The Village at Woodland Hills

[sgrizzle]

I've often wondered what this center did wrong. It's at 71st and Memorial, has been there some 20 years, and has some spaces that have never been leased. Now, it is being remodeled in the ever-so-popular Italian Renaissance design.




Full Story: http://www.tulsaworld.com/BusinessStory.asp?ID=070207_Bu_E1_Cente28370#

Also, the former Stake & Ale/Coaches/Okie-Dokies has been leveled in favor of a new strip mall, and there is a zoning change sign posted next to one of Woodland Hills Mall's overflow parking lots on 71st St.

[BKDotCom]

From the rendering, it appears Pep Boys will be removed...  How about Red Lobster, Crave, & Blockbuster?

[tim huntzinger]

quote:Now, it is being remodeled in the ever-so-popular Italian Renaissance design.

Tuscan for Tulsans!

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by BKDotCom

From the rendering, it appears Pep Boys will be removed...  How about Red Lobster, Crave, & Blockbuster?

I think that view is from behind pep boys. Right now the road T's and I think they are going to make it go straight through.

[aoxamaxoa]

This project made one monumental mistake from the get go....the engineer was told to save money on the development so the grading was marginalized causing the center to be hidden behind the parking lot. A major error to save a few bucks. The lack of frontage on Memorial deterred major retailers from locating here as visibility became an issue. That fact and the timing (1984?) made this a second rate development. The RTC took it over by the late 80's as the owner never made a single payment on the debt leaving the taxpayer as the loser.

I think Mervyn's may become a big gym but it falls outside this development.

Yes, I am always amazed at how architects pull out their crayons to paint a picture that is not true. Like the river projects that do not show the refineries or the tank yards. The facades of the Village will be raised some 14 feet to increase frontage visibility and that still will not help. Spaces have been there 22 years and have never been occupied.

[cannon_fodder]

I wonder how long it will take place to realize the strip mall looks far neater, makes for a better urban space, and draws more attention with the building close to the road and parking to the rear.

Why do they all have a desire to display their vast parking lot while I have to strain to see what shops are in there?

[aoxamaxoa]

It's done because the retailers demand it be that way. This center was done speculative with no anchors lined up ahead of time. I agree the center could have been a Utica Square south had the timing been different. But with the number one retail center across the street they thought it was a no brainer.

[Hawkins]

I think the Village Shopping Center was designed to play off of the major draw of Woodland Hills mall across the street.

The main problem, as already addressed here, is that the front buildings, Pep Boys, Red Lobster, Blockbuster, blocked the view of the back of the strip, and hurt those businesses, and damaged the ability of the center to charge premium rent for those back spots.

There also existed a serious lack of front signage for these back tenants.

The 2nd bad thing to happen to them was when the Cinemark became a Movies 8 dollar theatre. The writing was on the wall to GET OUT at that point.

The third problem with the center is that it was managed by Leinbach... and quite frankly, they suck.

[aoxamaxoa]

quote:Originally posted by Hawkins

I think the Village Shopping Center was designed to play off of the major draw of Woodland Hills mall across the street.

The main problem, as already addressed here, is that the front buildings, Pep Boys, Red Lobster, Blockbuster, blocked the view of the back of the strip, and hurt those businesses, and damaged the ability of the center to charge premium rent for those back spots.

There also existed a serious lack of front signage for these back tenants.

The 2nd bad thing to happen to them was when the Cinemark became a Movies 8 dollar theatre. The writing was on the wall to GET OUT at that point.

The third problem with the center is that it was managed by Leinbach... and quite frankly, they suck.

Those buildings came much later.....Visibility was the problem from day one....lousy engineers. Sack of sheets.....

[tulsa1603]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

I wonder how long it will take place to realize the strip mall looks far neater, makes for a better urban space, and draws more attention with the building close to the road and parking to the rear.

Why do they all have a desire to display their vast parking lot while I have to strain to see what shops are in there?

Talk to the city.  You can build parking out past a setback line, you can't build a building past the setback line.  Therefore, to get the most bang for your buck on a piece of property, it will almost always make more sens to ring it in parking.

[tulsa1603]

quote:Originally posted by aoxamaxoa



Yes, I am always amazed at how architects pull out their crayons to paint a picture that is not true. Like the river projects that do not show the refineries or the tank yards. The facades of the Village will be raised some 14 feet to increase frontage visibility and that still will not help. Spaces have been there 22 years and have never been occupied.

Architects are paid by the client/developer to make their project look as good as possible. A client isn't interested in showing what negatives surround a site....especially when those negatives are out of their control. Demonizing architects as "crayon" grabbers is not going to solve anything.

[aoxamaxoa]

quote:Originally posted by tulsa1603

quote:Originally posted by aoxamaxoa



Yes, I am always amazed at how architects pull out their crayons to paint a picture that is not true. Like the river projects that do not show the refineries or the tank yards. The facades of the Village will be raised some 14 feet to increase frontage visibility and that still will not help. Spaces have been there 22 years and have never been occupied.

Architects are paid by the client/developer to make their project look as good as possible. A client isn't interested in showing what negatives surround a site....especially when those negatives are out of their control. Demonizing architects as "crayon" grabbers is not going to solve anything.

Ok....I will accept that. But they need to tell the developer/owner that it is better to paint a realistic picture than attempting to be deceitful.

[Who Cares]

I ferquent movies 8 quite a bit, it's like the best dollar theater in tulsa, and by the way, It's still owned by Cinemark.

[sgrizzle]

I went to the Cinemark theater recently. I was quite impressed by the fact everything was clean and in working order. They even had the automated ticket sales and internet tickets. No broken lights, busted Galaga machines or otherwise. Movies are $1.50 at night but they compensate by charging above rate for concessions. It is definitely still making money.

[Hawkins]

Anyway you slice it guys, a $1 movie house spells lower class for a shopping center.