I wonder about our population and income growth. The national economy has been roaring along but I don't see comparable growth happening here. Not really much in the way of "cranes in the air" or much housing/population infill. The Gathering Place doesn't really count, wonderful for us as a promotion point, but it was a donation. There are a smattering of average projects currently underway downtown/mid-town. Some potential decent projects in the pipeline (will keep our fingers crossed that they happen but as time goes by we are getting closer to the next recession and that stuff being halted). Even much of the development we do see I wonder how our past tepid population growth has changed now. Are we in negative territory with population decline... in an economic boom period? What happens when things go bad if these are the good times? Or have things turned the corner and we are seeing more robust population growth? (thing is again, I don't see much in the way of new housing that would reflect any decent population growth).
As others have said, despite the national economy doing well Tulsa and Oklahoma were in an economic downturn during the oil downturn that slowed a lot of things from 2014-2017. We are just now getting out of that this year so population effects have not yet been realized. Furthermore, population isn't something that should be focused on year to year as much. Overall trends show the metro is growing at a stable rate. Tulsa is more suburban-focused and flocking to the suburbs is still en vogue here. Tulsa did a lot better than other cities from 2008-2012 during the "great recession". The things that stabilize Tulsa's economy during those time can also limit growth during good times because there isn't as much of a rebound. Many had to move for jobs during the oil downturn. Many have had to move here in 2018 to fill new O&G jobs. When times are "good" people tend to flock to higher cost of living areas and when things are not, people move to places with better affordability like Tulsa (There was a huge population uptick to southern states from 2008-2014 and then uptick to west coast/CO since then).
The massive thread "Downtown Development Overview" had some lists of all the projects planned or in process that hasn't been updated in a while but there are tons or projects in or close to downtown with tons of new residential (such as the massive apartment complex at 15th and Riverside). There are what 5-7 hotels have been completed or close to in downtown right now. There's the large building right across from OneOK field and part 2 of GreenArch apartments to start soon. Several big projects underway on Cherry Street or by Utica Square. Tons of revitilization in old neighborhoods in midtown where old houses and buildings are being renovated. There is a tremendous amount of growth in downtown/midtown compared to 10 or especially 20 years ago.
It's easy to take all the stuff we've seen being built/recently completed for granted but getting to this point is pretty remarkable. Downtown is actually lively a lot of times in a lot of areas and feels more like a big city now. The First Friday Art Crawl in the Arts District is tremendous with thousands of attendees. It really feels like a big-city. Those types of enhancements make Tulsa a city people will want to move to. The effects on our overall population haven't yet been realized as those things take time. There's only so much space in Tulsa for big housing developments but there's been tons of those too, especially in the south and east. And large industrial expansions in places like east Tulsa that are adding many jobs. It is tough to overcome the amount of people flocking out of run-down areas in east and north/northwest Tulsa. That is something those numbers are fighting. People are flocking from certain areas to suburbs. The only way to fight that is inward-focused development which has been happening and will hopefully create enough vibrant areas people want to live in the inner city and so the development makes its way outwards over time.
This is just a list of east downtown:
I've done a quick map showing all the changes on the East side of Downtown, it's really rather amazing.
1. Brady Flats - long delayed but still supposed to be built.
2. OKPOP! - finally passed the state house/senate.
3. BOK Foundation Warehouse - rumored to be converted into office/retail mix.
4. Gates Warehouse - retail and KSQ Architects HQ.
5. 120 Brady Village - hotel, office, and retail with underground parking.
6. Holiday Inn Express
7. The View - ARG project, 200 units and 20,000 sq. ft. of retail.
8. GreenArch Phase II
9. Hogan Assessment HQ
10. Bacon & Sun Property - Sagar project so who knows what will happen, dinosaurs might be walking the earth by the time he does anything with this.
11. Hartford Building Redevelopment - Synders project, 90 units, retail (possible grocer), and office.
12. Santa Fe Square - Office, retail, 200 units, and possible hotel.
13. PAC lot redevelopment - Rumored and confirmed from multiple sources. Grocer is likely to be constructed here which might play into the delay of the Hartford building. Other mix of development would be built as well, but not sure the specifics on this.
14. Ross Group HQ
15. Boxyard - Retail in shipping containers, 320 sq. ft. spaces.
16. The Edge - ARG project
17. Urban 8
18. New Elliot Nelson concept (German food) - building permits have been filed and he bought this property several months ago.
19. The Dock - retail and possibly office.
20. Greyhound Station - recently bought by Larsen development. Likely to be redevelopment, not sure what into. Plans are on hold due to legal issues with site 22.
21. Core LLC - likely mixed-use development, it's currently in "concept" stage so this is likely to be a few years out. They have been in discussions with retail consultants. Rumors are also of a retailer buying this land and adjacent Nordam site for a new Tulsa location.
22. East End Village Lofts - delayed by lawsuits.
Another post about what was in process late 2015:
With the Palace Building conversion starting by my count that makes 21 projects under construction in downtown Tulsa right now:
- Tulsa Central Library 5th and Denver Complete Rehab of Central Library
Urban 8 2nd and Kenosha 8 Residential for Sale Units
Avanti Building 810 S Cincinnatti Reconstruction of Office Building
YMCA Lofts 5th and Denver Residential Conversion of former YMCA
East End Village 2nd and Kenosha Residential Conversion of Bill White Chevy Dealership
Harrington's Lofts 7th and Boston Residential Conversion of former Department Store
Main and Cameron Lofts Main and Cameron Residential Conversion of Former Warehouse
Hampton Inn 3rd and Cheyenne New Construction Hotel
The Edge at East Village 215 S Greenwood New Residential Building
Hogan Assessments HQ NE Corner of 1st and Greenwood New Office Building
Mincks-Adams Hotel Building 403 S Cheyene Residential Conversion of office building on national register of historic places
Transok Building 2 W. Sixth St Residential Conversion of hotel on national register of historic places
111 W 5th Building 111 W 5th Residential Conversion of office building
Rehabilitation Center 13th and Trenton New Construction Rehab Center by Hillcrest Hospital
Dead Armadillo Brewery 1004 E 4th Microbrewey in converted warehouse space
Fox Hotel/Universal Ford Building Main and Brady Retail/Residential Conversion
International Harvester Building 2nd and Frankfort Conversion to Office Space
Gates Hardware Building Elgin and Brady Conversion to Office Space and Retail
400 S Boston Building 4th and Boston Conversion to Residential
Palace Building 4th and Main Conversion to Residential
Residence Inn 5th and Cheyenne New Construction Hotel
The site for the 22nd project, The View at Greenwood, just finished demo work and should start very soon. These 22 projects have a total 869 residential units, 230 hotel rooms, 50,000 sq ft of retail and 325,000 sq ft of office space.
Tons of new living units and developments! This is just some of them and both lists are outdated by several years. It excludes the large amount of things going on in Pearl District and Kendall-Whittier. There's far more hustle and bustle downtown and midtown now than there was 10 years ago. Density is going up but infill is limited in some areas by single-family homes. There was a tally posted that they have added close to 2,000 new living units downtown over the last 4/5 years. That infill will overflow, especially as these new projects finish up and downtown becomes more fun and lively. This is a downtown that was practically a ghost town after 5pm just 10-15 years ago.