The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

This very busy QuikTrip is set to expand.  Anyone know anything about the plans?  They say they will build a new larger store behind the existing one and then tear it down.  Will they be keeping the same amount of gas pumps?  I think if they are going to expand build out to the sidewalk to the south at 15th and to their property line to the east and incorporate the existing store into a new larger store.  Then leave the area just to the north along 14th Place as a small parking lot, in addition to the spaces in the front (west side) of the building.  Is an entrance at the sidewalk at the SW corner, a more 'urban' design, too much to ask?

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20091027_16_A9_QuikTr285565 (http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=16&articleid=20091027_16_A9_QuikTr285565)

Be nice if this was a Mark III store.

Is it gonna look like the one on 21st and Harvard?

Awesome. This is my neighborhood QT, so I'm glad this is happening.

Wish they would have pushed this building to the sidewalk along 15th.  As it stands it will be larger but will have a small parking lot along 15th with NO direct sidewalk connection to the store...   >:(

Maybe they can at least plant some trees and redo their sidewalks along their Denver and 15th St. frontage to improve the pedestrian experience for those of us who walk to this store.

That location is extremely unfriendly to pedestrians. For those of us coming from downtown, it's very unpleasant to walk along Denver. Ignoring all the sketchy characters, walking two feet from 40mph traffic rounding curves is about as pleasant as standing in the middle of a NASCAR track. Especially when you think of the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed or maimed in the last few years in the metro area by drivers leaving the roadway and driving onto the shoulder or sidewalk.

If I take Cheyenne to avoid that, one of those side streets is closed where that church burned down  a year ago. Do they think its collapse is imminent, or what? Not pleasant to walk or bike around. And I see no signs of the issue being dealt with.

Here's the link to the BOA exhibit.

http://www.cityoftulsa-boa.org/BOA%20Agenda/15713-Aa.pdf (http://www.cityoftulsa-boa.org/BOA%20Agenda/15713-Aa.pdf)

The landscaping plan was approved by the TMAPC recently, but I can't find the documentation online.

I'm curious if they had to submit a new lighting plan...as this was technically a "modification" of a variance granted in 1991.  (Even though it's a total re-build.)

One interesting thing is that the store will have entrances on three sides: north, south and west.  Theoretically, this should be great for pedestrians.   However, the increased parking (and lack of protected sidewalks) that surounds the building will negate that.  

Pedestrians trying to enter from 15th street will have to dodge a lot of traffic: traversing a parking area as well as the flow of cars entering and exiting via the two curb cuts on 15th.  Pedestrians wanting to enter from Denver will cross a deep gauntlet (145 feet or so) of traffic vying for fuel pumps.  Pedestrians entering from the north will probably have the best access based on less traffic...but still will have to cross a parking area.

Neighbors on Carson may be interested to know that all vendor trucks/traffic will now flow behind the building that will be much closer than the current building.  The truck driveway will replace the current sidewalk and wide band of greenspace.  Putting the truck traffic easily 100 feet closer to the neighborhood.  (I predict that a wall will soon replace the trees, as neighbors tire of the trucks...which will create yet another barrier for pedestrians.)

Still, it will be interesting to see what QT's "Gen III" store will be like.  They will be offering "more fresh items" whatever that means.  Hmmm.

If you want the glare shielded (like the one at 21st & Harvard), you are going to have to ask that it be required (or at least that they enforce zoning code 1303-c).
The lighting at that QT isnt perfect, but it is leaps and bounds better than QT's default glare plan. 

I guess I'm the only one seeing the irony here that people are disappointed our major gasoline retailer in the area doesn't have pedestrian-friendly stores.  Sorry if that makes me a donkey, but I'm having a great chuckle at my desk right now.  Thanks, it's helped break the tension in an otherwise very stressful week.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wb8bAl1P-N0/SAy_3RiBOuI/AAAAAAAACEE/cQ3Gc5jTp3E/s320/sniffing+glue.jpg)

I didnt see one in the exhibits, but regardless they are supposed to show that they comply with the zoning law that regulates "light trespass" from their site either way (1303-c).

It should look something like this:

Back in the early 90s I lived in a house on Carson directly behind this store. At 2-3am you "could" walk out my back door and go right in the back door of QT and buy something, say, a case of beer.

Good times.

Why in the world did you ever move!!!

Ahhh...there's the rub.  Is QT a "Gasoline Service Station," a "retail trade establishment" or a "convenience goods and services?"  (It matters from a zoning perspective.)

But you're right.  QT's business plan is based on getting cars in and out.  The fact that, in some neighborhoods, a lot of people walk to QT to purchase items (I used to walk to this store on a regular basis to buy milk), is irrelevant to them.  They, like all national chains, have developed a "one-size-fits-all" mentality.  Great for them.  Bad for historic neighborhoods, where Tulsa's zoning code encourages suburban models of development.  (Remember, shops on Cherry Street and Brookside would be illegal under current zoning.)

In keeping with my quixotic attempts to encourage appropriate urban design in urban areas, I spoke with one of the QT reps about offering an "urban QT" in downtown Tulsa. (No gas.  Walkable design.)  To her credit, she didn't laugh in my face.  (I'm sure she held it in, and then laughed so hard she snorted her QT fountain drink all over the inside of her car upon leaving City Hall...)

I got married.

Ah, the sacrifices we must make....

Back when you and I were growing up, QT, Git-N-Go, U-Totem, Circle K, etc. ad nauseum were places we'd ride our bikes to or walk, they were what neighborhood grocers more or less evolved into.  After getting off the school bus every afternoon, me and my "bicycle gang" buddies would ride about a mile to the nearest QT at 81st & Harvard in Walnut Creek (the one on the west side of Harvard).  That's when QT would still build in a strip center.  At that time I think that store had two pumps or it might have been one double-sider.  I seem to remember there actually being QT's without gas pumps in the late 1970's.

