Archive for February, 2016

Kaiser Foundation takes on another large Brady District development

Posted on: February 25th, 2016 by Chris Lilly No Comments

Link to the original story.

 

The George Kaiser Family Foundation is about to embark on another major conversion of an underused building in the Brady District.

This time the target is the white warehouse on the north side of Archer Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Detroit Avenue. The $25 million to $30 million renovation of the 72,000-square-foot building will create 14 artist apartments, 35 artist work spaces and eight to 10 retail spaces on the first floor.

Most of the retail spaces have already been rented out, and Stanton Doyle, senior program officer with the foundation, said the tenants include Magic City Books, a bookstore to be operated by the new Tulsa Literary Coalition; Glacier Chocolate and Holy Mountain Records.

Doyle said it’s too soon to identify the rest, although the foundation said the foundation’s aim is to bring new experiences to the area.

“We’re hoping to find local, unique businesses that fill a niche in downtown,” he said.

The foundation wants to continue to reactivate local buildings that are underused, but the Archer development was also motivated by massive interest in the foundation’s new Tulsa Artist Fellowship program, which was started last year, Doyle said.

The foundation’s original goal was to choose 12 fellows and put them into apartments within the foundation’s Universal Ford and Hotel Fox development.

“When we put out the call for applications last year, we got 350 applicants,” Doyle said. “We’ve got a lot of demand for the housing and artist space, and we’re hoping to keep up.”

The apartments and studio spaces in the Archer building will allow the foundation to expand Tulsa Artist Fellowship next year, which is currently accepting applications.

Doyle said that in addition to the existing 12 fellows, Tulsa Artist Fellowship hopes to add between five and 15 visual artists and between five and 15 writers, all of whom will get housing, workspace and a stipend. The foundation will need even more living space than the Archer building can provide.

Conversion of the building will be underway soon, with the apartments targeted for a January 2017 finish date and the retail spaces finished a few months later, he said.

Chris Lilly, head of Lilly Architects, said the firm plans a historic renovation of the building — but that doesn’t mean it’ll look the same as it does now.

“It’s misleading to what the building looked like historically,” he said. “All the original openings have been filled up with masonry, and it’s been painted over.”

The conversion will uncover the plugged openings and remove the paint, and Doyle said they’re hoping to keep any old logos or signs they uncover. The interior will also keep original features such as the concrete support columns.

Lilly said the Archer building was originally constructed in 1926, and expanded multiple times since then. Over the years it’s been used as warehouse space for a range of companies, most recently storage by the building’s current owner, Bank of Oklahoma.

Doyle said the foundation is leasing the building from BOK.

Construction on the foundation’s $16 million Hotel Fox and Universal Ford conversion is wrapping up, with only a few upstairs offices and the Prairie Artisan Ales brew pub left to finish. Doyle estimated the brew pub will open up by April.

That development includes Antoinette Baking Co., The Tavern, a rumored speakeasy, the new entrepreneurial incubator 36 Degrees North, 31 apartments and office space.

The foundation also renovated the Mathews Warehouse and Tulsa Paper Co. building in the Brady District for the Woody Guthrie Center and Philbrook Downtown, among other tenants.

 

Lilly Architects, Tulsa OK

Commercial / Residential Architecture, and Interior Design

Phone: (918) 582-5044

New coalition to open Brady district book store

Posted on: February 24th, 2016 by Chris Lilly No Comments

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A newly formed nonprofit organization, the Tulsa Literary Coalition, plans to bring the art of literature to the Brady Arts District and beyond.

The coalition will open Magic City Books, an independent book store, on the corner of Archer Street and Detroit Avenue. The store will occupy the anchor position in a building owned by the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

Renovation of the building, to be led by Lilly Architects, will begin soon, with the store itself opening in late 2016 or early 2017.

The completed store will also include a newsstand, a cafe offering light fare, along with coffees, teas, wines and beer, and a meeting room.

The coalition will sponsor book discussion groups, literary panel discussions dealing with social and cultural issues, writing workshops and other programs.

Proceeds from Magic City Books will go to fund the Tulsa Literary Coalition, which plans to present and host a variety of literary-related events throughout the city.

