It’s hot out there. But downtown is still moving forward at a fast clip, and I guess, so must I. As I’ve reported before, more hotels are likley to be announced, most of them in Bricktown.

More housing is coming too - and much of it will be targeted to the pent-up demand for downtown homes priced at less than $200,000.

I’m also beginning to see signs that the folks in Bricktown may be awakening to reality - let’s wait and see of course - but surely a decade of demanding $20 a square foot and not getting it should be a loud and clear answer from the market about what is and isn’t realistic.

Had a nice visit with the owner of Lit Clothing, which opened up in The Centennial. Overall, Lower Bricktown still isn’t hitting the retail mix I know some leaders hoped for several years ago, but it’s getting closer to offering the sort of diversity that’s been missing from Bricktown since day one.

I talked with Chuck Ainsworth, and yes, that is construction you can see starting up in what will the American Banjo Museum. Now, if only someone could close a deal to have the Mickey Mantle Museum. Then we would really have a regional tourism destination.

Automobile Alley is still humming along. I visited with Steve Mason yesterday and I’ll have a story on that soon. I also visited with Marva Ellard, and things are going nicely with her redevelopment of the Sieber Hotel. The Sieber family is still very emotionally attached to that old building and it’s not unusual to find one of them driving by … veeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy sssssssssssllllllllllllloooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllllyyyyyyyy.

Marva is definitely one of those folks I’d call a “building hugger.” I asked her what she thought about Bert Belanger tearing down the old sex offender houses and plans to tear down the boarded up nursing home on Broadway Drive. Her response was ho-hum at best… I’m not hearing from any people who really consider these properties a big loss.

That’s it for now. Sorry for the dearth of posts this week. 

Posted: 24 Jul, 2008 |
Categories: Flat Iron District , MidTown , preservation , Automobile Alley , Bricktown By: slackmeyer.