Uptown / 23rd District

[soonerguru]

Great addiction, this is across from Cuppies and Joe, so great to build more critical mass at that intersection.

There were many addictions -- and other afflictions -- causing mayhem in Uptown, but it's been more than a decade.

[Pete]

Has anybody noticed active work on the Tower Theater?

A building permit was issued a few weeks ago.

[metro]

None I've seen

[wschnitt]

Same, I went by there tonight, same old crap.

[Spartan]

Ironically, if they would just leave the doors open with a jackhammer and receptacle bins inside, many of us would probably just get them started just to see some progress that we're all yearning for on this project. Paradoxically, that would be a disaster with the waning-but-still-present homeless problem...

[TheTravellers]

Same, I went by there tonight, same old crap.

A week ago, the T was unlit on one side and TO unlit on the other. :-(

[Spartan]

Metro, thanks for the heads-up. That's fantastic news about Deep Fork's new restaurant and bar going into the retail space at the Tower Theater!

Anybody have an idea of the concept they'll be going with?



Here's the entire article:

http://okc.biz/oklahoma/article-5737...elopments.html
June 20th, 2011 - Kelley Chambers
Uptown developments

NW 23 Street is home to several new restaurant concepts, with more planned as the area is revitalized

As restaurants continue to pop up along NW 23 Street from around Hudson Avenue to just west of Classen Boulevard, several have found successful concepts, leading to incremental growth and redevelopment of the area.

On May 18, Mutts Amazing Hot Dogs joined the line of specialty eateries along a stretch of road that includes dilapidated and largely vacant strip centers, wig shops, discount convenience stores, pawn shops, fast-food restaurants and a steady stream of vagrants.

But rather than write off the area, developers and restaurateurs including Keith and Heather Paul, Chris Lower, Mike Tharasena and Marty Dillon are investing in long-neglected properties.

Set to open in August is Tucker’s Onion Burgers across the street from Cheever’s. Keith Paul says he wanted to open an eatery with a distinctly Oklahoma flair.

“We’ve been working on a burger concept for about two years,” he says. “We thought that no one is really focusing on the only cuisine that’s from Oklahoma.”

At the Tower Theater, Dillon is leasing space to the Deep Fork Group for a 4,000-square-foot restaurant and a 1,000-square-foot bar in the retail space facing the street. At Big Truck Tacos, the owners have taken a space for a catering kitchen and a gift store. They will share the building, which Dillon owns, with a gelato shop.

At the 23rd Street Courts, Tharasena has filled that space with Cuppies & Joe, a law office, a tattoo shop and others. Behind Cuppies & Joe, he is renovating a building for restaurant space.

Despite the pockets of restaurants and retail, several abandoned strips and underutilized space stand.

Lower says there is no concerted effort to find a use for that space, but he believes the momentum of the area is catching on and attracting others to take a second look at that stretch of road.

“Getting rid of some of the crummier tenants down there will help,” Lower says. “I think the Tower will become the hub of 23rd.”

NW 23 Street is the north boundary of the city’s sixth ward, represented by Councilwoman Meg Salyer. She has watched as the area slowly has gone from an area of blight to an up-and-coming dining and entertainment district.

“These are all great, brave entrepreneurs,” she says.

Salyer says the key word for growth and improvement in the area is “incremental.” While she and others would like to see the area shape up faster, hurdles remain from owners who leave their properties run down, or have no interest in the revitalization.

“Having folks that are unrealistic about the value of their property, you can end up with some unwilling property owners to get involved in the process,” she says.
Despite some sketchy areas that remain, Keith Paul says there is no place he would rather be doing business. He envisions a day when 23rd is a long stretch of retail and a true destination.

“I hope it will be a neighborhood people will flock to,” he says. “We hope someday people will walk from Cheever’s to Cuppies & Joe, and have things to do along the way.”

Mutts Amazing Hot Dogs
1400 NW 23
Built: 1968
Square feet: 1,728
Valuation of project: about $150,000

After visiting Chicago and trying hot dogs in the Windy City, Chris Lower, Cally Johnson and Kathryn Mathis – the masterminds behind Big Truck Tacos – decided to mix up their meat between a tortilla concept and fixings in a bun.

