CAPITAL IDEA
Ice cream shop latest addition to completing Midtown puzzle
Just three years after the closing of Midtown’s Swanson’s Tire, the maze of buildings at the corner of NW 9 and Hudson is approaching full occupancy with the opening of Capitals Ice Cream on Friday.
Brothers Landon and Layne Ferguson, Connor Cox, Ibesen Crespo and Eric Gilbert were initially looking at starting off with a food truck when they chose to respond to a pop-up shop competition organized by urban retail specialist Allison Bailey on behalf of the developers.
“We entered the competition and it was for three free months rent,” said Landon Ferguson, CEO of Capitals Ice Cream. “They called us, they liked the concept, and it ended up with an actual lease. We have looked at other locations, but really you can’t get much better than Midtown and we thought there could be more dessert options here.”
The concept may be new to many customers and the long-term plan is for Capitals to open a shop in capital cities across the country that feature the unique culture of each community.
Customers visiting the first shop will be welcomed
to create their own custom swirl choosing their base of either chocolate or vanilla and then adding toppings ranging from cereal to pineapple.
For a dollar more, customers can try one of the monthly specials that nod to Oklahoma as well as other capital cities. The first month will feature “Avocado City Limits” consisting of avocado and fresh squeezed lime.
“This was something we set out to do to keep our friendships with each other tight knit,” Ferguson said. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring OKC our ice cream and coffee concept and hope that our shop will be a place where friends can enjoy time together.”
The vision, Ferguson said, is to create a “third space” where friends can meet over ice cream, coffee or beer.
Bailey, a broker with Price Edwards & Co., has spent the past couple of years working for two different ownership groups that brought together several prominent developers in tackling what was downtown’s oldest tire shop.
Swanson's Tire Co. started in 1909 and moved to NW 9 and Hudson Avenue in 1942. The property consisted of the main tire shop and expansions added over the years around what was a house in the heart of property that burned to the ground in the 1970s.
The south half of the block was purchased by Andy Burnett and Jeff Johnson, who redeveloped the Mideke Building in Bricktown; the Pivot Project, consisting of Jonathan Dodson, Ben Sellers and David Wanzer, whose work includes the Tower Theater, Main Street Arcade and Sunshine Cleaners; and Keith Paul, whose Good Egg Group owns several restaurants in the urban core including Kitchen No. 324, Tucker’s, Cheever’s Cafe and The Drake. Their tenants include Barrio’s Fine Mexican Dishes, part of Good Egg Group, and the offices for Gardner Architects.
The north half of the property, meanwhile, was purchased by Rohan Gupta, CEO of GFO Companies. The central core of the property where the house stood until it burned down is now the courtyard for Barrio’s. The difference in elevation for the block creates a walkway that connects all the tenants and provides visitors to Hall’s Pizza Kitchen, a tenant in the Gupta side of the development, a view over the courtyard and a second-floor terrace with a view of the downtown skyline.
Other tenants in the Gupta side of the property include Citizen’s Midtown Bank, Baker Street Escapes, 405 Yoga and now, Capitals Ice Cream.
“We’re totally leased out,” Gupta said. “Capitals Ice Cream is a perfect fit with Barrio’s next door and how they lead to Hall’s Pizza.”
Gupta said the unusual cooperation among several prominent downtown developers worked well due to pre-existing relationships and a decision to use the same architect, Jeremy Gardner.
“It’ s a testament to Jeremy Gardner that he figured out how to put in the corridor to link it all and showed all the pieces could fit together,” Gupta said. “Using Jeremy wasn’t a requirement — it just happened. We all loved his work and that created a lot of synergy.”
Bailey, who has developed a reputation as the leading retail broker for downtown, has to find just one more tenant for the remaining 1,700-square-foot space.
"It was a daunting task to recruit retail for this historic property,” Bailey said. “I think that we achieved a compatible mix for the Midtown neighborhood and Capitals is a perfect addition to that mix."