Crossroads Mall

[MonkeesFan]

I have a question, do you think a rodeo would be a good idea? I mean do people still go to rodeos? I thought turning the mall in a rodeo is going to be a huge failure but I may be wrong though

[warreng88]

I have a question, do you think a rodeo would be a good idea? I mean do people still go to rodeos? I thought turning the mall in a rodeo is going to be a huge failure but I may be wrong though

From the article:

"Adjacent to it, mall owners want to build a rodeo arena capable of hosting national competitions that can also be used as a concert venue; that project is expected to be built over three to five years."

I take it as they are going to see how the mall is doing in several years and see if it would be viable.

[MonkeesFan]

From the article:

"Adjacent to it, mall owners want to build a rodeo arena capable of hosting national competitions that can also be used as a concert venue; that project is expected to be built over three to five years."

I take it as they are going to see how the mall is doing in several years and see if it would be viable.

Why would they? I mean it has been dead for years

[warreng88]

Why would they? I mean it has been dead for years

Why would they build a rodeo? I would guess they have a lot of land and it might be a viable business for that area.

[Mississippi Blues]

Why would they build a rodeo? I would guess they have a lot of land and it might be a viable business for that area.

I have family that lives on SE 36th St which is a pretty secluded area & a group of Mexicans built their own small rodeo about a half a mile away from my family members house. I think a rodeo is a great idea for this area.

[MonkeesFan]

Why would they build a rodeo? I would guess they have a lot of land and it might be a viable business for that area.

No, why would they see how the mall is doing in several years when the mall has been dead for years before deciding to see if a rodeo would be build?

[MonkeesFan]

I have family that lives on SE 36th St which is a pretty secluded area & a group of Mexicans built their own small rodeo about a half a mile away from my family members house. I think a rodeo is a great idea for this area.

Interesting...

[kevinpate]

No, why would they see how the mall is doing in several years when the mall has been dead for years before deciding to see if a rodeo would be build?

Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads isn't going to be CRM with just some brightly colored paint and a Hispanic centric food court. It doesn't strike me as being possible to make an apples to apples comparison between the new focus and the lil' mall that somehow hung on without anchors for so long.

[warreng88]

Gazette article:

The long-struggling Crossroads Mall gets a second chance as a commercial hub for OKC’s growing Latino community.

Peter Wright
April 30th, 2013

A mariachi band played as dancers from a traveling circus last week unveiled plans to reshape Crossroads Mall. With a new name and new tenants, future renovations and a busy schedule of events, developers hope to transform the once-thriving mall into a commercial hub for Oklahoma City’s Latino community.

At an April 24 ceremony, the mall was officially renamed Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads. Developer Jose Legaspi said it is a reference to the main square in Mexico City.

Twenty new tenants already have signed contracts, and developers are in talks with others. The new businesses include clothing, jewelry and shoe stores, two restaurants and a couple salons. Many will be locally owned, and they will join a handful of shops and clubs already renting space.

Future plans call for a grocery store and an entertainment venue that could include a club and a rodeo arena. The space formerly occupied by Dillard’s will become an “incubator space” for booths of new small businesses.

“We’re opening our hearts and minds for anyone who wants to start their American dream,” Legaspi said.

All entrances to the mall will be renovated, and the central court will be updated to include a small stage.

Legaspi said more seating and skylights will be added throughout the 40-year-old building.

Raptor Properties, a local real estate holding company, purchased Crossroads Mall at steep discount in September 2011. Robert Ruiz, marketing and programming director for the Plaza Mayor, said the new developers didn’t have anything specific in mind for the property until one of them visited La Gran Plaza in Fort Worth, Texas, a once-empty mall that had been transformed with Latino businesses.

“They saw the life that was going on there. It was a mall that was full on weekdays,” Ruiz said.

It was one of several malls around the country developed by Legaspi, who is licensed in California. Raptor Properties asked him if he would become a partner on the Crossroads project, and after doing his own due diligence, he accepted.

