Build it and they will come
By: J. David Chapman/March 15, 2018
In the movie Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler plays an aspiring hockey player who finds himself on the professional golf tour. Last week Julie and I were invited to a soft opening for one of the hottest restaurant concepts in the city. So, for one day this real estate column dude got to play restaurant critic.
Provision Concepts was opening the Hatch restaurant in Chisholm Creek, a new development just south of the Kirkpatrick Turnpike between N. Western and N. Pennsylvania avenues in Oklahoma City. The staff did a wonderful job. Beth Simpson, general manager, and Savannah Wild, operations manager, had the doors open at 6 a.m. for the anxious patrons to partake in the so-called early mood food. Nobody I talked to was disappointed. The food was fabulous and by the time you read this they will have been open an entire week.
Provision Concepts principles Aaron Soward and Jeff Dixon already own Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse, two locations of Sidecar Barley & Wine Bar, West Restaurant, BirraBirra Craft Pizzeria and the Hatch restaurant in Midtown. It is not surprising that the group decided to add to their portfolio and open the Hatch in Chisholm Creek. They are in good company. There are many early adopters in the Tract30 building in Chisholm Creek such as Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Fuzzy’s, Yokozuna, Republic Gastropub, and Provision Concepts’ second location of the Sidecar.
At first glance most, savvy real estate professionals I talk to find it interesting that these restaurants all chose to take a risk opening locations in this area at this time. All these concepts are known for selecting sites for locations in districts known for their walkability, livability, and mix of business, housing, entertainment and retail. Almost exclusively they want to be a part of a residential mixed-use play such as Midtown, Automobile Alley and Deep Deuce – something with an industrial-chic vibe setting the tone for something unique and different.
The team developing Chisholm Creek said they were going to construct a development consisting of an urban fabric in a northern suburban part of Oklahoma City just south of Edmond and it would attract urbanite-type businesses. I must say it is comforting to see the plan come to fruition and by all accounts it looks like they were correct: “If you build it, they will come.”
Dr. J. David Chapman is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).