The April Meeting for the Downtown Resident Group was held on Tuesday, April 29th at McNellie's Pub Downtown. Nearly 35 residents came together to be a part of a Q+A session from two of Downtown Tulsa's most prominent developers and business owners.
The meeting was composed of around 35 residents who came to witness a public Q+A session with Downtown developers Elliot Nelson and Chip Gaberino.
The Q+A was monitored by the President + CEO of Downtown Tulsa Partnership Brian Kurtz. The session began with Elliot and Chip introducing themselves, their developments, businesses, and more. Both developers have a long-standing history with Downtown Tulsa and have been in the development scene Downtown for around 25 years.
Questions were previously submitted online, and the session started with some of those submitted, broad questions about the developers and their work and vision for Downtown Tulsa.
Q+A Session
Q: As residents, we all want Downtown Tulsa to be the best place it can be. What’s something you wish more Downtown residents knew would make a big difference?
A: It’s important to think of Downtown as any other neighborhood. We often only view Downtown as an epicenter for employment, tourism, food and drink, etc. The ones living here are the very core audience of our business. It’s a two-way street for supporting local, supporting Downtown. Developers like us invest money and time into creating these places, and it is important for residents who live here to spend their money here. It’s the same process for any neighborhood, and it is our job to provide places for residents to come together, to eat, drink, exercise, build community, etc.
Q: As residents, we want to effect positive changes for Downtown development. What are some policy changes that you want us to advocate for?
A: The formation of this group specifically (the Downtown Resident Group) is exciting. 35 people advocating for something can go a long way. My advice is to speak up about problems you face directly. The city council and other offices need hard, real data to take the next step to make changes. They need to hear from those who are developers like us. They need to hear from the people living and spending money in Downtown. Call 311 and 911. Email your councilors, your mayor’s office. Get together as a collective and send weekly, monthly, or quarterly emails. This neighborhood of Downtown and its residents is a community, and it takes a community to make change.
Q: In Downtown, where is the most room for growth in terms of development?
A: The most important development that is crucial for Downtown’s ecosystem are residential buildings. We need more apartments, more affordable, secure living facilities to incentivize people to move to Downtown Tulsa. We always hear from residents that a grocery store is missing from Downtown. The simple reason that there won’t be a grocery store Downtown soon is because there is a lack of density in population. In addition to living facilities, we need the Convention Center hotel to be complete (which will take a few more years) as well as more hotels. We don’t have enough quality hotel rooms for Downtown visitors to stay, making it a tough tourism destination in terms of capacity.
Q: What do you see for the future of Downtown? What are the next steps into making Downtown a safe, urban destination in order to attract more stakeholders and visitors?
A: The absolute priority for Downtown is to provide security and safety in our streets and business community. That is both reality and perception. We often hear from our businesses that patrons don’t visit Downtown enough because it’s too dangerous. That is why it’s important to do the aforementioned outreach: reaching out to City CounciI, Mayor’s office, calling 911, etc. In addition to safety, I think a prominent problem Downtown face is that while Downtown is a hub for employees and employers, a vast majority of that population leaves at 5:00. The only time this large employee population is spending money is during lunch hours or at a Downtown coffee shop. We need our Downtown ecosystem to succeed, and we need more people to show up all our diverse business directory through the day and night.
The meeting concluded with more stories, experiences, and further questions from residents. The group appreciated the transparency and willingness to connect with Downtown residents, as they are the ones who know what it is like living Downtown, experiencing first-hand the developments and trends of our community.