A Jetsons-like future is beginning to take shape in Tulsa.
Osage Nation’s Skyway 36 is a budding autonomous flight technology center located just a few miles north of downtown.
Its managerial reins recently were handed to Oklahoma City-based DronePort Network, which entered into a four-year contract with Osage LLC to develop and oversee the facility. It will include a renovated hangar and office space, a 3,000-foot runway suitable for small, fixed-wing aircraft and helipad space for unmanned aerial systems and electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles.
The center, 1211 W. 36th St. North, also has onsite aircraft fueling, parking and an Osage Nation-owned, 40-acre industrial park suitable for manufacturing.
“It’s pretty important to Osage LLC because we wanted to make sure we were getting the right folks there to manage the property to do all of the logistics and handling of the corridor,” said Rick Perrier, a board member of Osage LLC, business arm of the Osage Nation.
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“DronePort Network is pretty much an expert. They had a lot to do with getting this partnership between Oklahoma State University, Osage LLC and Tulsa Innovation Labs put together. We just thought it was a good match to bring them in for the management.”
Skyway 36 is an important component in the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility (TRAM) Corridor project. It is one of four planned operating nodes, connecting Oklahoma State University, Osage and Tulsa facilities within a 119-nautical mile flight corridor for Unmanned Aerial System and Advanced Air Mobility research and testing, Perrier said.
The $38.2 million TRAM project is funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better American Rescue Plan.
Led by the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) — a coalition that includes Tulsa-area organizations from government, nonprofit, academia, and private sectors — the intent is to cultivate a diverse hub for research, development and production in the advanced mobility industry.
Officials claim it will result in 30,000 to 40,000 jobs — equal to about $3.5 billion to $5 billion in economic activity — over the first two to three years.
“It’s super exciting,” DronePort CEO Craig Mahaney said by phone. “We’ve worked with Osage LLC quite a bit on other projects, so we saw the potential in Skyway 36 quite awhile back. It’s exciting that the LLC was interested in bringing some folks on board who can help scale and expand it and help provide some value to the Nation.”
Osage plans to refurbish roughly a 12,000-square-foot hangar and about 7,500 square feet of office space at Skyway. Demolition is scheduled soon on the build-to-suit project, which is set to take at least six months.
“It reminds you of a 1940s-’50s style of government building,” Perrier said. “We’re just trying to get it modernized. These are high-tech companies that are wanting to come do aerospace and drones. It’s a whole different animal. So we’re just trying to make sure that we are keeping up with what modern office space and light industrial space would warrant on that.”
The research involved with this project could lead to innovations once thought unattainable, Perrier said.
“Let’s say it’s a flying taxi company,” he said. “They want to design an aircraft that can autonomously come to your house, pick you up and take you to Tulsa International Airport. The first step of that would be the testing and certification.
“So they could launch from Skyway or launch from any of the nodes. Oklahoma State University has the lead, and they will have sensors and radars in place. So they can then test their product on an FAA corridor. ... The FAA, obviously, has to have proof that you can control this vehicle beyond that visual line of sight. That could be monitored that way.”
Unmanned aerial vehicles already are being used in sectors that include law enforcement, insurance and oil and gas.
In a recent study, India-based BlueWeave Consulting estimated that the global commercial drone market at $9.43 billion in 2021. Between 2022 and 2028, the size of the global commercial drone market is expected to reach a value of more than $54 billion by 2028.
“We’re pushing really hard to put people in these things,” Perrier said. “But the Amazons and the Walmarts want to be able to drop a box at your house or a pharmacy drops a prescription at your house. ... Maybe the Nation in Pawhuska would be able to put medication in a drone and be able to safely deliver it to someone in a rural area, which would be so much faster than trying to drive there. The technology is there to where now they make sure it is the right person who is picking it up.
“We really hope we are going to bring these high-technology jobs to the Osage Nation and the City of Tulsa. It will be a really good fit for us and the region.”
Before fronting DronePort Network, Mahaney spent 16 years with the FAA, holding many operational and management positions focused on air traffic control, traffic flow management and unmanned aircraft systems. He also spent five years in the Navy as an air traffic control specialist.
“Especially, in industries that are highly regulated, like aviation and aerospace, technology is never the issue,” Mahaney said. “It is policy and the regulatory challenges. What you will see are safety aspects that are being verified, whether that is last-mile drone delivery or electric vertical take-off aircraft. But the technology has already been developed. They’ve been testing it for years.
