North Star Realty

[bombermwc]

Is anyone else as disappointed in Atkinson's ability to run a development as I am? Every time I drive by the Uptown Center these days, I'm a little more annoyed with how things have turned out. Every time a decision is made, it seems that they go further down the toilet rather than the other way.

Phase 1 of the remodel was a great change, although I still feel like razing the entire center would have made more sense at this point. Not just leaving the roof intact...the old building design required too many columns and has low ceiling height. But anyway.... Lease rates have kept the thing from attracting ANY tenants though 5 years later. There are fewer tenants now than before the remodel and Journal Record is still 100% empty.

Phase 2 was a little bit of a let-down, but still a quality turnaround with the changes they made. The 7-11 lot actually helped do more to complete the turnaround of this area than anything. That is except for the fact that they left the building on Wilson Dr. intact so there's a random inside wall that now is an outside wall. Can't really blame North Star on this one though.

Phase 3 was a complete joke. A crappy paintjob...really? And in the section that actually HAD tenants. And now, they managed to run off the institution that was the café, and when they jacked up prices, the largest tenant (Michael's) closes because they're so fed up with it. They didn't even move...just closed. And this supposed change with Langston's and Old Navy....yeah where'd that go?

And when I've asked them about why the projects are in the state they are, no response comes back. This section of 15th was identic with MWC, or at least as much as 29th was. We're not seeing anything good coming out of Uptown though. At this point, I wish there was someone that could come in and doze both sides of the road on Midwest/15th and start from scratch....and it NOT be North Star. All I can say is the current Atkinsons are most definitely NOT the real estate developers the patriarch was.

[Lauri101]

Bombermwc - agree completely. Since my first retail job was in that center (at Frederick's of Hollywood, well before most of the people on this board remember) I hate it that North Star has messed it up so much. Dozing and starting over might work, or simply fix it right and make the rent reasonable.
(Hi all - I'm back! Note - don't have back surgery at MRMC)

[mmonroe]

There are a few other projects that are being headed by NS and they're not any better...

Coppercreek Marketplace I-240 & Sooner Rd OKC, North Star Companies, LLC

I once contacted them on space available in uptown.. very picky about what goes in there.

Greed will always get the best of people, and i'm afraid that unlike the former family, this one is all about money and not a quality community space that enhances the area and doesn't place just a band-aid on it.

[kevinpate]

... (Hi all - I'm back! Note - don't have back surgery at MRMC)

Welcome back!

[bombermwc]

CooperCreek pisses me off continually. I live right there in the area and when I asked about why it didn't kick off, they gave me a BS answer about the downturn in the economy. I replied back with a few links to reports about how OK and OKC weren't seeing the issues and to a number of developments that were being built then...things like the outlet mall, 19th street stuff in moore, etc. They obviously never replied.

And they can't be that picky if one of the Phase I uptown spaces is a freaking Family Dollar. As you say, they're just some crappy developers with their heads up their rear not doing their job.

[mmonroe]

A few years ago before I bought into a restaurant partnership, we had wanted to open a cafe/lounge on the corner spot where A+ Tutors eventually went in, we were told that "They were not interested in this type of establishment at this time."

Family Dollar provides a certain safety net when it comes to property income, but the way they run the place, it's counter intuitive to think that is why they let Family Dollar in.

To be honest, I'm tired of Midwest City popping up with low-end retail establishments, small loan offices, and pawn shops. I'd be curious in the math to see how MWC fairs in % of these types of establishments to the size of the city compared to other cities in OK.

[Lauri101]

No idea on percentage but my EWAG is that MWC and DC are higher than most other bedroom communities in metro.
But when they build it, the customers come.

[bombermwc]

I thought I had heard that the Checkerboard Café was trying to move in there right after Phase I was done. But that negotiations went bad for similar reasons and that's why they ended up by Office Depot. MMonroe, is that the same restaurant or were you just as unlucky as they were?

I really enjoyed the food there, although I did always feel like if the portions had been cut a bit, then the price could have come down and more people would have gone. I never heard anyone complain about the taste, just the price.

[mmonroe]

Different cafe, guess we were a second unlucky group to try then.