23rd Street Courts
North side of NW 23, between Shartel and Lee avenues
Square feet: more than 20,000 in eight buildings
Valuation of project: about $3 million to $5 million invested to date

Developer Mike Tharasena and architect Brian Fitzsimmons converted a collection of rundown bungalows into a lively retail strip. Set to open soon is Bubba’s, serving barbecue at 715 NW 23. Behind the strip, a 4,000-square-foot building is being renovated for a restaurant space.

Hotel Motel Liquidation
511 NW 23
Built: 1939
Square feet: 21,840

While “going out of business” has been painted on the windows of this building for years, it is on the market for $1.5 million. Chad Elmore, listing broker with InterWest Realty, says the owner is looking to sell the building and close the business. No future plans for the building have been announced.

Truong-Than Supermarket
2400 N Walker
Built: 1926
Square feet: 9,586

The retail space is connected to the Tower Theater at the northeast corner of NW 23 Street and Walker Avenue. Chad Elmore, listing broker with InterWest Realty, has the property on the market for a lease rate of about $9 per square foot.

Big Truck Tacos
530 NW 23
Built: 1966
Square feet: 1,931
Valuation of project: about $200,000

Chris Lower, Cally Johnson and Kathryn Mathis opened the taco eatery in 2009. The owners also have taken space in a building to the east of the restaurant for a larger kitchen and a gift shop. Next door to Big Truck, Avianos, an Italian gelato shop, is set to open this summer.

Tower Theatre
425 NW 23
Built: 1926
Square feet: 25,400
Valuation of project: $3 million

Owner Marty Dillon plans to restore the space to its former glory. The first floor of the auditorium will be renovated into an event space, and the 280-seat balcony will be used for screening films. Dillon’s Party Galaxy store is moving into the upstairs office space.

Tucker’s Onion Burgers
324 NW 23
Built: 1959
Square feet: 1,470

Owner Keith Paul says onion burgers are perhaps the only true Oklahoma-originated cuisine. The restaurant will feature onion burgers, French fries, hand-dipped milk shakes and freshly squeezed lemonade. The restaurant will seat about 50 people inside and 25 outside. Average check: $10.

Cheever’s Café and catering building
2409 N Hudson Ave. and 401 NW 23
Built: 1937
Square feet: about 4,500 combined

Owners Keith and Heather Paul continue serving food at the restaurant. Next door, a building facing NW 23 Street that previously housed Market C, has been converted to catering space.

I've been putting together some information on all north side development lately, and because of how amazingly helpful this ONE post was, I thought I'd bump it up in case it is as helpful to some lurkers on this thread or other members as well

[Skyline]

Hopefully the start of something very cool for Uptown 23rd street.
websitehttp://uptown23rd.com/
twitterhttps://twitter.com/#!/Uptown23rd

Uptown 23rd creating their own website and twitter for online marketing. Much needed and overdue for 23rd street. This could quickly and very easily become something like the Plaza District is doing.

[UptownGirl]

Thanks for the links, Skyline! I live in the Uptown area and am excited to see all the new development.

On a related note: I've been thinking about how to create better public transit along the NW 23rd corridor, and have wondered what it would be like to have one lane of traffic set aside for buses, taxis, and bicycles only. It would require MetroTransit to increase the buses running along the route to come every 10-15 minutes, but I think it could get more people to choose public transit in the area and help increase visitors to all the new businesses going in. San Francisco has a lot of bus only lanes on big business corridors to help make bus travel more efficient. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[metro]

Agree

[Teo9969]

Hopefully the start of something very cool for Uptown 23rd street.
websitehttp://uptown23rd.com/
twitterhttps://twitter.com/#!/Uptown23rd

Uptown 23rd creating their own website and twitter for online marketing. Much needed and overdue for 23rd street. This could quickly and very easily become something like the Plaza District is doing.

No offense to the Plaza, but I feel like 23rd is already quite a ways ahead of the Plaza. They're both very different, if for nothing else than location...but 23rd could easily become one of the best entertainment/night-life strips in the city. Just needs a couple bars, some music, some late night restaurants, and maybe some apartments/condos on the strip (I'm looking at you, Hotel/Motel Liquidation).

[Pete]

Once the Tower gets cranking that strip will pretty much have turned the corner and I bet several more pieces will quickly fall into place.

