Sushi Bar. Gil Gentry is the owner. He has Gaijin's in Norman. I hear it is really good but I have not been there. I don't think that he is scheduled to open until this fall though. I was talking to the construction guys and they said that all but one space in the Plaza Court Building is leased and all of the buildings going north on Walker are leased. That is pretty amazing if you think about how long everything sat empty. It also looks like they have started working on the Osler. That should be a really cool condo project.

Yeah, I mentioned the Osler on page 1. As you probably saw, they took out the old windows and starting gutting some. I bet new windows will be coming soon.

Looks like 1492 is getting really close to opening soon.

Meanwhile, all of the landscaping at the 10th & Walker roundabout is being removed. Perhaps its easier to start from scratch than fix the damage from the concrete trucks driving through the planting beds. They tried to fix up and replace the dead and damaged plant material earlier in the year, but never got it into any kind of decent shape. Saint Anthony and Greg Banta have agreed to maintain the landscaping but have insisted that it be put in good shape before they would take it over . . . the city has been having a hard time getting it to that point, so maybe the third time's a charm.

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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.

I drove by and looked in the windows at McNellie's.. it looks like they've made no progress in setting that place up. Has it been scrapped?

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I think I heard something about St. Anthony purchasing a statue or something like that for the center of the roundabout.

Yeah. Its always been in the plans to put a statue/fountain at the center of the traffic circle... Just a matter of someone ponying up the dough.

Kudos on St. Anthony. I like how in all their new commercials they say '....Midtown. Oklahoma City.'

It does look like Irma's II is making progress, and should be opening within the next couple of months.

The Midtown area of Okc is going to be a great place to live work, eat, and shop in the very near future. I really like what is going on in this area of Okc.

My daughter, who lives in a barely east neighborhood in Atlanta "undergoing gentrification", was here last week, and I took her on a tour of downtown, midtown, and showed her the area designated for C2S. She, who's been pretty negative about OKC since going off to college, was quite impressed, almost excited about what's happening here. And the midtown area got the best reception. It's got a funkier feel than the Bricktown area, and clearly had more appeal for an older twenty something.

betts.......you and your daughter are right about midtown. I am in my early 30's and my wife is in late 20's , we plan to move into midtown at the end of the year. We are still looking around at the condo / lofts , but midtown is the best option for downtown living. It has a feel and a look that can not be created.

Bricktown is the out of town touristy place and is great at being such a place, but midtown has that locals only touch that makes it great. Anyone who buys into midtown now will be loving it in just a few years. Midtown already has everything that the triangle wants to have. St. Anthony hospital right in the middle and Banta properties controlling much of the undeveloped buildings. It is close to the Asian district and there is a grocery store at 16th and Classen. There soon will be an Office Depot being built at the corner of Classen and 11th.

I do think that Midtown is much further along then any other downtown area.

Sushi Restaurant!!!!!!! Gil Gentry from Norman is the operator.

Irma's sure looked further along than that to me, They already have the tables, chairs and most of the decor in, as well as the kitchen supplies. I'm thinking they'll be open within one month, not several.

I have eaten many times at the sushi restaurant in Norman, Gajin. It is an excellent sushi restaurant, with many other dishes on the menu that you can not find anywhere else.

Betts, interesting and appreciated perspective. I also went to college just outside Atlanta and often visited ATL on the weekends, etc. I'm originally born and raised here but left OKC as soon as I graduated because there was "nothing to do here". I made the move back a year later after the ballpark was completed with the MAPS projects. I saw the opportunity here compared to Atlanta or elsewhere. Sure you can move to a city like that with more offerings, spend more for rent, etc. and get lost in the sea of people. Or you can move to OKC while it's in it's renaissance, and still make a name for yourself and not get lost in the sea of people. But this opportunity won't be here for long, and each day that opportunity is getting smaller as more and more people are finding out about the hot OKC market. I'm glad your daughter who sounds about the same age, felt impressed at OKC's accomplishments since her move to ATL.

The sooner the better, I was just allowing for any unforeseen problems that could delay the opening. It seems like anything that is in the downtown areas have a much longer timeline then anywhere else in the okc-metro.

Good point okclee. There must be something with planning/zoning/permits/inspections for downtown developments that is holding up projects. I know we discussed this before but surely the city must need to address this issue. Perhaps one of us OKCTalkers can bring it up at a city council meeting.

Yeah, I work at their ad agency. They are very proud to anchor Midtown.

Rumor is that Irma's is planning a soft opening next week. Cheeseburgers!!!!!!!

Speaking of rumors......I heard that Banta has a health club taking the top floor of Plaza Court......now that's cool!

I drove by today just a few minutes ago and I would say your rumors appear to be very real. I looked in the windows and it looks like everything is ready to go just a few finishing touches. There is even a full menu board in the window and everything seems to be in place for an opening anyday now.

A health club, that is a great idea for the top floor.

There is so much going on there in midtown, as much as anywhere in okc currently. So much potentiel too, I think that midtown is going to be something really special for okc in just a year or two.

Everything seems to be happening really fast in that area. I think St. Anthony's has a lot to do with that, and so does Banta being mainly the sole developer for one specific area. Banta seems to have a grand vision of what he wants in midtown and he isn't waiting for other people to get them done.

Anyone know anything about McNellie's?

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Elliott said the steel for the mezzanine and elevator shaft should be here by the end of the month and that he hopes to open in November. Looking through the windows it looks like they poured some concrete to get ready for the steel so hopefully when the steel is in place they can really start moving.

Thank you sir!

I'm really looking forward to having a pub in Midtown.

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Small world. I've worked with Insight before, thanks to a friend who works there...

November??????? Wow sounds like McNellies may be an overpromiser and underdeliverer. He originally stated an opening of this past St. Patty's Day.