Swanson's Tire

[Pete]

The sale of the Swanson's Tire properties in Midtown closed yesterday to a development group headed by Jeff Johnson with plans to renovate the existing structures for restaurants, bars, retail and office space.

The .9 acre tract at the northeast corner of NW 9th and Hudson sold for $2.25 million and plans call for a yet to be named Mexican restaurant by the Good Egg Dining Group plus a bar, in addition to other businesses to be added later.

The Swansons owned the property since 1942 but sold the business to Mike Crouse -- a long-time employee -- in 2002 and then the real estate to Crouse as well in 2008. Swanson's last day of business will be this Friday.

The property includes four different structures: the main building fronting Hudson, an east addition to the main building along the north side of the property, a small building facing 9th and another small building facing Harvey.

Good Egg will be taking approximately 5,000 square feet on the south end of the main building and also building out a large 2,500 square foot courtyard / patio in the open area in the center of the tract.

The north half of the main building and the east addition will be renovated for retail, restaurant and office use.

The development group is also in the final stages of securing a bar for the building on 9th which would also include a small patio.

The small building facing Harvey is being reserved for future redevelopment. The group also owns a small parking lot on the southeast corner of 9th & Hudson.

Good Egg continues its rapid expansion having recently opened The Drake in Uptown and announcing plans for a large Republic Gastropub in the Chisholm Creek development on Memorial Road. In addition to the original Republic in Classen Curve, Good Egg also operates Cheever's, three Tucker's locations, Iron Star, Kitchen No. 324 and Red PrimeSteak.

Good Egg President Keith Paul told OKCTalk that the newest restaurant will be quite large; 5,000 square feet plus a full 2,500 square foot outdoor patio. Lunch and dinner will be served 7 days a week with brunch on weekends. The concept will feature smart portions, handmade tortillas, wood-fired grilled meats and vegetables and a full bar.

Architect will be Jeremy Gardner and plans and renderings will be released later.

In addition to Johnson, partners in the project include Andy Burnett, Keith Paul, David Wanzer, Ben Sellers, Johnathan Dodson, Rohan Gupta and Aman Aggarwal.

[Pete]

That Good Egg restaurant is going to absolutely kill it here.

Very excited about this... Midtown continues its path to greatness.


And more great places within walking distance for yours truly!

[HangryHippo]

This sounds pretty awesome! Who is Jeff Johnson?

[Pete]

Jeff Johnson has done a bunch of stuff... Mideke Building, Domino's building in Bricktown, some other things.

Low key guy that just does great work.

[HangryHippo]

That's great. I'm stoked for another Good Egg concept!

[AP]

This really makes me wish I still lived in midtown.

[adaniel]

Love this concept but hate that Swanson's is leaving. That has been a mainstay in Midtown for years. Rare that you find such honest people in that business. Did they indicate they would continue their operations elsewhere? I can't think they are bailing due to lack of business.

[Pete]

The Swansons are retiring and shutting down completely.

[Pete]

I love that these buildings have those high ceilings and huge overhead doors.

Gardner does great work and can't wait to see what he has in store.

[onthestrip]

Would have thought for the asking price a taller and more dense redevelopment would have had to happen.

[Teo9969]

I bought my most recent set of tires from Swanson. Sad to see them go as well

[Pete]

Would have thought for the asking price a taller and more dense redevelopment would have had to happen.

I knew this was under contract for quite a while and was surprised to learn they are keeping all the existing structures, although I suspect the building on Harvey might not end up being the highest and best use.

But I'm really glad they are keeping everything. It's important to the character of Midtown and I bet this will turn out ultra-cool, especially the interior courtyard.

Midtown is becoming the patio capital of OKC.

[bchris02]

Great to see the momentum continuing in Midtown. Cannot wait to see what becomes of this.

[CaseyCornett]

I love the guys at Swanson (and how many people can say that about auto mechanics?)! Sad to see them go.

Small side note: the label for R&J is in the wrong location. It should be on the block to the west of current label. It's located on the backside of the building across from "Industry Flea" (not the corner building on 10th and Hudson, but the building east of it).