“Once these certifications and regulatory challenges are overcome, the scaling of these technologies is going to happen very quickly. Within the next five to 10 years, drone delivery and autonomous vehicles won’t be sci-fi anymore. It will be something that people know about and is part of their daily lives.”
Video: Biden administration announces $38.2 million award for Tulsa
The goal: a hub for the advanced mobility industry to support 30,000-40,000 jobs related to innovation and technology.
Photos: Planned or recently completed downtown-area Tulsa projects
Davenport Urban Lofts
Doug and Lori Schram, along with Jeff and Kathy Weaver, are developing the roughly $30 million Davenport Urban Lofts at 405 N. Main St. Construction on the shell of the nine-story building just south of Cain’s Ballroom has been completed, and 19 of the 29 condominiums have been sold, according to Lori Schram. All of the sold units are expected to be completed in the next three to four months. "As we complete the units, we will be moving people in," she said. "It's going well." Two 2,500-square-foot commercial spaces on the street level have been listed for lease.
The View
The View is a follow-up to 161-unit The Edge, which opened in the East Village in 2016. But ARG is a multifamily veteran in Tulsa, with other properties such as the Metro at Brady, Renaissance Uptown and Tribune Lofts to its credit.
The six-story $40 million development from American Residential Group opened in March 2022 at Archer Street and Elgin Avenue. The 198-unit complex features two swimming pools, including one on the rooftop, an attached parking structure and bird’s-eye views of the Tulsa skyline and ONEOK Field.
Read more about the project here.
WPX building
WPX unveiled plans to build a new headquarters in downtown Tulsa in 2019. The project continues despite WPX's merger with Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy.
The 11-story, 260,000-square-foot tower will be built on the block of property where the old Spaghetti Warehouse is located.
USA BMX arena
The $23 million project includes a recessed Olympic-quality racing track with starting hills for both amateur riders and the pros. The cavernous 2,000-seat arena has no interior columns.
The development also includes a 25,000-square-foot headquarters and Hall of Fame building south of the arena.
Oklahoma Museum of Pop Culture (OKPOP)
OKPOP will be three stories filled with many stories. Exterior views will be a bonus attraction.
The Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture (OKPOP for short) is taking shape at a construction site across from Cain’s Ballroom in the Tulsa Arts District. The museum will pay tribute to Oklahoma “creatives” — authors, actors, music artists and others — who have contributed to popular culture.
Greenwood Rising
A long-awaited museum commemorating the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the legacy of the city’s historic Greenwood District officially opened to the public in August 2021.
The 11,000-square-foot museum, 23 N. Greenwood Ave., is intended to both preserve the history of the massacre itself and document Greenwood’s resurgence afterward.
High-tech exhibits include the re-creation of a barbershop with three-dimensional holograms of barbers at work.
The Brook Restaurant and Bar
The latest incarnation of The Brook Restaurant & Bar is now open atop what used to be known as the OTASCO building in downtown Tulsa, at the corner of Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.
The menu for the new Brook is the same as that of the old Brook, at 3401 S. Peoria Ave., in what years ago was the Brook Theater, and the slightly newer Brook, at 7727 E. 91st St. The Brook is known burgers, sandwiches, wraps and comfort food classics, such as chicken-fried steak and nachos.
111 Greenwood
Thanks to the Bhow family, East Village is undergoing a renaissance.
Developers Neal Bhow and his son, Shaun, celebrated two things Friday: the announcement of the first tenants in the refurbished Hartford Building, 110 S. Hartford Ave., and the groundbreaking of an adjacent 50-unit, mixed-use project called 111 Greenwood.
Clarion Events, formerly PennWell, is moving at least 130 employees into a 24,500-square-foot space, and co-working space The HQ Tulsa will occupy 10,800 square feet, with both leases on the second floor.
Sinclair Building
A revitalization is planned for a long underused and more than a century-old building in the heart of downtown Tulsa.
Locally based Ross Group has purchased the Sinclair Building, which was among Tulsa’s first skyscrapers when it opened in 1919. The company plans to invest at least $15 million into a refurbishing that will include apartments and commercial space, Ross Group’s Dave Friedland, project leader said.
Arco Building
Price Family Properties plans to modernize the six-story architectural gem, which was completed more than 70 years ago in the Art Deco District. The proposed redevelopment calls for retail space and about 80 apartments ranging from studios to three to four bedrooms. Three retail opportunities totaling 18,500 square feet will be available on the ground floor.
The structure has sat empty for more than a decade at 119 E. Sixth St.
