University North Park

[oudirtypop]

I like the look, modern. I think they are giving it a good shot. The Branson Landing is really nice and it had Belk. I don't know anything bout it. Is it high-end?

my wife said she went in one in mckinney and it was pretty nice, maybe a couple notches up from kohls, but the same overall idea as jc penny, or dillards. She thought she remembered it had kinda dim lighting to make it feel more home-like. She said she enjoyed just didnt remember too much else about it.

[Pete]

Belk's are okay but nothing to get excited about.

There are already two in OK: Owasso & Stillwater. So, that should tell you something.

[traxx]

This project will eventually work its way up to Tecumseh,

We should probably clarify, for those unfamiliar with the area, that we mean Tecumseh Road and not the town of Tecumseh. I know that to those of us who know the area that seems like a no-brainer but some may not know that there's such a road in that area.

[jbrown84]

Yeah that did confuse me for minute. I went to college in Shawnee so I had Tecumseh the town in my head.

[Spartan]

It's a four lane road .....

Although not out by where I live, lol.

[roontburger2006]

Hey..I'm new..but this site/forum seems really cool. I'm new to living in the OKC area but I've visited here all my life. I heard that the huge Norman project was to be one of the nations 5 biggest malls. I'm pretty disappointed to hear that it might be just a strip mall..Although it is still huge, so we can pretty much hope for anything. I know this is really random..but does anyone know if they are planning for an Urban Outfitters to come to the OKC area? I attend Hillsdale FWB college in Moore and its crazy that the closest Urban Outfitters is in Dallas!

[Spartan]

There will be an Urban Outfitters in Broken Arrow, one of Tulsa's suburbs, but nothing for OKC yet.

Umm... why do you go to Free Will Baptist College?

[traxx]

Umm... why do you go to Free Will Baptist College?

Sounds a little rude Spartan. Maybe you didn't mean it that way, but it comes across as such. I think we might be a little more welcoming to new posters.

To answer, roontburger, we're all a bit disappointed because we'd heard the same thing. We'd heard that it was going to be the second largest in the country and be this great new thing for the area. From what we've found out since, it seems that it'll be just another strip mall. There's still time for it to be corrected though. We can only hope.

[BG918]

Am I the only one glad this isn't going to be as big as planned? I saw it as something that would really change the dynamic of Norman and continue turning into just another suburban community. How many good college towns have huge retail centers like this anyway? College town retail should be centered by the COLLEGE. I want to see more retail and restaurants in central Norman not out by the interstate. It seems as though this will be a retail center with mainly national chains but nothing that upscale or even new to the Metro. It will be auto-oriented with possibly more of a mixed-use area added in the future with residential and offices further up 24th. This will allow central Norman to be full of the more unique and local retail/restaurants and I believe anything really upscale would rather be near the University in Campus Corner or downtown. Some chains like Chipotle, Banana Republic, Urban Outfitters, etc. would be welcome additions to the mostly local scene in central Norman but Belk, Target, TJ Maxx, Dress Barn, etc. belong in this development by the highway...

[oudirtypop]

BG, its still going to be as big.

I dont know where you grew up, but every town, well, growing town, has a large retail development. If you look at this optimistically, you would realize that the growth on the highway, will result in more sustainable growth around campus and central norman.

You must be confused, norman is a suburb, not a college town. If you take OU out of norman, it would still function. True, it wouldnt be nearly as good, and it would kinda suck for a while, but Norman could rebound. It is such a vibrant city outside of the college. If you took OSU out of stillwater, it would suck even more. But, its still not really a college town. Now, you take SWOSU out of weatherford, and that town is a ghost town. If you look at norman, at over 100k people, i think its quite more than a college town, and projects like this just prove that to be true.

As i have said before in this thread, you have to get the big names, to get the unheard of or small names. How well do you think a jimmy johns is going to do when it opens in yukon? Probably not as good as a subway. Now, what if you put a subway there first, then a block away you throw in a jimmy johns. The traffic is there, so now you can steal the patrons for the new store.

