OAK (formerly Penn Central)

[Pete]

Here's an update...

Lively Hotel will be first to open around Sept. 19th; maybe a little earlier. NW 50th will reopen before the hotel.

Then in early October, Capital Grille, Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar and store, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and Arhaus will all open.

First tenants will start to move into the Residences at OAK in mid-October; that will be the northwestern section. The units bordering the park will open late this year; the remainder along 50th and facing west will open early 2025.

Mesero hopes to open before the end of the year.

RH Gallery is slated for the middle of 2025.

It turns out they are going to keep the western third of the old Registry building. They had already demolished the eastern section and will soon do the same with the middle portion. The remainder will be remodeled for restaurant/retail/office.

The office building is on hold until they can find quality tenants in the very soft OKC office market.

They are well along in negotiations with several new-to-market restaurants and retailers, including a couple of upscale clothing chains. The priority is getting open before the holidays, then we should see more deals announced as they push to fill out in 2025.

Nothing is imminent on the Red Carpet site as they will first ensure OAK is full and thriving.

[Jeepnokc]

Excited about Mesero. Never eaten there before but their menu looks fantastic. Ahi nachos are first up. https://www.mesero.net/menu

[Timshel]

Bummer but makes sense about the offices, which will be helpful in making it a thriving, busy place to be at all hours. But have to make the numbers work, which is definitely tough in this market.

[warreng88]

Gotta love the Social Media comments on Pete's post... But, but, but parking...

[Roger S]

Gotta love the Social Media comments on Pete's post... But, but, but parking...

Yep... The person that finally manages to design a development where every parking space is an up front parking space will be worshipped more than God in Oklahoma.

[Pete]

I know the names of several restaurants and retailers they are working with, and they will all be new to Oklahoma and pretty impressive.

I imagine once they get open and past the holidays the dominos will really start to fall.

As with anything of this scale, it's just so much more impressive in person.

[Pete]

Today, there was tons of activity at the intersection of 50th & Penn.

It looks like they are getting close to reopening 50th, which they must do before the hotel opens on 9/19 (possibly earlier) for safety reasons.

[gjl]

We went to the Belle Isle Brewery last night for dinner and you can't make a left turn on to Penn out of the 50 Penn Place at the light because of the construction and traffic cones at the new 50th intersection. BTW the Belle Isle Brewery is one of the best under the radar restaurants in our rotation. Great food, selection, and really reasonable prices compared to other sit down restaurants. And it's never crowded when we go.

[Pete]

We went to the Belle Isle Brewery last night for dinner and you can't make a left turn on to Penn out of the 50 Penn Place at the light because of the construction and traffic cones at the new 50th intersection. BTW the Belle Isle Brewery is one of the best under the radar restaurants in our rotation. Great food, selection, and really reasonable prices compared to other sit down restaurants. And it's never crowded when we go.

Do they still allow smoking?

That is a total deal-breaker for me.

[gjl]

I've never seen anyone smoking in the restaurant ever. I'm talking about the downstairs restaurant. Not the bar upstairs. The bar has been pretty much closed since covid. I think it is only open on weekends for special events.

[Martin]

Do they still allow smoking?

That is a total deal-breaker for me.

i haven't been there in several years... from what i remember, the main restaurant is smoke-free but there is an upstairs bar area where you can smoke.

[gjl]

In the upstairs bar area when it was open you could order food from the downstairs restaurant and they would bring it up and there was a small area of the bar that the allowed smoking but not the whole room. There were stairs in the bar that would take you right into the restaurant. The downstairs restaurant has a small bar area with a few tables right where you walk in but I've never seen anyone smoking in that area either.

[warreng88]

The bar upstairs at Belle Isle is now run by a separate entity.

Back in late 2023, Belle Isle let Beam live move in and run the upstairs bar and live music venue. You can still get food from Belle Isle, but it is a separate entity. Beam allows smoking in their area, but Belle Isle (Downstairs) does not.

Belle Isle is one of the restaurants in the metro that I am worried about closing. To GJL's point, I have been there for lunch and dinner and rarely ever see it busy any more.

[gjl]

If they do close I'm going to miss it. I think they have the best bacon cheese burger of anyplace I get them at. It's the honey pepper bacon they use. All their burger meat comes from OKC Meats unless you get the angus burger. I've never had a bad meal there and I love their fries. Never seen fries like that anywhere else. They have such a variety. Burgers, sandwiches, typical entrees. salads, pasta, pizza, mexican and a daily lunch and dinner special that's something not on their regular menu. And it's all good. They have their own beers too along with domestics and a full service bar for mixed drinks.

[warreng88]

If they do close I'm going to miss it. I think they have the best bacon cheese burger of anyplace I get them at. It's the honey pepper bacon they use. All their burger meat comes from OKC Meats unless you get the angus burger. I've never had a bad meal there and I love their fries. Never seen fries like that anywhere else. They have such a variety. Burgers, sandwiches, typical entrees. salads, pasta, pizza, mexican and a daily lunch and dinner special that's something not on their regular menu. And it's all good. They have their own beers too along with domestics and a full service bar for mixed drinks.

I went to a ULI event there a few months ago and the bartender said they stopped brewing their own beer but still have the tanks. I am not sure if that's true or not, but I am not sure why they would say it if not.

[warreng88]

Oh and worked there in college and can confirm how addictive the honey pepper bacon is. Oh and the rolls and honey butter... When you worked a double, that was your lunch and it wasn't bad...

[gjl]

It was either 2008 or 2013 (fuzzy memory) my PCHS Class of 73 had a class reunion in the upstairs bar. I had never heard of the place before then. When I looked to see where it was I saw they had a restaurant there too. So we got there about an hour before the reunion was to start to eat dinner first. We were so pleasantly surprised with the food and the place we've been regular customers ever since.

[Bowser214]

Wasn’t there a cosmetic store announced for this development?

[Pete]

Wasn’t there a cosmetic store announced for this development?

Blue Mercury just north of Williams Sonoma is still moving forward.

[jompster]

Belle Isle is one of the restaurants in the metro that I am worried about closing. To GJL's point, I have been there for lunch and dinner and rarely ever see it busy any more.

My partner and I went there just a couple months ago on a Friday night and there were only 2 tables from which to pick. It was packed, but I've also been and only saw a couple tables occupied. It's hit or miss. I would agree with everyone that the food is solidly delicious and the prices are great. It's on our regular rotation - especially when we want a great pizza.

[Pete]

[bison34]

Great pics, Pete!

I know the hotel is supposed to open within a month, but I wonder how the central area will look by then. Hopefully they are able to get a ton done by then!

[Pete]

The Park should be open when the hotel opens on 9/19.

The small building in the southern section will still be under construction.

[Plutonic Panda]

Pete, are they still planning the live music thing?

[caaokc]

What is the small pavilion supposed to be?