Oil Capitol
Price Family Properties is planning to convert the long-vacant and roughly century-old Oil Capitol Building into 47 units ranging from about 550 to 600 square feet, company President Jackie Price Johannsen said.
The Oil Capitol redevelopment, 507 S. Main St., will feature apartments on floors two through seven.
Santa Fe Square
Scheduled for completion early in 2023 is the Santa Fe Square office tower, which sits along Greenwood Avenue between First and Second streets.
The facility contains six floors of work space atop six levels of parking, with the exception of a ground floor that includes a lobby and about 12,000 square feet of rentable space.
111 Lofts
The conversion of the former 10-story office building at 111 W. Fifth St. will house 69 apartments, nine of which will contain three bedrooms and range from 2,600 to 2,800 square feet.
The real estate company will be seeking historic tax credits to revamp the building, which was constructed in 1921 and placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Reunion Building
Rose Rock Development Partners and downtown attorney and proprietor Ken Brune are teaming up on about a $9 million conversion of the Reunion Building into apartments and retail. The 10-story fixture at the northeast corner of Fourth and Main streets was built in 1917.
Adams Building
The Adams Building, new home of The Adams Apartments, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. A transformation of a former hotel built in the 1920s, a mixed-use redevelopment project by Rose Rock Development Partners has 65 apartment units.
See a gallery of the refurbished building here.
East Village project
Eye-catching and massive, local digital media company ConsumerAffairs’s new environs are a $13.2 million, 44,253-square-foot redevelopment of four buildings in the 600 block of East Fourth Street.
Leadership Tulsa's downtown hub
Leadership Tulsa is expanding its footprint.
The community leadership development organization is slated to open a 7,800-square-foot Leadership Center to offer members a host of new opportunities beginning in spring 2020.
“Now, we only have office space in Mapco Plaza. We have simply outgrown the space,” said Wendy Thomas, executive director. “Our new Leadership Center will be a centralized hub with meeting space. It will allow us to offer a lot more continuing education and networking opportunities, as well as turn-key space for board training, strategic planning and other off-site meetings.”
Tulsa Club building
Once an upscale and prestigious social club, where generations of Tulsans attended weddings and galas and high school proms, the building sat vacant for years.
The Ross Group renovated it for $36 million and with the Hilton Curio-branded Tulsa Club Hotel set to open this weekend, it will be “the most expensive hotel in Tulsa, if not in Oklahoma.”
Read an update on the renovation.
Elgin Parking Garage
Valley National Bank, which is changing its name to Vast Bank, is building an $11 million, 399-space public parking garage at 2 N. Elgin Ave. The four-story parking garage will accommodate tenants and customers of its $33 million office building under construction, as well as patrons of ONEOK Field, the soon-to-open Holiday Inn Express, and the Tulsa Arts and Blue Dome districts.
Read more about the Elgin Parking Garage here.
Arvest Parking Garage
Arvest Bank will have a four-story, 180-space parking garage at Fifth Street and Boulder Avenue. Access to the upper levels of the new facility will be integrated through the Bank of America structure next door at 15 W. Sixth St.
Read more about the Arvest Bank downtown parking garage here.
Cathedral District buildings
Cathedral District Office Portfolio LLC is converting warehouse space at 818 S. Detroit Ave. into offices. The building is the former Standard Parts Warehouse from the 1940s, and primarily has been used for storage in recent years. Other pieces of the Cathedral District Office Portfolio are 220 E. Eighth St., a 20,000-square-foot building formerly occupied by Crafton Tull; the Cathedral District Business Center at 823 S. Detroit Ave., formerly the Bovaird Building; 801 S. Detroit Ave., which is occupied by Cash Finance; and 809 S. Detroit Ave., which is occupied by Gellco Clothing & Shoes.
Read more about the project here.
21 N. Greenwood
A five-story, mixed-use 70,000-square-foot development planned by GreenArch, LLC for the southeast corner of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street will feature multiple levels of office space above a ground-floor, retail/office component.
The law firm Pray Walker is among the tenants at 21 N. Greenwood, which features three stories of office space and ground-floor commercial space.
"There has not been primary care medical on Greenwood in decades," developer Kajeer Yar said after Juno Medical, backed by investor Serena Williams, signed a lease at 21 North Greenwood.
The building's rooftop event space, The Vista at 21, is booked regularly for special events.
First Place parking garage
A rendering shows the 500-slot parking garage with 3,000 feet of initial retail space proposed by First Place LLC on the plaza at Fourth and Main streets. Being developed by Stuart Price, the project must maintain access via the tunnel system to Main Park Plaza Garage.
Read the story here.