As i have said, have a little patience. We can all gripe and complain when it turns out to be a dud, until then, lets be optimistic!

[BG918]

Norman is very much a college town in parts and very suburban in other parts. I personally would rather see the investment go into the urban areas around the campus but realize highway development is also lucrative. I just think if there is going to be a "town center" shopping area it should be mixed-use and not be full of parking lots and cheap stores. But if it takes a development like this for the cheap suburban chains to locate in Norman I hope the upscale businesses continue to stay around campus or migrate that way.

[BFizzy]

It's pretty funny that UNP won't even be complete until at least 2010 and several people have already written it off as a strip mall failure. It's going to be two miles long, yet some act like they were expecting the whole thing to be a town center.

The first tenants may not be glamourous, but that doesn't mean it is just a strip mall. It will have a town center, a park, lots of water features, lots of landscaping, hotels, a convention center, restaurants, and it is all going to be contained within one development with the same unified architecture utilizing brick, not EIFS. Every town center that I have been too has had a sea of parking around them and strip malls nearby. So, please... just give it some time.

[oudirtypop]

Totally Agree BFizzy....besides, how are we supposed to shop if we dont have anywhere to park?

Has anyone else noticed how many trees are in Targets parking lot. Give it a few years, and that will look quite nice.

[jbrown84]

There is a towncenter in the Houston suburb of Sugarland that has a parking garage. I'm talking 4 or 5 levels.

[roontburger2006]

Hey again guys...yea..I agree..its better to be positive about it. Any way you look at it, its gonna be a huge project and it will probably add a lot to Norman! I mean would you rather have nothing at all? The only thing that for me personally might have been a little letdown was thinking that it was going to be a "Mall of America" type thing, but in Oklahoma. Whatever it is, I'm sure it will still be cool though!

Oh..and about asking why I go to Hillsdale...I just really like it here and its a good atmosphere and I have lots of good caring friends. Its been a great experience so far. I'm from Stratford..so being in the OKC AREA is much more entertaining than living in a town with a graduating class of 34 people..and we always still had things to do, and no I'm not a redneck, far from it actually. But it is kind of amazing how much more people gripe about little things in the city(such as not having a starbucks on a certain street when the closest one MAY be 10 minutes at the max) but that's kind of off subject, sorry. Oh, and I wasn't going to ECU (in Ada) to party with all the small town kids who just care about being cool. Not that everybody there is like that, I have some good friends there...but honestly I just wanted to get out of the small town where everyone tried to act cool and impress each other because we're in such a small group type thing. There are so many more opportunities in the city and more people. Not to say there's not drama everywhere you go..but I just needed a new atmosphere for awhile.


About Urban Outfitters in Broken Arrow..is that in the Woodland Hills Mall? Or is Woodland Hills considered in Tulsa? How long until it opens? Thanks guys..

[jbrown84]

roontburger, I'm glad you like Hillsdale and like OKC, and welcome to OKCTalk.

Woodland Hills would be Tulsa, so the Urban Outfitters must be somewhere else, probably in the big development where Bass Pro went in. I looked on their website however and saw nothing of opening soon in Broken Arrow, so I don't know.

There are a lot of us here that would really like to see one in OKC. I noticed a lot of their stores are in college towns. Their only Kansas location is in Lawrence, so maybe Norman will be first to get an Urban Outfitters.

[roontburger2006]

Thanks for the welcome! And yea...that seems perfect to have on in Norman..I'm sure it would do well with a lot of the trendy OU kids..haha..I've seen quite a few of them at Lifestream. (that's that big college thing that Journey Church does on Thursdays..I'm not advertising just explaining what it was in case anybody didn't know..lol)

[BFizzy]

On Cox Channel 20 in Norman they are airing a local government access show of the Norman City Council discussing the UNP. A representative just said that they have had very positive feedback from upscale tenants for the Lifestyle Center. Some of the tenants that he said they received positive feedback from were Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, Macy's, ZGallerie, PF Changs, Freebird's World Burrito, and several others that I have already forgotten. Obviously, there is a huge difference between "positive feedback" and firm commitments, but at least it proves that they are trying to land the upscale tenants that we are expecting.

