I remember Blake discussing this at one point. That would be cool to see Blake and Nelson team up to create an Alamo Drafthouse style cinema downtown. I still think the parking lot at 2nd & Elgin is the perfect spot for such a theater, with a big neon marquis fronting Elgin..
Working on it, though not with Elliot, not exactly like Alamo Draft House and probably not at 2nd and Elgin.
We've got a couple of projects in line ahead of the theater, but it's definitely in the shoot. We've been looking at locations, developing the concept, and figuring out the details. I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you that it's going to be really cool and unique - seriously, nothing like it that I've ever seen. Until we give people something better, however, they're going to keep calling any theater with food and drink an "Alamo Draft House" style theater. I'm excited about giving people a new way to think about their movie going experience. I've long believed that a theater was the biggest missing piece to downtown and I'm excited about bringing it down here. We also plan on paying some nice respect to the Ritz, Rialto, Majestic, and Orpheum in our design and branding. We hope to shine a light on the past and celebrate the theaters that once stood downtown.
I agree with the other posts about the retail. We'd love to see some more of that down here. We're putting a small music store on Elgin as the "front" to Back Alley. It's mostly just motivated by my desire to see some more retail in the neighborhood.
We've got some issues with land acquisition in The Blue Dome District. All the nice property that you see that's sitting empty is likely owned by someone who is not wanting to sell it. The one property that is for sale in the district is lots of $$$, but it's cool.
Until some of that opens up, we're going to have to develop where it's possible. You may have noticed that instead of the Blue Dome developing like a ripple effect, it's starting to move in a linear fashion down Elgin towards 5th with the bowling alley, Fassler and the new project next door to it. Don't be surprised if the development takes a life of it's own and becomes a linear strip instead of the previously planned 9 block square. The nice red building across from El Guapos, the Pawn Shop, the small parking lots and the big lot across from Joe Momma's are not really in play. Until they are, we're going to have to do something a little different with the development path.
Tulsa bug, thanks for the business. Sorry we didn't have the sizes you were looking for at Boomtown. We were pretty busy during December and had some trouble keeping up with the demand. Now that we've done it once, we'll be better prepared for next December.
Thanks to all for your support. Your continued interest and enthusiasm for downtown, and for new and unique development in general, will continue to play a vital role in our city's progress.