So much for being a bedroom community.
Broken Arrow, which previously had a more modest retail presence, is experiencing an explosion of new shops and restaurants, and many more could be on the way.
The Broken Arrow Expressway corridor is the focal point of much of the growth, with the Shoppes at Stone Ridge bringing two hotels and a $10 million to $15 million shopping center just south of St. John Broken Arrow at Elm Place; the continuing development of the Target-anchored the Shops at Broken Arrow near Lynn Lane; and the Lowes-anchored Park at Adams Creek along Kenosha Street.
Tammy Fate, vice president of marketing and retail development at the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce, said the retail boom has been something the Tulsa suburb has needed for a long time.
"We've been in need of it for many years, and now businesses are seeing the potential of moving here," she said.
Mike Prescott of Broken Arrow Development, the company behind the Shoppes at Stone Ridge, said he and his company were attracted to Broken Arrow simply because it had grown too fast to ignore.
"As the population grows, the demands for goods and services grows along with it," he said. "The retail base hadn't kept (up)."
Steve Walman, leasing agent for the site, said the success of the Bass Pro Shops along the Broken Arrow Expressway has also helped trigger the Shoppes at Stone Ridge and other projects.
They're hoping to take advantage of the additional rooftops with 50,000 square
feet of retail space. Infrastructure work is under way, though Walman said it may not be finished until 2011.
Prescott said the shopping center's proximity to the hospital means they might focus on drug stores, medical supply stores, cleaners and convenience restaurants to support the workers there.
"We're hoping to put retail and service operations around the hospital and medical buildings in order to enhance them and help out both the staff of these places as well as their patients," he said.
Prescott said they've sold one block of land to Tejas Patel for development of a potential hotel, and they're in discussions with a second hotel developer. Patel was not available for comment on his development.
They also have additional pad sites they intend to sell for development of individual stores and restaurants.
The Village at Stone Wood Hills, the shopping and retail center next to Bass Pro, continues to have restaurants such as Charleston's build there and the 33,000 square foot shopping center has plenty of tenants.
Stone Wood Coffee and Tea Co., a restaurant in the Village, has done well since it opened up two years ago, said manager Shelby Woolery.
"For the most part, our business has been steady, and our clientele has grown dramatically," she said.
Farther east, multiple new tenants have joined the Target at the Shops at Broken Arrow, including AT&T, Marshalls, Petsmart and Olive Garden.
Hans Kuhlmann, a manager with Halifax Development LLC, one of the developers of the Shops, said they're pushing ahead with building an additional 21,000 square-foot strip center in front of the Target. It's 50 percent pre-leased with small shops and restaurants, and should be finished by November.
"The leasing is going well, though this phase is moving a little more slowly than the first," he said.
Though the recession is causing some retailers to slow down their expansion plans, they're still enthusiastic about Broken Arrow.
"Broken Arrow is a market retailers like," Kuhlmann said. "Even some of the ones that already have stores on 71st Street in Tulsa aren't worried about cannibalizing their business."
The Park at Adams Creek, just east of the Shops along Kenosha, has steadily filled with Lowe's, Tulsa Teachers Credit Union and various restaurants. Grant Stewart with the Park developer KMO Development in Tulsa, said the long-planned 40,250 square-foot, 12-screen Cinemark theater immediately southwest of Lowe's should break ground by the end of the year.
Another business has signed a letter of intent for a pad site near Santa Fe Cattle Co., though Stewart said the potential tenant doesn't wish to be identified yet.
While KMO still has 22 acres east of Lowe's and less than 10 west with no firm development plans, he's confident they'll attract interested shops and restaurants soon.
"When Target opened up to the west, we figured that would fill up first, though as that develops we figure retailers will come our way."
City, chamber focused on community growth
Of course the continued growth of Broken Arrow has contributed to the retail boom, but Tammy Fate, vice president of marketing and retail development at the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce, said moves behind the scenes have also helped.
Fate said both entities have redoubled their efforts to lure retailers.
“The city has focused a lot more on retail in recent years than they have in previous years, and we promote heavily to retailers looking in the area,” she said.
As part of that effort, the city and chamber is marketing over 200 acres of land along the Creek Turnpike from Aspen Avenue to Elm Place under the name of Aspen Creek.
The land, which is privately held, was identified by the city and chamber as one of the three major nodes of development for the city, along with the Broken Arrow corridor and the Creek Turnpike along Kenosha, said Rickey Hayes, a retail consultant for Aspen Avenue.
However, Aspen Creek is developing slowly.
“We’ve met with several different people on the land, but the real issue is financing,” he said. “Until the retail economy turns a little bit, it’ll be hard.
A new Wal-mart Supercenter is about to open near the Creek Turnpike on Kenosha, though other retail projects planned alongside it by Tapp Development Corp. of Edmond have yet to break ground, Hayes said.
Fate said retail growth in the city may be helped by an effort by city officials to streamline the development process and make it more welcoming.