I don't remember at what point it was they decided gasoline retail was their bright future and that's why they went to these stand-alone stores exclusively with pump islands, but I do recall they made a big deal of it somewhere around 20 years ago or so, I'd guess.  It's become the reason for their big box mentality (or is it small box in their case?).  I don't know that their classification is even relevant anymore (convenience, gas retailer, etc.) Doesn't the city just say: "Oh it's another QT set of permits, send them through the express lane!"?

Mike Thornbrugh seems to be the go-to guy on QT real estate, maybe you could sniff out his email address and suggest an urban QT concept. 

I wasn't lampooning anyone in particular in my prior comments, BTW.  In case you hadn't noticed, I usually do like to dig out the irony in things.  ;)

What I think is sad is how lame the QT stores look here compared to the ones I saw in the Dallas area while visiting a couple months ago.  I mentioned this to a friend who lives there and he says its because they are required to look nicer.  I saw several that were very nice, light stone on the exteriors and stone covering the columns that hold up the nicer canopies over the pumps, soft soothing lighting, etc.  They were actually classy looking lol. Its frustrating that the ones in QTs own home town look like crap in comparison.

Take a look at all the craptastic Tuscan dryvit nightmares in Tulsa and that might provide a clue as to why our commercial buildings don't look vastly better.  Amazing what passes for "aesthetically pleasing" around here.

here is a customer feedback page on QT's website. I know for a fact they get read daily.  You can ask to be notified if you like and they will call you back.  It goes to the division office first, then corp.  I know Thornbrughs email address but couldnt find it anywhere on the net, so they might not want it to be public.  None the less, the customer comments form should get the message across.

http://www.quiktrip.com/QTCustomerFeedback/QTCustomerFeedbackForm.aspx

They use firstinitial+lastname@quiktrip.com for their email addresses.

Looking forward to seeing the new store design. Hopefully the vehicle traffic will flow more easily to and from it.

My wife and I live in Bixby and frequent the QT at 151st & Memorial, walk to it on a regular basis since it is only about 4 blocks from our house, and I wish they would do something to help the traffic flow around that location. It is a nightmare for both vehicles and pedestrians due to the smallish parking lot and the resulting congestion.

I would say this store probably has more pedestrian traffic than any QT in Tulsa, which it would seem would then make sense for them to make the pedestrian experience better.  Isn't this also QT's busiest store anywhere?

No, I think that honor goes to the one at 161st & I-44.

My neighbor (who lives on Carson) was on the design team for this new store GEN III prototype.

If it sucks for the neighbors we will be in his front yard with torches and pitchforks and give the word "mob" a bad name.

Being a fellow neighbor I want an invite to the party...

Consider it done, if you look off of your balcony and see the torches moving north on Carson grab an effigy and join in.

Looks like another new QT is going up (not a new gen) at a very interesting parcel of land.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=36.089226,-95.834245&num=1&t=h&sll=36.089186,-95.834057&sspn=0.003091,0.004726&ie=UTF8&ll=36.089303,-95.834239&spn=0.003091,0.004726&z=18&iwloc=near

The shape is what makes it interesting.  I work just a half mile north of this.

Smart location actually. Lots and lots of new homes going in just east of there in BA. Many of those folks may shoot down 51st into town. And of course being visible near the highway wont hurt.

That's gonna be a traffic nightmare though.  Frontage to two roads, one a small frontage on S 129th/Olive and will likely be right turn only unless they do what they did at 11th and 169.  I work in the old Oxy Center which is the Merit Park, and having QT Corporate, State Farm, TCHD and HSBC right there will make for a traffic nightmare during rush hours.

hate to bump this old topic, but this new QT opened over the weekend and, my mistake, it IS the new design.  First one completed in town.  It was a 'soft open' (the grand opening is Thursday).

I like it.  I was mistaken in thinking it was smaller than the other QT's as well.  The new set of Google images shows its differences from it and the older design.  I was pleasantly surprised at how thoughtfully laid out the whole store is.

Looks like they are building a new one with this design on the west side of Gilcrease Road from the existing one just north of 412.

That was actually supposed to be the one to open first; but I think QT drug their heels and didn't get the process to obtain the land from ODOT in a timely fashion.  Look at Google; they're also building one at the 15th/Denver location, but instead of building across the street from it as they're doing at the west side location, the building is being built directly behind the existing one.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=36.141024,-95.991889&spn=0.001475,0.002411&t=h&z=19

I assumed you were talking about the 15th & Denver one.  I was thinking: "How the hell did they have the opening this weekend?"

That would have been one quick building finish and demo as the old store was still out front as of Saturday.

"Extreme Make-Over, QT Edition"

Indulge me in a little drift: thanks again to QT for the plaza at 41st & Riverside.  It's nice to see how well it's utilized when I've been driving past and riding through.  We stopped for a couple of Grilla Ray dogs on Saturday- good stuff, they use Siegi's sausages.

My neighbor is an architect for QT & he said it will be cool how they take down the old one.

If I understood it correctly...

They will close at midnight & reopen by noon the next day.  The old store will be bulldozed while the new one is being stocked.

Of course, there will be a lot of concrete work that has to be done afterwards.  I live right behind it & may stop in every cpl of hours to check on progress & take pics.

The new design is definitely a better fit for the area.

That is QT policy. Stores will only close for a remodel and then they close for no more than 24 hours.