Former Warehouse Market

[baralheia]

The Warehouse Market grocery store at 29 SE 59th St (corner of SE 59th and Santa Fe) in South OKC closed recently and changed hands; the 50,000 sq. ft. store, built in 1968, sold to Morelos Properties, LLC for $800,000 in October of 2014. Morelos Properties seems to have been formed specifically for this purchase, as I can find practically nothing out there about this company.



So far, I can not find any permits for any modifications to the building, but the main facade of the building has been painted green. It does appear there are workers doing something inside the building; the shelves have all been disassembled and only the refrigerator and freezer cases remain standing. Signage still remains in place months after the store shut down, but it is unknown if another grocery store or other retail venture is planning to reopen this location.

This spot is 1/2mi east of the Buy For Less Supermercado at 415 SW 59th, and one mile north of the Walmart Supercenter at 100 E. I-240 Service Rd, so competition is close; this may preclude another grocery store from building or renovating the existing building here. That said, personally, I'd love to see another Crest store open up at this location... I think they could do fairly well against Walmart. Does anyone have any insight on what might actually be happening to this property?

[Roger S]

This is only a wild guess but Morelos Properties LLC could be associated with the Supermercados Morelo's that have been popping up around OKC the last couple of years.

[Martin]

^
that's what i was thinking... that it'd be a morelo's similar to the one near 5th & telephone in moore. buy 4 less (formerly el mariachi) operates a mercado at 59th & walker... that seems awfully close for a direct competitor. however, i'll say that personally i like the meat at morelo's a little better than buy 4 less. -M

[baralheia]

I tried to make an edit to the original post right after I started this thread, but it looks like it didn't go through... I did a little more research and discovered that the address for Morelos Properties, LLC is the same as Supermercados Morelos, LLC. I think this makes it fairly likely that this location will become a Supermercados Morelos, unless they decide to flip the property.

I just hope whoever sets up shop here takes better care of the building than Warehouse Market did. That building looked so run down both inside and out.

[Roger S]

.... i'll say that personally i like the meat at morelo's a little better than buy 4 less. -M

Agreed with the exception that I like the meat at Morelo's A LOT better than Buy 4 Less.

[Martin]

agreed about the remodel... i think that the last time i set foot in warehouse supermarket was about 10 years ago and the place didn't look as if it had been touched for ages. morelo's did a good job building out their location in moore, so assuming the goal is to open another location, i'd imagine that they'd do something similar here. -M

[Pete]

This is only a wild guess but Morelos Properties LLC could be associated with the Supermercados Morelo's that have been popping up around OKC the last couple of years.

Yes, the LLC that bought the subject property also operates Supermercados Morelos.

They are based out of Tulsa.

[Pete]

I tried to make an edit to the original post right after I started this thread, but it looks like it didn't go through... I did a little more research and discovered that the address for Morelos Properties, LLC is the same as Supermercados Morelos, LLC. I think this makes it fairly likely that this location will become a Supermercados Morelos, unless they decide to flip the property.

I just hope whoever sets up shop here takes better care of the building than Warehouse Market did. That building looked so run down both inside and out.

I need to delegate some of my work to you... You have been doing a great job sniffing these things out.

Please keep it up!

[Roger S]

Morelo's has at least two locations in OKC now that I know of.... They are also across from the Crest at 23rd and Meridian.

[baralheia]

I need to delegate some of my work to you... You have been doing a great job sniffing these things out.

Please keep it up!

Ha! Thanks! In all honesty, these have stemmed from personal curiosity since I live nearby, but I'm glad to be able to contribute. There are a few other small projects I have seen happening down here that I've considered posting, but I'm not sure which, if any, are important enough to post... Most aren't as awesome as everything happening in the greater downtown area.

Morelo's has at least two locations in OKC now that I know of.... They are also across from the Crest at 23rd and Meridian.