[Easy180]

Now that would be more like it bfizzy...Let's hope they land a few of those

[BFizzy]

I found the exact quote in the Norman Transcript:

"We have to have consumer traffic to support the lifestyle center. The lifestyle center is the critical piece," he said.

Nelson said some of the potential clients that have been contacted that have responded in a positive way include Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Dick's Sporting Goods, Macy's, Belk's, Urban Outfitters, J. Crew, Guess, Banana Republic, Puma, Lucky Brand, Coldwater Creek, Restoration Hardware, Williams-Sonoma, Apple, Dell, Pottery Barn, Discovery Channel, PF Chang's, California Kitchen, Johnny Rocket's and Ted's Montana Grill.
"And there are many other not only anchor stores, specialty stores and retailers we are working on," Nelson said. "You can tell the higher-end retailers that we're after. Obviously we are very early in the process. But the fact that these type of tenants are interested in Norman is a very positive thing."

Link: The Norman Transcript - Hotel/conference project approved

[Easy180]

Checked out Ted's Montana website and it looks like it would be a welcome addition looking at their menu...A PF Chang's closer than Memorial would also be very nice for us down south

Was kinda hoping for a dang Dave & Buster's on that list

[jbrown84]

I didn't even know Puma and Lucky had their own stores. I wish we had a Levi's Store in the metro.

[TStheThird]

Puma stores are world wide baby. For real...

[dismayed]

Okay, so far the only thing under construction is the out-lieing strip mall, so why are so many of you assuming that all we are getting is a strip mall? You're forgetting about the other gazillion acres that hasn't even been developed yet.

Freebirds World Burrito. Interesting. I'm not in the food business but I have tossed around the idea of starting a few things on the side and I actually contacted them a few years ago about a potential franchise and at that time they said they were not interested in starting up operations outside of the state of Texas. I believe it had to do with their whole production/supply model and the ramifications of extending it a few hundred miles north.

Regarding Campus Corner and putting upscale stuff in there... that's crazy. As much as the OU college kids may want to pretend they are living in Dallas and going to SMU, the fact is that they don't spend at upscale restaurants anywhere near as much as the local suburban types on the west side do. Heck, even fast casual places in Campus are struggling meanwhile pretty much every chain imaginable is flourishing on the west side. Add to that the seasonability of Campus and it's almost a corporate death sentence to anyone who opens up shop over there. Besides, until recently the most upscale place in Campus was a bar that had piles of jockstraps decorating the glass backing of the main bar area. That's real classy and upscale.

Look at the demographics and where the money is being spent, and where the easy highway access is, and it is clear that UNP is the correct placement for the things that are to come.

[BG918]

I completely disagree with upscale retail/restaurants not working in Campus Corner or downtown. Even though there is a lot of money on the westside the neighborhoods around campus, especially the ones just to the west and southwest, have some very wealthy residents mixed in with middle income and students. Infill in these neigborhoods is becoming more common with several houses being torn down and replaced with new ones or existing homes refurbished. There is a growing number of people who would rather live in the tree-lined neighborhoods near campus that are central to all of Norman rather than the westside, and that will continue. Also upscale shoppers would be much more likely to stroll a revitalized Main Street for their shopping and dining or walk around Campus Corner than they would driving to some strip mall.

Campus Corner is seasonal because there isn't enough retail and dining options right now. That is slowly changing with all of the recent developments, but for the Corner to really become a destination it needs new buildings such as north of White on Asp and along University Blvd. from Boyd to Apache. Add to that a better concentration of stores and restaurants along Main Street east of Flood, especially now that Hobby Lobby and Mardel are moving to 24th and Main that opens up that "gateway" to downtown for redevelopment.