Downtown Development Overview

[ComeOnBenjals]

Building across from Veterans Park becoming a boutique hotel. Great location, should be a nice project.

https://www.newson6.com/story/60ee0fbb5691cb0bf7de1132/tulsa-rising:-local-team-renovating-old-building-into-boutique-hotel-?fbclid=IwAR0c-9wmRrQERnDTTwf3mKSuBqfcJ8e-dwAd4IXCyQB8bpodI4tgHt3GPVk

Nice! Was wondering if it was apartments... will be one of the few hotels in that area.

[swake]

I hope they can make it look better, the buildings on either side are both on the National Register of Historic Places.

[TulsaBeMore]

I hope they can make it look better, the buildings on either side are both on the National Register of Historic Places.

Isn't one the old KTUL Radio studios and Holland Hall before that?  Is an architecture firm there now?  And the other one is a production studio now, I think.  Those are the two buildings you're referring to here, right?  Also, any idea how long that concrete box looking building has been vacant.  It looked like people lived there last time I drove by --- admittedly early Pandemic.     

[swake]

Isn't one the old KTUL Radio studios and Holland Hall before that?  Is an architecture firm there now?  And the other one is a production studio now, I think.  Those are the two buildings you're referring to here, right?  Also, any idea how long that concrete box looking building has been vacant.  It looked like people lived there last time I drove by --- admittedly early Pandemic.     

Yes, Boulder on the Park:

https://www.tulsapeople.com/tulsa-people/january-2019/the-many-lives-of-boulder-on-the-park/article_c9dcb997-6320-5a66-a2a8-e4c290c91ac8.html

And Elizabeth Manor:

https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/post/tulsa-apartment-building-added-national-historic-places-register#stream/0

[Red Arrow]

Yes, Boulder on the Park:

https://www.tulsapeople.com/tulsa-people/january-2019/the-many-lives-of-boulder-on-the-park/article_c9dcb997-6320-5a66-a2a8-e4c290c91ac8.html

When did KTUL switch from CBS to ABC?

[dbacksfan 2.0]

When did KTUL switch from CBS to ABC?

Did a search, and KTUL was a CBS AM radio station and had the frequency of 1430.

1430 originally signed on in the 1930s as KTUL radio with CBS network programming and a MOR music format. One of its early local stars, with a regular live music program, was a young teen-aged Patti Page. Years later in the fall of 1961 the station was bought by new owners, switched to a Top 40 hits format and the call letters were changed to KELi (with the little "i" in the station logo). KELi became famous for having a DJ and news staff all with the last name of "Kelly" during the 1960s. The station broadcast from the "Satellite Studios" in the middle of the Tulsa State Fairgrounds until the station moved in 1982. The station had studio tours and did many promotions during the Tulsa State Fair. KELi's Top 40 format lasted for 20 years, even outlasting more popular rival KAKC 970 which switched to MOR standards in 1979. Since the early 1980s 1430 has aired news/talk, contemporary hits (as the short-lived "14-K / 92-K" in 1983-4), oldies, adult contemporary, classic country and sports talk.

In 1948 the FCC imposed a freeze on the issuance of new licenses while the problem of overlapping signals and other issues were ironed out. Nevertheless, what was expected to last only a few months stretched into 1952. Beating the freeze, Oklahoma City's WKY-TV Channel 4 became Oklahoma's first television station, reaching the air in 1949 and spurring Tulsa Broadcasting's interest in television. Because one channel in Tulsa had already been secured and several groups were vying for the second VHF channel allocated by the FCC, Tulsa Broadcasting targeted channel 8 in Muskogee, the only other area license that was available. Two other groups sought the license as well, but in April 1954 Tulsa Broadcasting was granted the permit from the FCC. Griffin and Leake were involved with other television ventures as well. They were half owners in KWTV in Oklahoma City and KATV in Arkansas, both of which reached the air in 1954 ahead of the Muskogee station.