The Cheairs Furniture Co. building
Brickhugger LLC, a Tulsa development company that focuses on renovating historic buildings with the assistance of historic tax credits, is working to turn the Cheairs Furniture Co. building, 537 S. Kenosha Ave., into an ice-house style bar, which will include a large open space, high ceilings and possibly as many as 100 beers on tap, according to Shelby Snyder Hendrick, president of the company. The building, in the East Village area of downtown, was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places and is part of NORDAM's former downtown headquarters.
Read more about the project here.
Vast Bank building in Greenwood District
Vast Bank, formerly Valley National Bank, will move its executive offices and open a downtown branch in a new building at 110 N. Elgin Ave. Other tenants will include In the Raw sushi bar, BKD LLC and Casillas Petroleum. Tulsa Development Authority accepted a proposal last year by the Ross Group that includes a multi-story office building, the first story of which would be for retail commercial, on a 1-acre lot across from ONEOK Field.
Read more about the project.
Hyatt Place Hotel
A 13-story high-rise at 400 S. Boston Ave. is being converted into a Hyatt Place Hotel. The dark gray building, which opened as a savings and loan in 1967, has “curtain walls” made of a reflective glass developed by Pittsburgh Plate Glass and designed to save the builders “22 tons of air conditioning.” The project is headed by veteran developer Jim Hawkins, managing member of River City Development. River City recently completed the renovation of the Enterprise Building into the Meridia Apartments.
Read more about the project here.
The Flats on Archer
The Flats on Archer, 110 N. Boston Ave., will be a five-story multifamily property with 62 units and commercial space on the ground floor. Developers Sam Combs and Howard Aufleger broke ground on the project in April.
Read more on The Flats on Archer here.
Holiday Inn Express & Suites
The new Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 310 E. Archer St. in the Tulsa Arts District, opened Jan. 22. The $16 million project, a collaboration of Promise Hotels and Ross Group, has 115 guest rooms, including 18 suites. The five-story hotel will also feature an indoor heated pool, fitness center and business center, a hot breakfast and Keurig coffee makers in each room.
Read more about the downtown hotel.
Hotel Indigo
The national boutique brand, which is part of Santa Fe Square on Elgin Avenue between First and Second streets, opened in early November. The $20 million, 93-room hotel is owned by Blue Dome Hotel Group LLC and managed by SJS Hospitality. The hotel, which has an oilfield-inspired theme, features an upscale restaurant on the ground floor called Prospect and an indoor-outdoor bar on the top floor called Roof Sixty Six.
Read more about the new downtown hotel.
Residence Inn
The Residence Inn & Suites, 202 W. Fifth St. and next door to the old YMCA building now Y Lofts, opened in October. It contains 117 guest rooms — all suites — and an 80-space parking lot. It also features a 1,300-square-foot meeting room, fitness room, breakfast area and swimming pool.
Read more about the hotel here.
The Hartford Building
The $7 million renovation of the Hartford Building at 110 S. Hartford Ave. features three floors of office space. Developer Neal Bhow transformed the 74,000-square-foot building into open space and enlarging the square footage of the windows in front by nearly 300 percent. The Hartford Building has been vacant since the city of Tulsa moved offices from there in 2008.
Read more about the Hartford Building.
Jacobs Lofts on First
Ross Group has started pre-leasing the Jacobs Lofts on First at 310 E. First St., and a grand opening is expected this summer. Formerly the First Street Lofts, the project has been renamed for Louie Jacobs, owner of the rooming house that originally occupied the brick building built in 1918. Ross Group, which purchased the building in 2016, says it will feature 28 units on the second through fifth floors and retail space on the first floor.
Read more about the housing developments downtown.
First Baptist Church
Cranes lift workers to upper floors of the $13.7 million expansion at the First Baptist Church in downtown Tulsa. The new 72,000-square-foot building on Detroit Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets, which features a glass exterior and new main entrance, opened in September.
Read more about the project here.
Former KOTV Building
Locally owned Poppi’s Urban Spa has signed a lease for 3,500 square feet of space at 302 S. Frankfort Ave. in downtown Tulsa. Core Associates has refurbished the space on the east end of downtown, which still has about 8,500 square feet available for lease.
Read more about the property here.
New restaurants: Taco Bueno and Burger King
A Taco Bueno and Burger King combination restaurant has joined the downtown food offerings. Local franchisee Rick Verity opened the co-branded restaurant in a 5,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Palace Apartments, 324 S. Main St.
Read more here.
