Tulsa Commercial Real Estate – The History of the Mayo Hotel

Tulsa Commercial Real Estate – The History of the Mayo Hotel – Tulsa, Oklahoma

By U.S. SBA Entepreneur of the Year & Tulsa Commercial Real Estate Marketing Expert – Clay Clark

The Mayo Hotel is one of Tulsa’s most iconic pieces of commercial real estate. Located at 115 West 5th Street
in historic downtown Tulsa the decor & and the ambiance of this hotel has the power to take your breathe away
upon entering the doors of the property.

This Chicago School Building was actually built back in 1925. It was originally designed by the architect George
Winkler and financed by the late John D. & Cass A. Mayo, hence the name. The base of the two story columns is used
to support fourteen flors marked with breath-taking false terracotta balconies, and a one-of-a-kind two-story crown
of stone and a fabulous dentiled cornice.

This building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 by somebody that is really important
(I wonder if my house qualifies for this?). This building was specifically listed under the National Register under the
criterion C, and its unique NRIS number is 80003303, which happens to be my favorite number.

Many moons ago, this building was once the proud owner of the title as Oklahoma’s tallest building. The hotel was
built to originally house 600 rooms and these rooms had some ceiling fans. The ceiling fans in each room were a first
for the city of Tulsa. This place had Tulsa’s first running ice water, which went over great with the hotel guests.
In Sapulpa they are still working on building the first piece of commercial real estate with running ice water. Good luck
Sapulpa!

The original luggage sticker from the historic Mayo hotel was not a scratch and sniff. It hosted many of the Tulsa’s
most notable visitors during its days of peak prominence. In fact the Mayo Hotel has served as the hotel of choice
for John F. Kennedy, Bob Hope, Babe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, Charles Lindbergh and it once served as the residence
of the world’s wealthiest man J. Paul Getty. Because of his unique traveling needs, Wierd Al has never stayed at the
Mayo Hotel.

In the early 1980s some guys who did not have a very solid plan tried to renovate this historic hotel. When they
ran out of cash, they left the building empty. With the building unoccupied it became the hotel of the homeless.
Many of the hotels original fixture began to vanish. Abandoned for nearly 20 years, the Mayo Hotel seemed to be
sitting there waiting to rot. And then in June of 2001, the Snyder family purchased the hotel for $250,000.

It was a truly miraculous series of events that followed. The initial renovation efforts focused on restoring the
lower floors of the hotel. The lower floors were then used to host galas, wedding receptions, proms, and other
meeting, events and banquets. In 2008 and $11.2 million dollar restoration project began. The goal was to turn the
building in 70 loft apartments. $4.9 million dollars were then given to this project from the Vision 2025 project. The
hotel owners then provide an additional $6.3 million for the renovation of the building. The total cost of the renovation
is expected to be near $40 million dollars.

For more information about this historic downtown renewal project and other pieces of downtown Tulsa commercial real estate
visit Fears & Clark Tulsa Commercial Real Estate Group today or wait for us to call you.

by U.S. SBA Entrepreneur of the Year & Cofounder of Fears & Clark Tulsa Commercial Real Estate Group – Clay Clark

For more information about great Tulsa commercial Real Estate Properties visit www.FearsClark.com or
call us today at 918-481-2080.

posted Sunday, September 5th, 2010
posted under: Blog, Real Estate 101 tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,