Park Avenue Retail Study

[Urbanized]

Let's ask Tulsa how theirs worked out.

[Just the facts]

Well they seem to be working all over Europe. The reason they didn't work in the 80s is because downtowns didn't have a permant population - now they do.

[Spartan]

You can't get away from the overriding truth that we need mixed modes to create synergy. A little car, a little bike, a little transit, and people walking, running, sitting, and so on. All of those aspects are equally important.

The problem w today's reality is that in order to create foot traffic you need to incorporate some conveyance through which lots of people arrive. A streetcar mall would work - Calgary, Denver, Buffalo, and Portland have had success w this. Houston and Dallas have LRT that slices through and activates a streetscape. A pedestrian mall would be a joke.

There's a really bad one in Cuyahoga Falls, OH that we're trying to fix but may just walk away from altogether just due to other better opportunities.

[Just the facts]

Streetcar mall? Either couplets are going to work or they aren't. The whole idea of the couplet is that it would spur pedestrian activity between the two directions of track. If we are saying that it won't work then lets scrap that idea. As for auto traffic, it is surrounded by 2-way streets. I am not talking about a downtown mall - malls in general are dying. I'm talking about a pedestrian promenade 2 blocks long with massive parking garages at both ends (Santa Fe and the public garage next to Oklahoma Tower). Heck, they could even get the Ferris Wheel from Humphries and put it in there. Convert the FNC additions to residential with a hotel in the tower, add outdoor cafes and sidewalk retail and you could really have something.

The City isn't spending 80 large just to get a P180 variation.

[Rover]

They MIGHT work in fully developed pedestrian areas, but to create one artificially hasn't worked. Comparing virtually any European City with the possibility of creating one on Park Ave OKC is totally apples to coconuts.

[Geographer]

See Pacific Ave in Dallas...Pedestrian/Light Rail corridor.

[Pete]

They have selected the company to perform this study:

home

They will be working with this architecture firm out of St. Louis, who will be taking a look at the building stock on Park Ave.:

Kiku Obata & Company

[Pete]

The study has been released.

I posted a bunch of images and info. in the article at the top of the page.

Pretty impressed with the very specific and actionable recommendations they made and it seems like many of their ideas could be implemented in a relatively short period of time.

[Plutonic Panda]

I really like that.

[Plutonic Panda]

Road to opportunity: Study suggests ways to improve Park Avenue retail | The Journal Record

[ljbab728]

An update by Steve on the Park Avenue area.

http://m.newsok.com/article/5545021

[shawnw]

IMG_20180402_084840265.jpg

I thought there was a thread for 200 Park for Her, but couldn't find it. Nevertheless, it's closed somewhat recently. Just art in the windows now.

[Pete]

Ugh.

That is a highly visible corner.

[Urbanized]

Hate to lose retail, especially retail that looks great from the street. That said this particular place always seemed to be a bit of a reach for me demographically, especially after hearing feedback from women who work downtown and who are avid shoppers. Retail in general but especially independent retail simply has to be market driven rather than based on trying to force a retail type on a location where it doesn't have much of a constituency. Everything I've heard about this place is that it was excellent and lovely, yet missed the existing market.

Regarding the corner, the moment the streetcar begins running it becomes infinitely more marketable, and when FNC opens, look out. I'd expect something good on that corner at some point.

[DoctorTaco]

I had heard that 200 Park for Her was essentially a hobby for a wealthy retiree, and never really made any money to speak of. Perhaps the owner just decided to more completely retire.

[Pete]

I had heard that 200 Park for Her was essentially a hobby for a wealthy retiree, and never really made any money to speak of. Perhaps the owner just decided to more completely retire.

The sign says they are moving to NW 142nd and May.

[Urbanized]

The sign says they are moving to NW 142nd and May.

If so, they will probably do very well. Much closer to the target demo of that store. I never got the location. Store was incredibly nice to look at though. That part is definitely a loss.

[Rover]

Specialty stores have a very hard time in this city anyway, especially higher priced ones. And, we don't have the population downtown, nor the shopping inertia to get a H&M, Zara, or Uniqlo downtown (and no real space for something like these). These are stores that would appeal to the general working population downtown. Very thin market for the very high end.

[Pete]

Journal Record reporting Stella Nova is planning a new location on the SW corner of Robinson & Park in space last occupied by the clothing store.

[warreng88]

Stella Nova coming to Park and Robinson

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record June 1, 2018

OKLAHOMA CITY – One of the most prominent corners in downtown will have a new tenant by fall.

Irish Realty founder John Kennedy is bringing his coffee shop concept, Stella Nova, to the Robinson Renaissance building. The shop will fill the entire 3,000 square feet at the southwest corner of Park and Robinson avenues.

Construction will start in two weeks. Kennedy said he expects to open by September. Stella Nova will have an entrance from each street.

Newmark Grubb Levy Strange Beffort retail broker Vicki Knotts handles the leasing at the Robinson Renaissance building, which is owned by the state Commissioners of the Land Office.

The space was last occupied by 200 Park for Her. Knotts said she started getting calls about the space before the clothing store closed. Banks were interested in the site, but she sought a retailer. That became a challenge as well because the building has a food court in its basement, so a potential restaurant couldn’t compete with those tenants.

“(The space) could have been anything,” she said. “(The owner and I) had to vet them very well when they came in the door.”

Kennedy said he didn’t initially have plans to bring Stella Nova downtown. This will be the third location. The other stores are at 4716 N. Western Ave. and 1415 W. Main St. in Norman.

When the corner site became available, Kennedy said he had to consider it. He worked with Irish Realty’s Kelli Lay and Lacy Young on the concept as well.

“I think Park and Robinson is still the epicenter of downtown,” he said. “I love that location.”

Kennedy has a long history with the building. His grandfather once had a doctor’s office on the 12th floor. Irish Realty’s first office was on the sixth floor. His mother worked at the Russell Stover Candy Co. store that was once in the exact space where his coffee shop will open.

“This is good luck,” he said.

Stella Nova offers specialty blended, locally roasted coffee, and fresh baked goods. Local artists have their work on display on the wall. An art piece from the Chickasaw Nation’s Exhibit C art museum hangs in each location as well.

Kennedy said he likes the other coffee shops in downtown, so he thinks this will complement the scene. Stella Nova will be isolated from the other central business district shops. Clarity is at Main Street and Hudson Avenue, and Coffee Slingers in on Broadway Avenue in Automobile Alley.

“The convenience of our location will be helpful,” he said. “It’s better for people to have choices. When I go out to eat, I don’t eat the same restaurant every time. I don’t see us as competitors. I think we’re enlarging the coffee market in Oklahoma City.”

Knotts said Kennedy was the right tenant because he has an established concept, which is doing well at his other locations. The Park and Robinson location could be the start of a nationwide concept, she said. He has good financial support as well.

“We’re excited to have him,” she said.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^
Kennedy also once owned First National Center across the street - which he donated to Feed The Children - and still owns Main Street Parking Garage (which was originally the attached parking for FNC but parted off during the FTC donation.

[Pete]

^

And dumping that building as a tax write-off and separating it from the parking is pretty much responsible for that building going into a deep freeze for decades.


Kennedy also has a strange relationship with Chesapeake as some sort of advising broker where none of their properties are ever listed on the open market and tend to be sold to only select people.