Tulsa Club Building - Blight on Downtown Tulsa

The historic Tulsa Club building, on the corner of 5th street and Cincinatti, Downtown, Tulsa faces an uncertain future. This beautiful building with a great history and equally great potential sits vacant, graffiti adorned and collects city fines as the owner stubbornly resists all reasonable offers.

The building has been cited for violation of fire, electrical and plumbing codes as well as collapsed ceilings and evidence of trespassing and other possible criminal activity. The city had assessed a $1,000 fine each day since August 2007 until a Tulsa County judge awarded the city a $331,815 civil judgment in October for the unpaid charges.

The current owner, Carl J. Marony, of California picked the property up for around $125k sources say and has not done a thing with it. Rather than put it to good use he has opted to negligently let it sit unattended while homeless people smashed their way in and desecrate the structure.

A neighboring building manager, who opted to stay off the record, shared that he had made numerous attempts to assist the situation. From purchasing the building to forming a partnership, Marony has been quite unreasonable in his opinion. His asking price is said to be $3 million for the building in its current state, which is a huge exaggeration based on the current condition and occupancy in the neighboring buildings.

The building was designed by Bruce Goff, noted Oklahoma architect, for his Art Deco and Modern designs and is highly regarded for its original Art Deco design and downtown location. Built in 1927, it was home to the once prestigious Tulsa Club and Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, who had originally commissioned the project.

Tulsa Rockers With Style

Oklahoma Magazine features “People With Style” in their December issue. Among those featured are Aaron Hamby of Callupsie, Danelle Phillips of Congress of a Crow, rapper P.D.A. and songwriter Zac Maloy.

The issue features many photographs by Jeremy Charles. You can see alternate and unused photographs here.

View the issue online here and read each musician’s fashion description after the jump.

Aaron Hamby: Coffeehouse by day/ lead singer and guitarist for Callupsie by night. Wearing a vintage Wrangler red pearl snap shirt, green plaid zip-up from American Eagle and Krew extra skinny jeans with black Doc Martens and Enjoi Panda belt.Aaron’s favorite designer is Yves-Saint Laurent. “Simple. Bold. Sexy,” he says. The favorite thing in his closet right now is a cashmere hoodie from Banana Republic. Song that best describes his sense of style: “Lust” by The Raveonettes.

Danelle Phillips: lead singer, Congress of a Crow/graphic designer. Wearing, “this great little dress from Target, but it was white. I hand dyed it to my favorite shade of purple.” Tights from Hot Topic, vest by BCBG, shoes by Steve Madden.

Danelle says her favorite article of clothing is “anything weird or ugly. Sometimes I shop for those ‘fugly’ pieces because I enjoy the individuality of fashion and like taking risks. Right now it’s a pair of dark navy vinyl pumps. They go with everything”

P.D.A.: Lyrical artist, producer, musician. Wearing an ensemble from Greenhouse Clothing based in Stillwater.

P.D.A. say he loves Prince’s style. “I wish I could pull off the look that Prince has. But it’s too ‘out there’ for me at the moment. Maybe somewhere down the line,” he jokes. His favorite item of clothing is his billed beanie and the song he thinks best describes his style is “Gimme More” by Britney Spears.

Zac Maloy: Songwriter/producer/dad. Wearing an Armani shirt, Genetic jeans and John Varvatos boots.

Zac isn’t sure he could pull it off, but he admires Johnny Depp and Bono for their adventurous style. “They’re just so, so, so, so damn cool.” And although he has thankfully moved past his grunge phase, Zac’s still got a bit of the rocker in him. So what song does he say describes his style? He resists the temptation to shamelessly plug one of the artists he wrote with this year (Train, David Cook, Burn Halo, Andy Skib) and goes for a classic: “Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred.

Post from oklahomarock.com

City Trend: Walkable Urbanism

by Cole Cunningham Gen X’ers are speaking out across the nation and setting a new trend towards walkable urbanism – a place you can live, work, shop and play – all within walking distance. This trend has already hit critical mass in cities such as Washington DC., Denver, San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle, which are rated as our country’s most walkable cities. Will Tulsa follow this trend? Tulsans have been living the so-called American Dream for the past 50-60 years. The big house, gas guzzlers in the driveway and a big lawn to mow are part of the low density suburban lifestyle consumers have dictated in the past. But is the American Dream changing? We drive to work, we drive to the grocery store, and we drive to the gym these days. The problems are becoming clearer as developments continue to rise further away from downtown. Effects of sub-urbanism have begun to take their toll on our health and environment, with driving being linked to an increased rate of obesity and greenhouse gas emissions. With pent up demand from Gen X-ers coming into the housing scene, we can shift the tide. What this new demographic wants is largely a walkable urban lifestyle. In fact, national studies suggest that 30-40% of total people want a walkable urban lifestyle, and an even larger percentage of younger generations and empty nesters. And the best part is, with Walkable Urbanism MORE=BETTER. In contrast to sub-urbanism, the more people that join this movement, the better these areas become. As more people move into walkable areas, more restaurants and entertainment venues open making these areas even more attractive and desirable. The tide is turning for Tulsa. Brookside, Cherry Street and downtown are drawing the younger generations in with the convenience of everything in one place. With revitalization of these areas underway, it is apparent there is a healthy and growing demand. Cost of housing in these areas already exceeds the city average, but appreciation is not over, according to national estimations. Chris Leinberger, author of The Option of Urbanism, and authority on the subject says walkable areas command between 40%-200% higher prices than suburban properties (based on $/sq. ft.) nationally. With this in mind our walkable areas are a real bargain. Tulsa is currently subsidizing housing projects all over the city. We need to focus our efforts and invest in the future, urban renewal. Stop social engineering and let the market choose. If we look to more progressive cities and learn from example, we will see that the trend is arriving and we just have to embrace it. _______________________________ Cole Cunningham is a Design-savy real estate professional specializing in mid century modern, contemporary and urban properties throughout the Tulsa area. For more about Tulsa Architecture visit moderntulsa.net.