The manager of the KTUL radio station, John Esau, spearheaded the development of KTVX, which was initially housed in a former grocery store. A transmitter was constructed on Concharty Mountain in Stone Bluff, Oklahoma, midway between Tulsa and Muskogee, ensuring that the signal reached both markets. KTUL news chief Jack Morris was also appointed news director of the television station. The launch of KTVX was timed to coincide with the ABC television network broadcast of a college football game on Saturday, September 18, 1954, between the University of Oklahoma and the University of California, Berkeley. A 30-minute dedication ceremony preceded the telecast.

In addition to ABC, KTVX was also affiliated with the DuMont Network until 1955, when struggling DuMont was dropped and KTVX became a dedicated ABC station. Also that year, KTVX continued its encroachment on the Tulsa market by establishing what it called an auxiliary studio in the city. The existing television stations had previously objected to the location of the transmitter and now vehemently opposed this latest maneuver. The FCC considered the complaint but later in the year sided with KTVX. With a strong signal, broadcasting at 316,000 watts, the highest allowed power, and most of its advertisers in Tulsa, KTVX was essentially a Tulsa television station. In 1957 the station sought to make it official and filed a request with the FCC to move the station to Tulsa and change the call letters to KTUL-TV. The FCC approved the petition in August 1957. The change in call letters went into effect the following month.

In the meantime, Griffin and Leake sold their radio stations in 1956 in order to focus on television. In 1964 they bought out their partners in KWTV and in conjunction with that transaction, KWTV and KTUL became subsidiaries of KATV, Inc. The following year, the company adopted the name of Griffin-Leake TV, Inc. Griffin owned 55.81 percent of the stock and Leake and his wife 44.1 percent.

https://reference.jrank.org/histories/KTUL_Licensee_LLC.html

[Red Arrow]

Did a search, and KTUL was a CBS AM radio station and had the frequency of 1430.

https://reference.jrank.org/histories/KTUL_Licensee_LLC.html

Cool, thanks.

[TulsaBeMore]

Yes, Boulder on the Park:

https://www.tulsapeople.com/tulsa-people/january-2019/the-many-lives-of-boulder-on-the-park/article_c9dcb997-6320-5a66-a2a8-e4c290c91ac8.html

And Elizabeth Manor:

https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/post/tulsa-apartment-building-added-national-historic-places-register#stream/0

Good stuff.  Thank you.

[ComeOnBenjals]

https://tulsaworld.com/business/local/former-apartments-being-converted-into-boutique-hotel-south-of-downtown/article_8f4dcd08-e985-11eb-9289-bfa245fc3306.html

A few more renderings on the new hotel coming south of downtown.

[LandArchPoke]

The 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Cimarex tower are now up for sublease.

Asking $29.00/sq. ft. - they will never get that for the quality of that building. Hopefully this isn't their way of slowly exiting the market. Usually not a good sign. 

[shavethewhales]

Oof, too much office space on the market again. The impending covid wave is going to chase people back to work from home as well. Wish we could land some new business.

[ComeOnBenjals]

https://tulsaworld.com/business/local/booming-downtown-investment-more-than-800m-in-last-5-years-alone-city-says/article_3c148658-f921-11eb-9176-97c839d17c78.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest

Article on development in Downtown Tulsa.

[Urban Enthusiast]

Anyone know the current status of the mixed-use proposal for the triangular lot at 3rd & Peoria?  This is what was originally proposed in 2018: https://www.newson6.com/story/5e35d7c42f69d76f6201a013/development-planned-for-5000-square-feet-in-tulsa

I saw this morning that they are doing earth work on this site.  Not sure if it is for this project or something else or just to cleanup the site. 

[Tulsan]

I saw this morning that they are doing earth work on this site.  Not sure if it is for this project or something else or just to cleanup the site. 

It's going to be a self-storage facility. Five stories. Brick and metal panel facade.

[Red Arrow]

It's going to be a self-storage facility. Five stories. Brick and metal panel facade.

Why would I want to store myself in a building like that?