Jefferson Park may end up being the best bang-for-your-buck neighborhood in OKC.

[G.Walker]

just ate a the Chinese Buffet restaurant on the corner of 23rd & Classen, right in the misdt of Sun Moon Plaza. After I finished eating, I was able to walk across the street to Chase Bank, and walk back across the street to T-Mobile. Many people were on the street walking, people waiting at bus stops, cars were bumper to bumper on 23rd, and city buses rolling by, I felt URBAN!

[HOT ROD]

very nice. and yes, very urban sounding.

what time of day (and what day) was this?

[Spartan]

Don't knock Plaza, they have huge street crowds.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Not that I am biased or anything, but the Plaza District is arguably the coolest neighborhood in OKC at the moment and still a fantastic bargain for your housing dollars.

[Skyline]

very nice. and yes, very urban sounding.

what time of day (and what day) was this?

I am at this intersection (23rd & Classen) nearly everyday and can tell you that this "urban" experience is almost non stop. Pick any time or any day and 23rd & Classen is crowded with cars, buses, and pedestrians. I really wish that 23rd could incorporate the bicycle lanes and adding more crosswalks that are being seen downtown.

Also I think the streetcar would be an instant success traveling along the Uptown 23rd corridor.

[HOT ROD]

very good to hear, Skyline!!

[Spartan]

I don't think there's any doubt that OCU would be huge, to be able to connect a university with kind of liberal arts composition to downtown. I also understand that according to data collected by the transit subcommittee, a bus route following NW 23rd all the way across is by far the city's busiest bus route. And also, supposedly the area around OCU has the highest proportion of non-car users in the city.

So if you want to talk about viable mass transit in OKC, look no further than 23rd.

[Teo9969]

I don't think there's any doubt that OCU would be huge, to be able to connect a university with kind of liberal arts composition to downtown. I also understand that according to data collected by the transit subcommittee, a bus route following NW 23rd all the way across is by far the city's busiest bus route. And also, supposedly the area around OCU has the highest proportion of non-car users in the city.

So if you want to talk about viable mass transit in OKC, look no further than 23rd.

If the street car could make it to OCU and make a trip to downtown a 20 minute or less proposition for OCU students, then that would be awesome. I know several people who didn't have cars while I was there, and if they could have caught a ride, that would have helped them be able to find good jobs.

[Pete]

I would agree that tying in 23rd along with the Capital/Health Sciences Center through the streetcar would be a complete game-changer for the urban core.

By doing so, you'd be connecting the main concentration of students along with key amenities, employers and housing areas. Let's face it, if you live in Mesta Park or HH or further south you can just walk downtown pretty easily. But not so much from OCU, Jefferson Park, the Capital and HSC.

[Teo9969]

I would think it's obvious that the Street Car Route goes from Broadway to 23rd to Classen to Reno. Downtown obviously you can go up and down the streets that make sense.

Then "Metro Transit" can focus on 23rd & Classen/Western outward. And even 23rd & Broadway to the capital. I think it would be huge if there was continual traffic to Belle Isle and the Chesapeake area from 23rd. Metro Transit just doesn't make it happen quite yet.

[G.Walker]

After being a business owner for several years in this area, having an office at the corner of 18th/Classen, I traveled 23rd daily. With my past experience and now, I would say that 23rd from Sante Fe all the way to Penn is one of the busiest and urban corridors in the city. Most of the businesses are pushed to the street on 23rd, and you see not only cars, but buses and many pedestrians all the time. They also have an urban school Dove Science Academy right off 23rd.

[G.Walker]

I live in Moore, but I work in Oklahoma City, and when I am there, 99.9% of my time is spent in the 23rd/Classen/Asian District area, and I love it. There is even a mom/pop deli I love going to on the corner of 23rd/Western called Someplace Else, been there for years, best sandwiches in the metro!

[Teo9969]

I live in Moore, but I work in Oklahoma City, and when I am there, 99.9% of my time is spent in the 23rd/Classen/Asian District area, and I love it. There is even a mom/pop deli I love going to on the corner of 23rd/Western called Someplace Else, been there for years, best sandwiches in the metro!

If American Fidelity really is building downtown, Someplace Else is going to take a hit. I doubt they'd close, but I imagine they do a good chunk of business from AF employees during lunch and early dinner.