New Deep Deuce development
I know we've heard rumors of this hear on OKCTalk, but here is some more information regarding the project.
Developer restores buildings
By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
Al Sahli got his start in downtown Oklahoma City with a Greek restaurant along a newly opened Bricktown Canal seven years ago, and he's now a developer making his mark on the fringe of the state's premier entertainment district.
After operating his Akropolis in the Miller Jackson Building for a couple of years, Sahli closed the business and set his sights on buying the former Restaurant Supply building at 401 E California Ave.
"It had been sitting there 10 to 15 years vacant, abandoned, broken windows,” Sahli said. "People asked what I might do with it. I didn't know other than I was going to remodel it and negotiate some leases and go from there. I had experience with restaurant owners, and after a few calls, I got IHOP in and then remodeled the whole building.”
Sahli took the same approach to an empty two-story brick building erected by John Freeman at 224 E Main in Bricktown. The building was an unfinished empty shell when Sahli bought it last year. The property since has been completed and leased to the Hampt, Brooks and Vandruff law firm.
Transforming Deep Deuce
His latest ventures are in Deep Deuce, just north of Bricktown, which has been transformed in recent years from a blighted collection of burned out buildings to a thriving collection of housing with a restaurant and clothing store hinting at a retail mix to follow.
Sahli bought one of the last dilapidated properties in Deep Deuce, an old two-story brick building at 213 N Central, and began gutting it a year ago. Renovations almost are complete on the 12-unit complex, which Sahli reports already is 50-percent leased.
He also hopes to complete an expansion and renovation of an old garage at 230 NE 1 into a restaurant. As with his previous purchases, Sahli moved to buy the small triangle-shaped building immediately after learning it was for sale.
"This little triangle building had been vacant for a long time,” Sahli said. "I called a few people, and they said it might make a nice pizza restaurant. I contacted Wade Star and architect Sam Grisham, and they're putting in a new concept called the Wedge (the first restaurant recently opened at 4601 N Western Ave.).
Maybe.
Ryan Parrott, a co-owner with Star in the Deep Fork Group, confirmed the restaurant operators have a lease with Sahli, but a second Wedge is one of several concepts under consideration.
"We don't duplicate anything,” Parrott said. "You don't see us with two of the same concept. We don't do cookie-cutter restaurants. We could go either way on this.”
But Parrott does agree Deep Deuce is ready for another restaurant (the district is current home to just one: the Deep Deuce Grill at 307 NE 2).
The price for such development is higher these days, Sahli said, but he believes such fringe properties are worth the risk.
"People always say, ‘Why didn't you start doing this 20 years ago when you could have bought this for a dollar a square foot instead of $100?' But I say it's never too late in an area like this — it doesn't matter what you buy; it's just what you do with it.”
Ambition rises four stories
His next venture will be his most ambitious to date: construction of a 24,000-square-foot, four-story building on an empty lot next to 230 NE 1. He is in talks with a clothing store or some service retail to occupy the first floor and plans to sell or lease condominiums on the upper floors.
Design still is under way, and Sahli hopes to start construction once the restaurant is open. His attention, meanwhile, is on finding more old overlooked buildings to bring back to life.
"It's cheaper to build new,” Sahli said. "But there is something about these old buildings you can't recreate.”
Al Sahli looks at plans Monday for a building he's renovating into a pizza place at 230 NE 1 in the Deep Deuce area of downtown Oklahoma City. By STEVE LACKMEYER, The Oklahoman
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