Bert Belanger has always been a forward thinker and made an early mark by acquiring several blighted multi-family buildings in the Paseo over ten years ago and redeveloping them into the Brighton Apartment complex which was the lynch pin of the revitalization of the Paseo Neighborhood and adjacent commercial strip. To add some time context; the OKCity sponsored Paseo Neighborhood revitilization project, the first officially sanctioned OKC neighborhood revitilization project, began around 1985 and still has another five or so years ahead of it before we can really declare victory; almost thirty years.

Belanger's plans for this Off-Broadway area are quite ambitious and will set the stage for the next phase of downtown OKC’s return to a vital mixed-use urban neighborhood. The potentially high number of residential units accompanied by major retail envisioned for the strip between Broadway & I-235 and 13th & 10th could also provide the impetus for the development of a modern transit loop connecting Downtown, Midtown, The OU Health Sciences Center and Bricktown.

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The Old Downtown Guy

It will take decades for Oklahoma City's
downtown core to regain its lost gritty,
dynamic urban character, but it's exciting
to observe and participate in the transformation.