Tulsa Commercial Real Estate – Using Creativity To Add Value To Downtown

Tulsa Commercial Real Estate -

Using Creativity To Add Value To Downtown

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

Adding value to downtown urban environment can be more than a little challenging. Lack of parking, lack of foot traffic, lack of infrastructure and the general lack of public interest in reviving a less-than-exciting downtown can all be potential problems. In fact in a city like Tulsa, where our downtown has not been vibrant since the 80s oil crash, the concept of a vibrant downtown might be hard for some to even conceptualize. Having been to New York City, Chicago, the 4th Street Live District in Louisville, Kentucky I have witnessed first hand what a thriving downtown community looks like. But for those that have not witnessed a thriving downtown community first hand, I can understand how it might be challenging to get excited about a concept that you have never scene. To help bridge the gap between where our downtown community currently is and where we ultimately want to take it, I think we should turn our attention to the Brady District in downtown Tulsa for a moment. This downtown community has made the decision to become their own catalyst for urban renewal by infusing some creativity into the scene. They are creating a buzz by simply adding a new variable and a new element to the current downtown scene.

If you were to take a walk around downtown Tulsa today, you really could not a find a more historical area than the Brady District. This area is filled with iconic buildings that point to once vibrant downtown community. This area is also filled with new trendy businesses that offer a glimpse at what Tulsa’s downtown community will look like once the momentum has been fully established. Unless you have lived under a rock for the past 7 years, you are probably now well aware that Tulsa’s downtown has been working its way through a recovery and through a marvelous reinvention of itself lately. With Vision 2025, the completion of the OneOK Field and the downtown BOK Center, the city’s downtown is again beginning to thrive, but not it is up to the private business community to see this reinvention to completion. In the Brady District today you can now see newly rehabbed streets, a local restaurants that are beginning to thrive again.
Historic buildings that were once empty are now home to new eating establishments, lofts and various downtown renewal projects. Because the Brady District has such a rich heritage, many Tulsans believe that it is the true heart of the Tulsa’s downtown art community. This district is home of the historic “Cain’s Ballroom.” This building was originally built in 1924, and is located at 423 North Main Street. This building was constructed by the Brady family to serve as an actual garage. However, Madison W. Cain purchased the building in 1930. Shortly after purchasing the facility, he renamed it, “Cain’s Dance Academy.” He then installed a huge dance floor. The facility has since been on an 80 year roller coaster ride mixed with much success and failure. The building has thrived, and it has struggled at times. Recently the facility has been rehabbed again. This time the facility has been updated with a glorious state of the art sound system, adequate restrooms, a new bar area and a revamp of its entire ceiling look. The drop down ceilings are gone and a new exposed look at the ceiling now remains.

The buildings located around Cain’s Ballroom are now also filled with artistic venues and businesses including, Miller Photography, TAC Gallery, Tulsa Violin Shop, the Living Arts of Tulsa and various other businesses and organizations of note. Today there are also a wide variety of restaurants for downtown patrons to check out during or after their work day. Spaghetti Warehouse, Mexical Border Cafe, Caz’s Chowhouse and various other restaurants now call this area home. There seems to be renewed buzz around this area. People now walk the streets, diners now enjoy quality food here and concert goers can now be seen on a consistent basis. This area seems to be generating quite a momentum. The momentum finally is beginning to feel sustainable for this area of town.

In terms of commercial real estate development, this area will soon also benefit from the nearly $20 million dollar Mathews Warehouse Building project. This Project which is supposed to cost around $18.3 million dollars, is being developed by the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council. Once completed the project will serve as the home for various art studios, classrooms and offices. Another project that will soon be underway is the VAC project. Although many Tulsans might have not heard of this project at this point, this project is being talked about and pushed by Ken Levit and the George Kaiser family. When this project is done will cost and estimated $30 million + dollars and will be home to the Oklahoma Museum of Music and Popular Culture. I will be calling it the Oklahoma Pop, but you can call it whatever you like. And as if their was not enough private development going on, Channel 6 and the Griffin Communications team will begin construction on their new TV station soon as well behind
Cain’s ballroom. If you have not yet been downtown to see what all the excitement is about I encourage you to check it out. “Walkable Urbanism” is returning to downtown and I am excited to see it.

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

For more information about downtown Tulsa, downtown Tulsa commercial real estate, commercial real estate in Tulsa, Tulsa commercial real estate, Tulsa real estate, commercial real estate listings in Tulsa, Tulsa commercial real estate listings and real estate in Tulsa call Fears & & Clark Tulsa Commercial Real Estate Group today at 918-481-2080.

posted Monday, September 27th, 2010
posted under: Blog, Real Estate 101 tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,