This week, Flaherty & Collins Properties and Reasor’s officials gave Tulsa Performing Arts Center (TPAC) Trust board members a preview of what a downtown grocery store and luxury apartment community could look like in downtown Tulsa.
The project – dubbed “Annex” – will be a mixed-use development at the performing arts center’s parking lot, connected to Cincinnati and Detroit avenues and Second and Third streets.
Annex would have 312 beds and 240 units of apartments.
The meeting was another step in moving forward with the project.
Ryan Cronk, Vice President of Development for Flaherty & Collins Properties, led the presentation to the board and assembled members of the public. Cronk showcased how people across the country, and in Tulsa, are “moving back into the urban core” and that many large corporations are moving back into downtown to be near their workers. Millennials – a target demographic of key renters – are renting much longer and want to live an urban area, Cronk said. Corporations are following them, and urban areas are seeing a need for a grocery store.
“A grocery store is what all residents want,” said Cronk.
The project would also feature a multi-story parking garage with 636 spaces. Shoppers would be able to present a receipt and park for free.
Annex would also include room for a 6,000-square-foot restaurant and 8,000 square feet of additional retail space.
Interest and demand for downtown Tulsa grocery store has steadily risen as construction of residential units downtown has ticked up over the past five years. According to real estate firm CBRE, there are about 6,000 permanent residents in downtown Tulsa with about 1,000 more beds under construction.
Commercial real estate experts say a grocery store is a key step in order for downtown to gain a critical mass of retail. The board members could vote on accepting the proposal and then move forward with agreeing to a contract at their next meeting in September.