redevelopment set to start for shopping center in northeast Oklahoma City

Redevelopment of a blighted northeast Oklahoma City shopping center is set to start later this month following city council approval Tuesday of up to $2,060,000 in tax increment financing assistance.

Northeast Plaza, 1148 NE 36, was built in 1962 and at 96,000 square feet it is one of the largest retail centers in northeast Oklahoma City.

Architect and developer Rick Brown said the $7 million redevelopment is scheduled to be complete by November. Brown said a letter of intent is signed with a potential grocery tenant and talks are underway with a national hardware retailer and sporting goods retailer as well and local and regional shops.

“This project will completely strip the building down to the building structure, renovate the exterior, the parking lot, the whole property,” Brown said. “The shopping center was once home to a grocery, cafeteria, drug store and hardware store. It was once a vibrant place for the community, and our objective is to restore that for the northeast side of the city.”

The development is the first to be started as part of the Northeast Renaissance TIF district created last year by the city council to spur development along NE 23, NE 36, Kelley Avenue and Martin Luther King Avenue.

Read the full story on NewsOK.