The Paseo – it takes a village, indeed

By: Bert Belanger//Guest Columnist//January 10, 2019

Recently, I drove through the Paseo District and marveled at what it had become; with the area once a bastion of boarded and derelict buildings, its 20-year renaissance is nearly complete.

Updating the Paseo “village people” list I started last week, I start with two folks who have passed on, joining early Paseo pioneer John Belt. Tom Lee and Kathleen Jacobsen were both urban artists and savvy merchants, leading others to have the courage to join them in the Paseo District. In addition to Tom’s photography studio, his holdings in the Paseo included the relocated church building on Lee Avenue, and Kathy’s on Paseo was a staple from the moment Jacobsen purchased the former restaurant building from Positively Paseo.

Other stakeholders who helped shore up the Paseo District in the 1990s, and have gone on to revitalize other Oklahoma City neighborhoods, include Debbie Blackburn, Nedra Jones, Jody and Burt McAnally, Chip and Shannon Fudge, and Brian Fitzsimmons. Joy Reed Belt has continued ably John’s legacy, and, beginning with Johnathan and Anna Russell’s The Rise on NW 23rd Street, a cadre of young and energetic developers, including Ben Sellers, Johnathan Dodson, David Wanzer, and Jeremy Foraker, have filled most of the remaining gaps in the Paseo’s urban fabric. Some of the finest eateries and bars now clamor for the leased spaces on the Paseo diagonal that two decades ago collected only dust.

Foraker’s Pueblo and soon to open Frida/Daley projects place an eclectic capstone on the Paseo District, but I suspect there will continue to be more good things to come in this truly unique place.

None of this would have happened without the early vision of citizen leaders, as well as OKC’s political will to provide resources. Prior to the first MAPS initiative of 1992, some of us remember that a ULI weeklong “charrette” provided the impetus for action within Near Northwest OKC. Included was a recommendation for funding of CDBG (federal block grant) funds of our Breighton project. This infusion, as well as affordable housing tax credits through the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, completed the financing of our transformation of this entire urban block into affordable housing. I can happily report that this city funding was repaid in full as of 2018; I now can’t wait to visit the new Frida and see what 2019 holds for the Paseo.

Bert Belanger is a broker with Adept Commercial Real Estate and a real estate attorney with Riggs Abney (bbelanger@riggsabney.com).