Things to come
Rejuvenating a mall that’s been largely vacant for years will take more than attracting a handful of small businesses. Legaspi said he wants to make it an attraction with holiday events almost every month and musical entertainment in the halls every weekend.

Late one afternoon after the unveiling ceremony, those halls were almost desolate. A security guard walked past a row of shuttered storefronts as a young couple turned around at an empty department store and paced back to their starting point.

Outside, in a sign of things to come, workers were anchoring a tent that would host a Spanish-language circus on its first-time stop in Oklahoma.

By keeping a packed schedule of family-friendly events, Legaspi hopes to draw customers in from the entire Central Oklahoma region. As traffic increases and more small shops open, bigger national chains might give the mall a second look.

“We’re only responding to the community. We’re not responding to anybody else,” he said.

Francisco Ramirez credits the cultural component of La Gran Plaza with the success of his restaurant chain. He opened his first restaurant inside La Gran in 2004. Since then, he opened four more there and two in Mexico. He will open a restaurant and a separate snack bar inside Plaza Mayor soon.

“With the entertainment happening every weekend, that really brought a lot of different people in from different places,” Ramirez said.

He said he sees even more potential in Oklahoma City because the mall is literally at a major crossroads, and the Latino community here continues to grow rapidly.

http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/ar...-new-life.html

[ljbab728]

At an April 24 ceremony, the mall was officially renamed Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads. Developer Jose Legaspi said it is a reference to the main square in Mexico City.http://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/ar...-new-life.html

If that's what he really said, he probably should have checked his facts first. The main square in Mexico City is known as the Zocalo. Perhaps he was thinking about the main square in Madrid which is the Plaza Mayor.

[Mel]

It worked on B5 it should work here.

[Fantastic]

It worked on B5 it should work here.

LOL... love the Babylon 5 reference!

[Mel]

LOL... love the Babylon 5 reference!

That show was the first time I ever heard the word. I hope this idea for crossroads really works out.

[Bunty]

I have a question, do you think a rodeo would be a good idea? I mean do people still go to rodeos? I thought turning the mall in a rodeo is going to be a huge failure but I may be wrong though

Yeah, people still go to rodeos in the big city. Even gays still put on a rodeo at the fairgrounds every year.

[bluedogok]

A lot of the larger Hispanic bars in small Texas towns have rodeo rings right next to them, there is one on I-35 between Waco and Georgetown. Many of the smaller towns the biggest event is their county fair and rodeo and the rodeo is the big attraction. Just something that many city dwellers don't think about.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah, people still go to rodeos in the big city. Even gays still put on a rodeo at the fairgrounds every year.

Yeah, I recently received an email from the state fair grounds about a gay rodeo. Never even knew they had those.

[bluedogok]

A neighbor of mine in Dallas did the black rodeo circuit, he made a decent living at it considering it was what he loved doing. Went and saw him one time in Mesquite, pretty good all-around cowboy type of guy.

[Romulack]

Yeah, I recently received an email from the state fair grounds about a gay rodeo. Never even knew they had those.

I knew someone who would attend the gay rodeos. His favorite event was the Pole Bending.

On another note, I've heard there's an article about the new Crossroads Mall in the next issue of Mex Sociales magazine.

[OKCNDN]

Yeah, I recently received an email from the state fair grounds about a gay rodeo. Never even knew they had those.

Habana Inn is the host hotel. And I suppose the Habana would host cock fights as well.

[Plutonic Panda]

what

[CuatrodeMayo]

what

I'll tell you when you're older.

[Plutonic Panda]

ok???

[mrokc777]

Any renders on how its going to look ?

[ljbab728]

Any renders on how its going to look ?

[HangryHippo]

I'm pretty disappointed with what I see as the lackadaisical effort put into redoing the exterior of Crossroads Mall. Here's the website for La Gran Plaza in Ft. Worth for comparison. There are photo galleries you can browse to get a feel for what I'm talking about. It appears to have had a lot more effort put into the exterior. Crossroads is getting some colored poles and painted entrances, but really nothing compared to what they're did for their other project.