The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

With the rise in interest rates and financing climate there has been a drastic reduction in new development in Tulsa and across the country.  But there are still some active projects and others that will likely move forward once economic conditions improve and/or PartnerTulsa issues more TIF funding.  Below is a list of some to look forward to in 2024 and beyond:

I’ll start with downtown:
- The single largest construction project in Tulsa is progressing at the new VA Medical Center which will be completed in early 2025
- Construction on the new Mental Health Hospital has started and will ramp up this year at 3rd & Houston
- Santa Fe Square apartments (184 units) and plaza area finish up this summer.  The retail and restaurant spaces will also be opening later this summer and fall, and will bring a noticeable increase in people and vibrancy to the Blue Dome
- Western Supply is under construction and will finish up in 2025 ; this is the largest single residential project under construction downtown with 320 units
- ARCO Lofts will finish up this spring and add another 60 apartments
- Sinclair Lofts will finish up this summer and add another 80 apartments
- Construction should begin on Beacon Lofts which just recently was awarded state historic tax credits and will add another 85 apartments at 4th & Boulder
- Construction should begin on the hotel and apartments at 311 N Boulder which has been on hold since the fall because of PartnerTulsa
- Same for 3D Flats the 7 story, 80 unit apartment project at 3rd & Denver which has also requested TIF funds
- And the Annex which was the single largest downtown project but lost their grocery store anchor (Oasis) and couldn’t find a replacement.  It will also need PartnerTulsa to provide significant assistance
- 210 S Elgin, an infill retail building next to the Blue Dome, starts construction in February.  The Blue Dome itself will be renovated later in the year.  Rose Pawn next door will also be renovated into retail/office space.  That corner will be completely different by early 2025
- Renovation of 311 N Detroit, also known as the Safeway Building, from vacant warehouse to offices starts this spring
- Renovation of the old warehouse at Archer & Cheyenne into another 36* North will finish this year and add more coworking space
- Construction hopefully starts on the other PFP projects at the IBM Bldg and Philcade which will add another 200 apartment units
- No idea what will happen to the Lowood/Hodges building but hope it is repurposed starting this year.  Looking at how long it has taken Burnco I wouldn’t hold my breath..
- We should also see some movement this year for the plan for a new high rise convention hotel and significant rebuild of the PAC, both of which will be exciting projects to continue downtown momentum

Moving over to Cherry Street:
- The site at 15th & Rockford has been cleared and fenced off for construction of a 2-story building that will have Hatch (breakfast restaurant) and Riserva (tapas restaurant).  They are targeting a spring construction start and spring 2025 opening
- The owners of Lowood/Hodges Bend purchased the Palace Cafe building and plan to open a new concept there
- The former Nest store at 15th & Quincy is being renovated - not sure what though.  Lilly is the architect/Thompson is the contractor.
- Foxy Tacos is still empty after closing last year.  I've heard Chandler Hospitality (the owner) is going to put a new concept in there with a spring opening but I don't know any details
- Obviously the biggest potential redevelopment project for Cherry Street is the Bumgarner property at 15th & Utica.  I've heard it from Chris himself that the plan is to build a mixed-use development that takes up the entire block and will include office, residential and hotel components.  

The last one excites me, I've lived by this lot for over 10 years and am dying to see it developed. Hopefully truly mixed use with parking in a garage or hidden somehow. Would offset the abomination Chick fil A going in across the BA despite the Utica Small Area Plan literally saying that drive through restaurants was by far the lowest rated use for the corridor. As if these documents that citizens spend hours working on mean anything whatsoever.

Very helpful summaries. Thanks for posting.

On to Brookside:
- The biggest project currently on the boards is the BOK redevelopment at 33rd.  The concept plans I've seen show a 5-story residential building with ground floor retail/restaurant space fronting Peoria and a parking structure behind.  Narrate is the architect.  Targeting a fall groundbreaking
- The other big Brookside project at 36th is currently on hold.  It was going to be a 5-story, 260 unit apartment project with a significant amount of ground floor retail on Peoria.  I've heard multi-level office also being considered for this site.  I don't expect any movement this year other than possibly tearing down the church
- Starbucks is renovating its location at 35th
- Work has finally started on the Massage Luxe in the old Arvest space next to the Brook
- The old Sonic at 38th has been cleared, not sure what will replace it

Thanks for the summaries - seems to be good momentum in spots.

On Cherry St, the Nest project is an expansion of Hobbs salon that Lilly is the architect for.
Also on Cherry Street, the old Acrobat Ant above Jason's Deli is being converted to an event space. 

Seems to be some momentum for the 18th and Boston area with the Brut, Maple Ridge Grocer and Bishop Quiqley's opening plus the upcoming Burnco development and Sharp pivoting to some of their other properties now that the Brut is complete. 

Also excited about this. It would be nice having a bookend hotel on Cherry Street.

Hopefully renovating the Abundant Life building is high on their list.  With the right vision that whole block could be a really cool residential development that utilizes the existing structure with a new cladding.  That was originally proposed by Brian Freese 15 years ago https://www.freesearchitecture.com/portfolio/the-riverview/ (https://www.freesearchitecture.com/portfolio/the-riverview/)

Work is going on inside the Abundant Life building.  I believe the asbestos project concluded quite a while ago, so not sure what is happening now.

The abatement is complete.  Sharp is just using the building for storage.

Cool thanks for this. As a Brookside resident, I've been wondering about a few of these developments that I heard about.

It sure seems like Brookside has been kind of stagnant, from a development standpoint, for several years, especially compared with what's been happening on Cherry Street.

I'm also really looking forward to the re-build of Peoria from the Streets package because it was absolutely brutalized during the 3+ years Riverside was closed for the Gathering Place construction.

Unfortunately I’ve heard the Brookside BOK project has stalled.  Brookside property is expensive and projects  don’t pencil at current rates.  Same goes for 36th & Peoria. 

Inheritance Juicery is taking over the former Claud’s building which is good to see albeit strange to see a vegan/smoothie place where greasy burgers were made.  Somewhat analogous to the changes happening across Tulsa.

Same . . . but it's going to be painful.  I'm told they're still committed to burying the lines on the 33rd-41st St. stretch.  Which is great, but, you know, a lot.

Yeah CBC is selling the Brookside Baptist property and back to single-family residential.  The rate environment is hurting multifamily quite a bit.

Yeah I'm not looking forward to the process, but very much looking forward to the results.

Burying the power lines will make that whole area look so much nicer.

Do you happen to know if the street rehab will include and major changes? Like I recalling what they did with Cherry Street, moving it from 2 lanes on each side to one and adding the slanted parking. Is something like that happening in Brookside or are they just keeping the same configuration but repairing it?

It's also a bummer to hear that a few of the bigger developments are stalled, but hopefully they will get going again soon.

Taking the cheap option of providing power from wooden poles is looking less cheap as more costly, deadly fires are being blamed on rotting poles and downed lines.

We have buried power lines and it is exceptionally good!

Other than power line burial, I don’t know what they’re planning on Peoria but I’d be surprised if they make major changes to lane configurations - it’s still a major arterial. But I’ve been surprised before.

I agree the slowdown is a bummer but it will come back. The property values are going up too fast. 

We begged them to bury the lines on Cherry Street during the rebuild and they said it was too expensive. Glad Brookside is getting it, but what a waste to not do it on Cherry Street.