By John Dobberstein, Editor
City leaders took the final step Tuesday toward approving a blueprint for the redevelopment of New Orleans Square in the coming years.
The Broken Arrow City Council unanimously OK’d a special “overlay district” that establishes guidelines on how the 162 acres encompassing the intersection of New Orleans Street and Elm Place will be developed.
The council also removed a moratorium on rezoning requests in the district now that the guidelines have been approved.
The process toward redeveloping the intersection began about 3 years ago when the original New Orleans Square Advisory Committee worked with city planners and a consulting firm, Kimley-Horn, to create a broad-reaching analysis of the intersection and recommend first steps.
A second advisory committee was appointed to discuss general redevelopment scenarios and challenges and move the process along toward formation of the overlay district.
The overlay was prepared to encourage redevelopment in and around the existing shopping centers in the area, along with other nearby underutilized land.
Those interested in reviewing the overlay district document can click here to download the report.
Redevelopment won’t be without its challenges at the intersection due to the variety of landlords who own the properties.
Broken Arrow has already made strides at the intersection, however. Just a few years ago, Reasor’s closed its store at NOS and Hobby Lobby moved to Hillside Drive.
But the last 2 years has seen the opening of the Cypress Place shopping center and many other new businesses moving into storefronts. A developer has purchased the former Reasor’s building on speculation, believing revitalization is possible at NOS.
Across the street, the New Orleans Square Movie Theater recently opened its doors to the public.
A multi million-dollar reconstruction of the intersection is slated to start this year that is intended to complement redevelopment, with safer pedestrian and traffic flow and landscaping to beautify the intersection.
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