$12M downtown Tulsa apartment complex targets December start

American Residential Group intends to open its first Metro at Brady Arts District apartment units by mid-December.

"Now they've decided to spend another $12 million here," said Bartlett. "It's just one more example about how the community is lucky to have such a great company that's willing to risk good money on a good idea.""In order to have a vibrant downtown, you've got to have people living downtown," he said. "This is a step in the right direction. But this is just a first step. One of many first steps.""I'm a native Tulsan," he said with a smile. "I remember when they formed the Tulsa Urban Renewal Authority.On the southeast corner, workers with contractor Worthing Southeast of Atlanta tackled interiors within the five-story Metro at Brady Arts, working from architectural plans by Jim Parker of Tulsa's Parker and Associates.Behind the lectern, a wire fence quartered off where the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa will raise its $11 million Hardesty Arts Center. Behind that, work continues to transform a block-long 1920s brick and concrete shell into arts facilities for the University of Tulsa, the Philbrook Museum of Art and the Gilcrease Museum, all fed by a new geothermal field installed across the street.In a unique move, four of its second-floor apartments will lease with connecting first-floor commercial spaces, the shops finished to tenant specs. But the 79,247-square-foot project's primary focus remains residential, its amenities ranging from a 2,000-square-foot clubhouse and swimming pool to an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, tanning ledges and water features.At the corner of Archer and Main streets, the Wednesday press conference offered views of many Brady District construction projects.Mayor Dewey Bartlett said the entire project should be finished by September 2012."We are dedicated to bringing families back to the downtown area," said TDA Chairman Julius Pegues. "In order for Tulsa to be one of the number one cities in the nation, we have to have people in the downtown area."Metro at Brady Arts District, 10 E. Archer St., will provide 28 one-bedroom units, the 735-square-foot floor plans starting at $850 a month. The 43 two-bedroom units will peak with a 1,285-square- foot apartment available for $1,400 a month.American Residential also is building a two-story parking garage for residents of both Metro at Brady and its neighboring Tribune Lofts complex, which the Tulsa company finished a decade ago as the first project to use and pay back a no-interest residential loan program from the TDA.Watching all of this advance holds special meaning for Pegues, who has served the TDA since 2008.

"In order to have a vibrant downtown, you've got to have people living downtown," he said. "This is a step in the right direction. But this is just a first step. One of many first steps."