Tulsa Development Summary

[dankrutka]

Where is the American Residential project in Blue Dome going? What cross streets?

[ZYX2]

Where is the American Residential project in Blue Dome going? What cross streets?

2nd and Elgin, but very little is known on how far along the project is.

[dankrutka]

2nd and Elgin, but very little is known on how far along the project is.

Wow. That would be absolutely huge and tie the whole area together. It's comparable to me to the parking lot in front of the UHaul building in Bricktown being developed... It would extend and vitalize so much of Bricktown in my opinion.

[ZYX2]

Wow. That would be absolutely huge and tie the whole area together. It's comparable to me to the parking lot in front of the UHaul building in Bricktown being developed... It would extend and vitalize so much of Bricktown in my opinion.

Yes, it definitely would. Development is now quickly pushing east so this would fill in the huge "hole" in the middle and help the neighborhood/district feel more complete.

[Swake]

American Residential in Brady. American has announced this project will start mid this year, they haven’t named it or released any renderings but that’s kind how they work. They have never release more renderings of Hartford Commons since they took it over and Hartford Commons probably won’t be the final name there either and construction is under way there. The name and renderings are from when Eliot Nelson was the developer. American did the same thing with Metro At Brady, renderings didn’t really come out until after construction started and the name wasn’t final until it was almost time to occupy. In public it was The Tribune II building for years. American along with Brickhugger are the largest developers downtown and what they say they will build, they do. American actually just sold all their non-downtown developments for $90 million to raise money for new downtown projects.

The Hartford Commons project that is under construction now has a real name, The Edge at East Village.

In addition American Residential has announced the specific of their Greenwood District project going in across the street from Oneok Field that is supposed to start construction this summer. It's called The View and will have 200 residential units and 13,000 square feet of retail space. The project will also have a five story parking garage to serve residents and customers of the area.

It's far from finally approved, but the bond for The Oklahoma Pop Museum passed out of committee this week. OK Pop would be located two blocks down Archer St from The View.

[TU 'cane]

Looks like the pop museum didn't pass:

Indian center proposal passes, popular culture museum plan fails | News OK

I'm sure deep down many of us aren't surprised.

[Snowman]

Looks like the pop museum didn't pass:

Indian center proposal passes, popular culture museum plan fails | News OK

I'm sure deep down many of us aren't surprised.

This looks interesting, there seems to be someone going to switch their vote, which would be enough to pass it apparently.

Accidental "No" Vote Causes Pop Culture Museum Bond To Fail - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

[Swake]

This looks interesting, there seems to be someone going to switch their vote, which would be enough to pass it apparently.

Accidental "No" Vote Causes Pop Culture Museum Bond To Fail - KTUL.com - Tulsa, Oklahoma - News, Weather & Sports

Pop museum was passed in the Senate today 28-18.

[BG918]

Pop museum was passed in the Senate today 28-18.

Cool another big surface lot will bite the dust in the Brady District.

[shavethewhales]

Cool another big surface lot will bite the dust in the Brady District.

I feel guilty about it, but that that's really the only reason I'm excited to see the project move forward. It's a terrible idea for our government to be throwing money at this while defunding things that make sense, but we know by now they're allergic to doing things that make sense so we might as well get another gaping parking lot filled while we're at it.

[Swake]

Route 66 Museum to open in 2018

The long awaited Route 66 museum at Cyrus Avery Plaza at Southwest Blvd and Riverside Dr has been announced. The $19.5 museum will sit on the east bank of the river above Riverside Drive at the southwest corner of downtown.

$19.5 million Route 66 museum for Tulsa is announced - Tulsa World: Downtown

[traxx]

So how many Route 66 museums does that make in the state of Oklahoma? Three?

[BG918]

This has been in the planning stages since Vision 2025 passed in 2003 which included the original funding for it.

I like the design and it will definitely catch your eye from the highway. That area doesn't currently have the best connection from downtown (and really the entire riverfront has the same issue) so hopefully they plan on making improvements there.

[Swake]

The Excalibur Building at 4th and Main will be converted to residential. Berkshire Hathaway Media Group (owner of the building and the Tulsa World) will convert the building, built in 1917, into 58 apartments. Tulsa County has approved tax credits to complete the project.

http://www.tulsafrontier.com/tulsa-w...rbys-building/

[Snowman]

The Excalibur Building at 4th and Main will be converted to residential. Berkshire Hathaway Media Group (owner of the building and the Tulsa World) will convert the building, built in 1917, into 58 apartments. Tulsa County has approved tax credits to complete the project.

http://www.tulsafrontier.com/tulsa-w...rbys-building/

Neat, though do they plan to sell it after or shift it to something other than the Media Group?

[Swake]

No idea what they plan to do post conversion. The story by Tulsa Frontier is pretty thin, The World hasn't reported it yet.