[gopokes88]

A cool homage to the buildings history would be to leave the Swanson Tire Co signage up.

[Ginkasa]

I'm hoping Good Egg can do for Mexican food what they've done for seafood at The Drake. I'd like to see it be true Mexican food rather than generic Tex-Mex (although if they go that route I'm sure it will be the best Tex-Mex).

[CCOKC]

Count me as a person sad to see Swanson's gone. They have saved mine and some of my staff's bacon a few times since we are only a block away. I was going to take my car in next week for an oil change. Oh well, it will clean up the area since some of those buildings are quite run down. And I do love the Good Egg Group. BTW there is a for sale sign on the other building on that block on the southeast corner. I tried to look up the asking price online but could not find it.

[sixkiller]

Can anyone recommend another tire shop/car repair in the vicinity? I'm sad to see a fundamental service leave, and fear its type will never return.

[DoctorTaco]

Can anyone recommend another tire shop/car repair in the vicinity? I'm sad to see a fundamental service leave, and fear its type will never return.

I feel you. As a downtown-dweller the lack of services is killing me. We have a well-publicized need for better grocery options. But beyond that have you ever tried to find a dog border/marriage counselor/experienced physical therapist/pediatric dentist/assorted medical specialists/Starbucks (I know, local is better but still)/drug store (closest is on 23rd & Classen)/etc. The majority of these require drives to Nichols Hills/Quail Creek or Edmond.

Yes we have cooler and cooler restaurants and bars, but c'mon. We are maturing down here. We need some services that don't require an epic drive.

This is why I am not at all upset having a Cox store in the Rise and I hope that the furniture store down there survives. These kind of un-glamorous businesses are the difference between an entertainment district and a viable neighborhood.

[Pete]

The services are coming.

A dentist just opened in Deep Deuce, another at Walker & 13th and still another is going in at Fassler Hall. Midtown Vets opened not that long ago and a dog daycare and boarding place is opening off Auto Alley. There is actually a Walgreens Pharmacy (just prescriptions) and a full-on Starbucks at St. Anthony.

Tons of dry cleaners and hair places. Two great bike shops for related services. All types of gyms and personal trainers.

We're getting there it's just going to take some time given the absolutely nothingness of the previous decades.

[Jeepnokc]

I feel you. As a downtown-dweller the lack of services is killing me. We have a well-publicized need for better grocery options. But beyond that have you ever tried to find a dog border/marriage counselor/experienced physical therapist/pediatric dentist/assorted medical specialists/Starbucks (I know, local is better but still)/drug store (closest is on 23rd & Classen)/etc. The majority of these require drives to Nichols Hills/Quail Creek or Edmond.

Yes we have cooler and cooler restaurants and bars, but c'mon. We are maturing down here. We need some services that don't require an epic drive.

This is why I am not at all upset having a Cox store in the Rise and I hope that the furniture store down there survives. These kind of un-glamorous businesses are the difference between an entertainment district and a viable neighborhood.

Not sure of exact needs but there is a physical therapist at 10th and Walker next to Sushi place, and numerous specialist doctors in the buildings next to St Anthonys. Classen View Vet at 22/Classen boards animals. There is a Starbucks with limited hours on 9th street. Definitely need more daily living retail though. We are getting tired of driving to 23 and Penn when we want to make lunch at office. We stopped going to Homeland on Classen because generally we are looking for pre made salads, etc and theirs are always starting to brown.

[shawnw]

There's also a physical therapist in the building at 9th/Robinson (SW corner).

[Teo9969]

Whatever services are not in the area, people would do well to find a way to invest their money into those things. Call a good marriage counselor, waive some money at them, and convince them to move downtown for a percentage of the business.

Get creative, because even if downtown has massive holes in walkability, that doesn't mean that these services will be anything less than successful.

[DoctorTaco]

There's also a physical therapist in the building at 9th/Robinson (SW corner).

Yeah, PT Central...I am just going to say that not all Physical Therapists are created equal and leave it at that.

[shawnw]

Oic