Public private deal could bring Tulsa a downtown grocery store

TULSA — A developer and Reasor’s officials gave Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust board members a preview of what a downtown grocery store could look like and how it could change the fabric of downtown Tulsa during a Thursday meeting.

Flaherty & Collins, an Indianapolis-based developer, wants to build a mixed-use development called the “Annex” at the performing arts center’s parking lot, an area hemmed by Cincinnati and Detroit avenues and Second and Third streets.

Renderings show a 12-story building with ground floor retail next to what would potentially be the Reasor’s. The building would have 312 beds and 240 units of apartments.

The meeting was another step in what has been an almost two-year process. Ryan Cronk of Flaherty & Collins said his company specializes in public-private partnerships, looking for unique situations where there’s a need for their type of development.

Cronk, in a presentation to the board and assembled members of the public, explained that people are “moving back into the urban core” and that large corporations are moving back into downtown to be

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near their workers.

“A grocery store is what all residents want,” said Cronk.

The project would also feature a multistory parking garage with 636 spaces. Shoppers would be able to present a receipt and park for free.

Millennials 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.

It would be a Reasor’s store “unlike any other” in the market, he said, noting that urban format grocery stores are quite different from a typical suburban store.

A potential move to downtown would be another pivot from Reasor’s, which prides itself on using its smaller size and local roots to outmaneuver larger competitors such as Wal-Mart.

It is also another move toward upscale after it unveiled a revamped 50,000-square-foot Reasor’s in Brookside last summer.

Brent Edstrom, COO of Reasor’s, said the store would get a chance to learn from its Brookside location and its restaurant. The timeline of the project would give them to work out the “kinks” they’re experiencing in Brookside.

Edstrom said in an interview with the Tulsa World that it’s not definite that Reasor’s is coming downtown. It depends on the approval of the plan, he said.

It’s a unique project but not unlike developments Flaherty & Collins have done in other larger cities. In Indianapolis, they developed a Marsh supermarket on the bottom of hundreds of apartments. According to their website, they’re developing another grocery store-anchored mixed use project in Indianapolis that will feature a Whole Foods Market.

There would also be room for a 6,000-squarefoot restaurant and 8,000 square feet of additional retail space.

If the PAC Trust board approves the plan and the developer secures a Tax Increment Financing district from the city of Tulsa, downtown Tulsa would gain its sought-after grocery store.

Interest and demand for such a 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.