According to their website, Morelo's has three OKC Metro Area locations:

• 4704 NW 23rd St, on the south side of 23rd across from the Windsor Hills shopping center
• 621 N Moore Ave, in the New City shopping center
• 4475 NW 50th St, in the Springdale shopping center

This new location on SE 59th St would be their fourth Metro-area store.

[OKCRT]

I hear they make killer tacos. I have never been in one of their stores but I have has several people ask me if I have tried their tacos. I have been told they are hard to beat.

[Roger S]

I hear they make killer tacos. I have never been in one of their stores but I have has several people ask me if I have tried their tacos. I have been told they are hard to beat.

The tacos are pretty good.... One of the few places I know that offer chicharonnes as a meat and they offer them in either red or green sauce.

[the michigander]

The warehouse market on the southside closed in October. Now Isee them doing work inside aanybody knows what's going in there. Possibly a crest.

[Pete]

The warehouse market on the southside closed in October. Now Isee them doing work inside aanybody knows what's going in there. Possibly a crest.

I merged your thread with another we already had on this property and if you read up you'll see our best guess as to what is happening.

[baralheia]

Interior work of some sort seems to be continuing on this site... No exterior changes have been made to the building since my last post - all of the Warehouse Market signs are still up - but I have seen vehicles in the parking lot on my way to work that aren't there on my way home - including a couple of box trucks marked for Serapio's Tortilla Factory backed up in the loading docks. I can find no permits or planning applications for this property, however, so I'm not sure what exactly is going on here. They could still be dismantling the existing shelves and cold cases to move them out for remodeling, but that's just a guess. I'll try and stop by on my way home and take a peek around, see if there's anything new/interesting to report here.

[baralheia]

Work inside this building has been continuing on and off since my last post in March. A $10k building permit to completely gut the interior (demo to shell) was finally issued for this property on 26 August 2015, confirming that this location is intended to become a Supermercados Morelos. The demo to shell work is being done by R2KC Architectural out of Broken Arrow, according to the plans filed for this permit. They seem to be moving very slowly on this project, however.

[baralheia]

$1.5 Million building (remodel) permit application submitted to the City on Wednesday the 20th. The same architectural firm as before is listed as the applicant. Plans have not yet gone live on the City's website, however; as soon as they do I'll post up more information. Looks like things are finally about to kick into high gear with this project!

[Pete]

Thanks for the reminder... I have the plans.

Mostly a new Supermercados Morelos but some lease space as well (in the lower left of the site plan below).

$1.5 million is a ton of money -- great to see the investment.

[baralheia]

Holy cow, that is some HUGE investment in a building that has SORELY needed it for a long time - and right around the corner from my place, to boot. I am very, very excited about this!

So, there's a decent sized supermarket, four for-lease spaces, and a kitchen area for the deli... is the space at the upper left corner of the building going to be receiving/warehouse space for the supermarket?

Also, the wiki page/first post/whatever it's called should probably be updated with the current information for this project, but I don't appear to have an Edit tab available, just a "Source" tab that never loads. Pete or Martin, could you guys double check and see if I have edit permissions to this page, please?

[Pete]

So, there's a decent sized supermarket, four for-lease spaces, and a kitchen area for the deli... is the space at the upper left corner of the building going to be receiving/warehouse space for the supermarket?

Yes, that's all correct.

[baralheia]

Looks like they've hit a minor snag with the building permit - zoning apparently doesn't allow for that warehouse space shown in the north-west corner of the building. Other than that, however, it looks like they'll probably get their permit fairly quickly after revisions are submitted.

Here's what the building looks like right now. Can't wait to watch it transform!

[baralheia]

Interior construction has been progressing with few to no outwardly visible changes to the building - until this morning. The original glass entryway is down and a cinder block wall is in it's place. I expect the exterior renovations will begin shortly.

[baralheia]

Work is progressing; exterior renovations are in full swing. Structural steel is being erected for the new facade.

[baralheia]

Exterior facade is framed and walled up, and storefront windows are now installed. It's really quite amazing how much better this is looking already!

[Martin]

looking good... really glad to see this part of town getting some investment.