maintain regular hours to help stimulate street traffic, making it clear that the Paseo is no longer reserved for just artists and art collectors.

    With new businesses that cater to everyone from the college-age crowd to Oklahoma City's upper-crust, Paseo tenants say the area has once again been restored to the intentions of its founder G.A. Nichols, who built the arts district in 1929 as Oklahoma City's first shopping district north of downtown.

    "It's more of an upscale crowd now,” said Tom Lee, president of the Paseo Art Association and photographer at Old Trinity Gallery, 3000 N Lee Ave. "Artists are innovators in that they usually discover the interesting places and are the first to move in. Whether it's Soho in New York or Santa Fe or the Paseo in Oklahoma City, artists tend to find the neat places. They're the first ones to move in, and then everybody else kind of catches up. Now, we're to the stage where everybody's catching up.”

    Kathy Jacobsen, owner of the ladies' boutique Kathy's on Paseo, 2909 Paseo Drive, moved into her shop in 2000 and noticed the same dead business environment as Travis, who also is her son. But in her eight years there, Jacobsen said the area has come a long way, and the result has been beneficial for both retailer and artist.

    "I was busy all along, but there weren't that many retail businesses when I came down here,” she said. "(My son) Craig was here, but people would just drive up and shop and leave. Now they'll walk around, and more of the artists are staying open, not all of them like they should, but there's more of them that are.”

    Sue Moss Sullivan, a fiber and mixed media artist, is one of four artists who since 1994 have lived in Studio Six, 3021 Paseo Drive, and kept regular hours, which has contributed to the area's communal aspect and benefited the retailers at the same time.

    "It's what we choose to do as our business and our studio and how we choose to work,” she said.

    Sullivan said there always have been businesses in the Paseo besides the artists, but the past few years have marked a period of growth that has also affected the old neighborhoods that surround the Spanish-inspired adobe villa.

    "The number of young people buying houses and redoing them in this area has changed,” she said.

    "It's really become a neighborhood again, I think, so that's huge for us.”

    Lee said back in the 1980s the Paseo had a high vacancy rate because of the oil bust, which caused many people to go bankrupt, but now occupancy is close to 100 percent.

    Today, the Paseo has about 60 artists in 17 galleries or studios and about a dozen businesses at any given time.

    Lee added that most of the people who are buying homes in the Paseo neighborhood are young professionals and single mothers.

    "I think that's very interesting,” he said. "You wouldn't necessarily think that, but we have a lot of nice bungalow-style homes around 1,000- to 1,500-square-foot range that have a lot of character that you just can't get in new construction. People are attracted to being centrally located and living in a neighborhood that has some charm, not just a nameless subdivision.”

    Lesley Rawlinson, one of the owners of the Paseo Grill, 2909 Paseo Drive, which opened just over a year ago, said the area's restaurants also have contributed to its changing demographics because they each attract different customers.

    "There's really a mix of neighborhoods around here from upper to lower end, and I think we really filled a niche a little bit on the upper end for Crown Heights, Heritage Hills, those kind of neighborhoods where we get a lot of regular clients,” she said.

    Rawlinson added that the addition of Sauced, 2912 Paseo Drive, a coffee shop, pizza cafe and late-night bar that opened earlier this year, has attracted a younger crowd — a group that previously found the area popular. "It's just kind of this rebirth, and people are rediscovering it,” she said.

    "I think for that (50- to 60-year-old) age group, it's been a pleasant surprise to come back to this area again. I definitely think the businesses coming in here have helped that.”

    Merchants and artists also credit the area's growth to the Paseo Art Association's involvement, which has added events like the First Friday and Saturday Gallery Walks to showcase studio owners' work and manage the annual Paseo Arts Festival. The festival, one of the state's largest, attracts close to 40,000 people over Memorial Day weekend. Next year will be the festival's 32nd year.

    But no matter how many businesses open, Lee and other Paseo tenants said the area is first and foremost an arts district, and that will never change.

    "I think the landlords realize the artists are the draw for the Paseo,” Lee said. "You don't want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.”

  2. #2

    Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    If the Paseo district spent even a fraction of the marketing money that the folks on Western spend, it'd be covered up in people.