Oddly, Tulsa Frontier is a new online Tulsa news site that hired a lot of the best people from the Tulsa World recently. Tulsa Frontier is owned by Bobby Lorton, the former owner of Tulsa World, who was about ready to tear this building down claiming earthquake damage right before he sold out. The World owns the building because it's right next door. The dark brown brick building to the right of the Excalibur Building is one of the World buildings.

[TU 'cane]

Had no idea this was already completed, and also had no idea it looked the way it did (photos in the story). I'm actually a big fan of the design and think it fits in downtown Tulsa:

New downtown Best Western opens; owners turn their attention to the Hartford, YMCA buildings
By ROBERT EVATT World Business Writer

"Once again, the Snyder and Bhow families have breathed new life into a disused downtown property.

Their latest success is the new Best Western Plus Downtown Tulsa/Route 66 Hotel, which was formerly an office building owned by the city of Tulsa. Though new hotels typically take some time to ramp up, Neal Bhow said it’s gotten a boost thanks to the neighboring Cox Business Center and the BOK Center.

“The reaction’s been overwhelmingly positive since we opened last month,” he said. “We had a strong start with the Rush concert, a volleyball competition and other events.”

The formerly red brick building now has a gray and blue paint job, and the offices made way for 79 rooms. Though renovating older buildings for new purposes can bring a number of quirks and challenges, Bhow said the structure of the building at 707 S. Houston Ave. lent itself well to a $5 million hotel transformation..."

“We feel the east end of downtown is going to explode, and we want to do the right thing.”

Source: New downtown Best Western opens; owners turn their attention to the Hartford, YMCA buildings - Tulsa World: Real Estate

Also to note, the developers of this hotel are proceeding with additional work at the YMCA facility and the old Hartford building into more apartments, office, and retail.

Really neat investments this group is putting into downtown. Bolded from the story, I think many of us around Tulsa are not only feeling this way, but are literally witnessing the transformation that is ongoing, and it's only the beginning.

[dankrutka]

Another great development in Tulsa's core: http://www.tulsafrontier.com/plans-f...oving-forward/

[Pete]

^

That development is by Bomasada, the same company developing the Metropolitan.

[Spartan]

Very exciting to finally see some new development along Riverside Drive. That whole corridor really should be their development focus.

Granted Riverside doesn't even have normal sidewalks, and the river trails wouldn't have direct access to anything, but then again it is Tulsa... baby steps.

[Swake]

Sidewalks are being added on the east side of Riverside as part of the street improvements for The Gathering Place. The Maple Ridge Homeowners Association and the mayor fought it but relented when plans were added to narrow the lanes of the street for traffic calming.



I think Riverside certainly is a focus with the $350 million Gathering Place, the $350 million dollar Margaritaville Casino Expansion, the upcoming $200 million bond issue for new dams, the Route 66 center, REI, and this Bomasada project. American Residential has also said they are looking for a location near downtown on Riverside. That's something around a billion dollars going in along Riverside.

[Spartan]

Glad to see the sidewalks not only stayed but that stretch of Riverside will be improved! I just remembered the coverage on Angie Schmitt's blog..

[TU 'cane]

It's interesting to note how quickly all of this is culminating.
The Margaritaville project has much potential to bring in a lot of people from around the region.

And then of course this gem of a park, the Gathering Place. Very exciting times for Riverside, Tulsa, etc. as we finally see some well deserved amenities start coming to fruition along our natural waterway that people have been wanting to see something done with for decades.

I've always said, develop the East side, and leave the West side natural, that way we have compromise for both sets of people in Tulsa.

[TU 'cane]

And yet another magnificent announcement for a pending development. We'll now have our own "OKSEA!"
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Developer Using Shipping Containers To Create Tulsa's Next Hot Spot
Meagan Farley, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -

"It's a development trend growing in big cities and internationally, and soon it will come to Tulsa.

What is now an empty lot downtown will soon be a place to shop, eat and listen to live music; and most of the buildings will be made out of shipping containers.

The 14,000-square foot lot near 3rd and Frankfort isn't serving much of a purpose now, but it sits in the middle of a block that is booming with construction and is directly next door to the popular Fur Shop bar.

Developer Casey Stowe said had a vision for the area after a recent trip to London.

"This would be the perfect thing for Tulsa. London, Tulsa, there is one in Dubai I believe," he said.

Now his vision is turning into a reality as The Boxyard, a mix of shops, restaurants and outdoor space made from old shipping containers, is coming to Tulsa."

Source: Developer Using Shipping Containers To Create Tulsa's Next Hot S - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |
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I'll refrain from uploading the pics here as I don't know the policy or if OKC Talk already has a built in function to credit the source...

[Jake]

Very cool concept!