Earlier this year, there was some controversy over the rezoning of this site where nearby neighbors expressed concern about the proximity to existing homes and potential traffic problems on N. Pennsylvania Avenue.
Despite some protests, the Planning Commission and City Council ultimately approved the re-zoning application in February, clearing the way for the new store on 2.6 acres in the northwest section of the mall property, an area just north of UMB Bank and currently used for overflow parking.
The specific store was not named during that process and only identified as “a retailer not yet in the local market”. The Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce actively campaigned for the zoning changes and commissioned an on-line petition in support.
Sources close to the situation told OKCTalk over a year ago that the mall had been in negotiations with the Container Store for that exact site, pending the rezoning.
OKCTalk was also first to report the rezoning request which included renderings that completely matched recent Container Store locations, although the signage had been purposely deleted.
On Monday, Penn Square owner Simon Properties filed for a 19,460 square foot, $3.5 million building permit application which clearly states 'Container Store' at 5644 N. Penn. The 19,460 square feet represents a slight reduction in size from the 23,000 square feet that was proposed during the planning process.
Typically, it takes at least 30 days for building permits to be issued once an application is made; with larger projects that timeline can take as long as several months, then the construction that follows takes anywhere from a few months to a year.
Best case scenario would have the construction starting around the first of the year with the store opening around the holidays in 2018.
The Container Store is based in Coppell, Texas and operates 90 stores in the United States. The company has made Fortune's list of "100 Best Companies to Work For" for the last 17 years in a row.
The Penn Square location will be the first store in the state of Oklahoma.