    It could even be elevated to the status of a tourist attraction if marketed well -- and all I mean by that is put some brochures at those Oklahoma tourism centers and at area hotels.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    Well, we have to keep something to ourselves. Not everywhere needs to be a tourist trap. I kind of like the Paseo's off-the-map status...

  4. Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    I agree.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    I absolutely agree with BDP.

    There's something to be said about "Hidden Treasures." The Paseo is OKC's hidden gem, which I'm certain only makes it that much more intriguing to those tourists who are lucky enough to discover it.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    What was the name of the old pizza restaurant that was in the paseo district? Where you made your own pizza and they showed old B&W cartoons?

  7. #7

    Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    That was the Spaghetti Factory. I still have a polaroid of me and my high school friends that was our souvenir from the night we went there. Good times.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    You know I took a date there a few weeks ago for the Art Walk and the place just really needs some work. The whole area looks pretty beat down. I was disappointed that there were only 3-4 studios open for some reason. And other than us there were literally two other people there, excluding the people working.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Paseo revitalized

    The main art walk is the First weekend of the month. It is from 6-10 and often amazing. All the storefronts are open and you will find many people on the streets and in the stores. Possibly you were there on an off weekend. Try again. Oct. 4th is the next one.

  10. #10

    Default Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Panel approves proposal to renovate Paseo building
    BY STEVE LACKMEYER
    Published: March 26, 2010

    The former Spaghetti Factory in The Paseo — for years an empty big white box in the middle of a colorful Spanish-style retail strip — is set to boast a new look and lots of colors by late summer.

    MultimediaPhotoview all photos The property at 3010 N Paseo was bought by veteran Paseo developer John Belt in December for $230,000. Belt’s project, however, required approval from the Urban Design Commission, which is new to overseeing The Paseo.



    Read more: NewsOK

  11. #11

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    It should pass with flying colors. That is a terrific design. Kudos to all involved. The Paseo is truly one of OKC's hidden treasures. Anything that can help develop that brand is a-okay with me.

  12. #12

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Quote Originally Posted by midtowner View Post
    it should pass with flying colors. That is a terrific design. Kudos to all involved. The paseo is truly one of okc's hidden treasures. Anything that can help develop that brand is a-okay with me.
    A huge amen.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Word...

  14. #14

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    I love the Paseo area, I looked at a few properties in there before I moved to Austin and it is just an area that seems ready to blossom.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Finally! Something I can say "yeah" too.

  16. #16

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    I certainly hope Mr. Belt is planning more than just galleries for the space. Paseo is livening up but needs more businesses that are open for business regularly -- instead of once a month on Friday night like most of the galleries are.

    It truly is OKC's coolest area, but it needs a lot of help. Hopefully this is the first start.

  17. #17

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    night and day, in a good way

  18. Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Sooner, John Belt's intent is to seek out tenants that will add to Paseo's vibrancy. I think all of you will be very happy with his search. This is a labor of love for Belt, not business.

  19. Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Steve, could you remind me what else in the north side is now under the Urban Design Commission's oversight area? I remember they expanded that, right?

  20. #20

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Quote Originally Posted by Spartan View Post
    Steve, could you remind me what else in the north side is now under the Urban Design Commission's oversight area? I remember they expanded that, right?
    Asian District (Classen from 23rd to 30th), NW 23rd Street (Broadway to Villa), Plaza District (16th from Blackwelder to Indiana), Capitol Hill (SW 25th/Commerce from Broadway to Western), the Cottage District (but reviewed as Downtown Zoning), and now the Paseo (Tract 5 only - the commercial area).

  21. Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Very glad to see this. I was at Picasso's (former Galileo) Saturday night and it was hoppin'. Will be great to have something in that building finally.

  22. #22

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Demo is underway

  23. Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Moving quick!

  24. Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    Thanks cafebeauf. That's what I was wondering, was with the Paseo. It would be interesting if we could get make urban design approval required for all residential infills in the inner city, too--would that be worthwhile to pursue? The Paseo/J-Park already do a lot of historically-sensitive residential infill on their own it seems.

  25. #25

    Default Re: Panel approves proposal to remodel Paseo building

    If I remember correctly, didn't that building used to be a swim club and then a private club of sorts? Wasn't it Sussy's at one point too? It has some great history if anyone knows the details.

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