The Meridia
The Meridia, at Sixth Street and Boston Avenue, features 93 one- and two-bedroom apartments, many with open-air balconies. The first level of the nine-story building includes 9,750 square feet of retail space. Poke Bowl Love, a restaurant featuring the Hawaiian specialty, opened this fall on the ground floor.
Read more about the residential project.
GKFF renovating the Archer Building
Three businesses in the Archer Building opened last summer — the Goods Bodega, Guitar House of Tulsa and Made: The Indie Emporium Shop — and more opened in time for the holiday season, including Magic City Books and a Lone Wolf sit-down restaurant. The George Kaiser Family Foundation has spent about $17 million to renovate the former warehouse on the north side of Archer Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Detroit Avenue. The 72,000-square-foot building also holds 14 artist apartments and 35 artist work spaces.
Read the latest about the GKFF project.
The Palace Building
The Palace Building includes a 58-unit apartment building with one-fifth of those planned as affordable housing. It the ground floor includes restaurant space that holds a Taco Bueno and Burger King.
Read more about the Palace Building.
Hampton Inn & Suites
The hotel is one of three expected to be constructed downtown by Promise Hotels. The nine-story, 125-room hotel is being built by Ross Group within the One Place development on the northwest corner of Third Street and Cheyenne Avenue at a cost of $17.5 million. It opened in March.
Read more about the new Hampton Inn & Suites.
The Boxyard
The Boxyard at Third Street and Frankfort Avenue is a retail-focused micro-mall made up of shipping containers that opened in December 2016. Developed by Nelson Stowe, the East Village center includes local restaurant and retail offerings.
Read more about the Boxyard here.
The former downtown YMCA: Y Lofts
The former downtown YMCA at Sixth Street and Denver Avenue has undergone a $9 million transformation into a 79-unit apartment building. Historical features such as hardwood from the Y’s racquetball and basketball courts, white porcelain drinking fountains, even basketball goals and a scoreboard have been incorporated into the units. Leasing began earlier this year.
Read more about the latest news on the apartments in the old YMCA building.
Fox Hotel and Universal Ford buildings
Antoinette Baking Co. and The Tavern are among the businesses in the Fox Hotel and Universal Ford buildings, which also include a brew pub, 36°North entrepreneurial hub and artist apartments. The $16 million conversion was undertaken by the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
Read more about some of the renovations.
The Transok Building
The Transok Building, 2 W. Sixth St., has 37 luxury apartments on four floors. The living areas, located in the heart of the Deco District, will comprise studio and one- and two-bedroom plans that will range in size from 536 to 1,247 square feet. Close to 9,000 square feet on the ground floor is available for lease.
Read more about the project.
East End Village
East End Village, a total renovation of the block bounded by Fourth and Fifth streets and Elgin and Frankfort avenues. The first phase of East End Village, which created 48 apartments on the block, is now completely occupied. An additional 35 apartments, along with 6,000 square feet that could be used for retail or office space, were part of phase two.
Read more about downtown living and the East End Village.
Elgin Park brew pub and KSQ Design office
An artist’s rendering shows the building transformation planned at 216 N. Elgin Ave. The building will house Elgin Park brew pub on the first floor and the Tulsa offices of KSQ Design on the second floor.
Read more about the new brew pub and office.
Ross Group headquarters
The Ross Group's headquarters in downtown Tulsa is a former International Harvester dealership at 510 E. Second St. The $9 million project incorporated the blues, yellows, greens and oranges of the company's vehicles and represents the design, engineering, construction and development company’s growing work in historic renovation.
Read more about the Ross Group headquarters.
The Edge
The Edge at East Village, formerly known as Hartford Commons, is at 211 S. Greenwood Ave. The $25 million complex added 161 apartment units to the east side of downtown.
Read more about The Edge.
Urban 8 townhouses
The brainchild of Yvonne Hovell, the series of eight, four-story townhomes are wrapping up construction at 222 S. Kenosha Ave. in the East Village The four-story units include a two-car garage on the ground floor.
Read more about the townhouses.
Coliseum Apartments
The $3 million project brought 36 new units downtown.
Read more about the Coliseum Apartments.
Best Western Plus Downtown Tulsa/Route 66 Hotel
The hotel, located at 707 S. Houston Ave., opened in May. The building which was formerly an office owned by the city of Tulsa.
Read more about the new Best Western.
Gallery by Tulsa World
Rhett Morgan
Staff Writer
I'm in my fourth decade as a reporter. I cover real-estate development, manufacturing, aerospace, entrepreneurship and all other topics related to the Work and Money section.