The idea for the Tulsa Literary Coalition and Magic City Books is one Cindy Hulsey, director of adult services at the Tulsa City-County Library, and Jeff Martin, founder of BookSmart Tulsa had been discussing for some time.

“We just thought that the time was right,” said Hulsey, who will leave the library in April to be executive director of the Tulsa Literary Coalition. “Then we were given this incredible opportunity through the George Kaiser Family Foundation for the building. They were eager to see a bookstore open in the Brady district. It just seemed as if all the stars were aligning for this to happen.”

Hulsey said the idea of linking the bookstore with the nonprofit was a way of making both entities self-sustainable.

Martin, who also serves as president of the Tulsa Literary Coalition’s board of directors, said Magic City Books will have a “curated inventory” of titles.

“We’re not big enough to have every title available on our shelves,” he said. “This store is a return to the community neighborhood bookstore, where you can really hand-sell books and have the sort of personal interaction that people are wanting.”

Tulsa has not had an independent book store — one offering new books as opposed to used — since Steve’s Sundry, Books and Magazines closed in December 2013.

However, Tulsa has earned a reputation as a “literary city,” due in large to the efforts of BookSmart Tulsa and the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, which Teresa Miller led until October 2015.

These organizations brought to Tulsa a number of leading authors, ranging from David Sedaris to Sir Salman Rushdie and Pat Conroy to Neil Gaiman.

Sedaris and Rushdie are members of the coalition’s advisory board, along with Miller, Jonathan Franzen, Ann Patchett, Blake Bailey, Nancy Pearl, Lane Smith and Daniel H. Wilson.

Martin said BookSmart Tulsa will remain a separate entity, although it will host many of its events at Magic City Books.

“Our larger events will be done at venues around the city as before,” Martin said.

Hulsey said one of the coalition’s long-term goals is to establish a literary festival that will be held in the Brady Arts District.

“We will be wanting to bring in a lot of community partners because we want this project to be big,” she said.

 

Lilly Architects, Tulsa OK

Commercial / Residential Architecture, and Interior Design

Phone: (918) 582-5044

Kaiser Foundation Plans $30M Renovation For Brady District Building

Posted on: February 23rd, 2016 by Chris Lilly No Comments

Link to the original story.

 

TULSA, Oklahoma – At almost 100 years young, another one of Tulsa’s historic buildings will get a new life thanks to a major renovation set to begin next month. An old warehouse in the heart of the Brady Arts District has sat empty for years. The 72,000 square foot building might not look like much now, but the George Kaiser Family Foundation has big plans for the space.

One of the first tenants announced is a bookstore, but that is just the beginning.

Built-in the 1920s, the Archer Building has strong bones but is in need of a fix-up. The original tin tiles line the walls and the old warehouse doors help tell its story.

But in March, The George Kaiser Family Foundation will start writing the new chapter – a $30 million renovation that will include 35 artist studios and 14 apartments for those involved with the Tulsa Artist Fellowship.

On the bottom floor, up to ten new restaurants and businesses – one of which will be Magic City Books, supported by the Tulsa Literary Coalition.

Board President Jeff Martin gave News On 6 a tour and history lesson on the ‘Magic City’ term; apparently coined by President Teddy Roosevelt after you could get rich from oil here – like magic.

“We wanted to enforce that our magic time is not over, it is right now, and what is in the future,” Martin said.

Novels will line the walls and there will be event space for things like book clubs.

Martin said, “It’s hard to imagine ’cause it’s raw right now, but when it comes together it will be beautiful, and special and super cozy like a favorite book store should be.”

And once you’re done reading your books, maybe you’ll be in the market for a unique vinyl. Holy Mountain records will be moving from 11th Street into the Brady District.

Owner Jay Hancock called the opportunity to pair with GKFF, mind-blowing, and, at first, hard to believe.

“We’re just little guys. There is no way this is going to come to fruition,” he said.

But it is, and Hancock said not much will change as far as the shop is concerned – except the premiere location in the heart of the Brady Arts District.

Glacier Chocolates will also be opening a second location called the City of Chocolate. It will have everything from the bean to the final product and around 7000 square feet of an educational component.

 

Lilly Architects, Tulsa OK

Commercial / Residential Architecture, and Interior Design

Phone: (918) 582-5044