Tulsa World: A milestone for the Mayo

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A milestone for the Mayo

A suite at the renovated Mayo Hotel is seen Wednesday. The hotel portion of the landmark building, which will also feature loft apartments, is set to welcome its first guests by September. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World

By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer
Published: 8/6/2009 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 8/6/2009 2:52 AM

For years, the revival of the historic Mayo Hotel seemed to just gradually inch forward.

But the transformation of the landmark into a hotel and loft apartment combo is now moving at a breakneck pace. It's moving so quickly, in fact, that the hotel portion will greet the first guests by the end of September, four months ahead of schedule.

Macy Snyder, sales manager at the Mayo, said the accelerated hotel opening will come just shortly after the first apartment residents move in Aug 22.

"We weren't sure we were going to make it on time, but things have gone so well we were able to push it up," she said.

The building was built in 1925 and has been only been minimally operational since 1981. The Charles Snyder family bought the empty building at 115 W. Fifth St. in 2001 for $250,000.

It's now a flurry of activity as workers put the finishing touches on the $40 million renovation and prepare the 102 hotel rooms, 76 apartments, seven meeting rooms and a new restaurant space.

The terrazzo and marble floors are being restored to their original luster. The exterior repairs on the front are nearly complete. And the first pieces of hotel furniture are being carried inside.

To further prepare for the opening, the Mayo had a job fair Wednesday. Hundreds of people applied, although 70 positions are currently available of the 100 that the facility will eventually employ. The jobs range from housekeepers, laundry workers and valets to event coordinators and banquet captains.

Snyder said she was surprised by the strong response.

"There are a lot of people applying who are way overqualified," she said. "It's starting to look like the economy is affecting Oklahoma."

The recession hasn't affected interest in the Mayo's apartments, however. Snyder said about half of them have been leased, and more people are asking about them almost every day.

Snyder said they've probably been helped by their rents, which range from $750 to $2,500 and are often lower than potential tenants have said they would have expected to pay for loft apartments in a historic building.

"We're overcoming the stigma of many luxury apartments by keeping the rent reasonable," she said.

Drew Harding, who lives in a midtown Tulsa apartment, said he would be one of the first to move in.

"I'm originally from Dallas, so I have an affinity for an urban environment," he said. "I like the idea of having a livable downtown area where you can walk everywhere you need to."

Loft tenants will share all the services available to hotel guests, including room service, laundry, maid service and valet parking.

For the most part, the lofts will be above the hotel rooms. Although there are 102 rooms for overnight guests, there are 23 floor plans among them.

"We had to shape the floor plans to fit the existing building," Snyder said.

Those rooms will be unique as well, Snyder said, because more than 100 different large photos of historic Tulsa and the Mayo's history, from famous guests to its recent reconstruction, will be scattered throughout the rooms and the hallways.

Overseeing the permanent and temporary dwellers will be Wesley Ludloff, recently hired as the building's general manager. He has worked for a variety of luxury hotel brands including Orient Express Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and others, and he moved to Tulsa to accept what he called a unique opportunity.

Although he's been impressed by the strategy for the building, the history and the dedication of the Snyders, he said he's been especially moved by the level of excitement toward the Mayo from city officials and residents alike.

"This is my 14th hotel opening, and I've never seen such anticipation," Ludloff said.

The hotel's restaurant still doesn't have a name, but it has a chef — Neall Bailey. He was formerly the executive chef at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Snyder said that rather than go for a typical luxury restaurant, the Mayo's dining facility will be more laid-back and geared toward the residents and downtown workers.

"It'll be a place where people will want to go and hang out," she said.

The restaurant, which will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, will be ready by the end of September.

When finished, the Mayo will have nine meeting spaces, including the restored Crystal Ballroom on the 16th floor, the Grand Hall and the penthouse.

Snyder said the iconic Mayo sign would soon be relighted, and many of the floors are already lighted.

"This is changing the skyline of downtown Tulsa," she said. "The building looks a lot better with the lights on."

The Mayo Hotel

Architect: George Winkler, who also played a role in the design of Holy Family Cathedral, First Presbyterian Church and Trinity Episcopal Church. added to national Register of historic Places: 1980 Renovation history: Ground-level ballroom reopened in 200 ; plans to convert the top seven floors to loft apartments were announced in 2006.

Number of loft apartments: 76

Number of hotel rooms: 102

Famous connections: Oilman J. Paul Getty lived at the Mayo when he was a Tulsan. John F. Kennedy, Bob Hope, Charles Lindbergh, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and Babe Ruth are among its famous guests. Richard Nixon once spoke there.

Saving the Mayo

Various efforts to restore the Mayo hotel have been undertaken over the years but with only modest success:

1980: Daon Development Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia, buys the mayo and announces a $20 million restoration project. The hotel is closed during an interior demolition in 1981. It never reopened.

1982: A Tulsa group buys the hotel and announces a $32 million restoration plan. The plans are scuttled by a downturn in the local economy.

November 1986: officials announce a $31 million plan to open a 217-unit senior citizen complex using a $3.25 million federal Urban Development Action Grant. The plan fails in 1987 when needed local funding cannot be raised.

May 1987: Mayo is purchased by a group managed by Tulsa entrepreneur Paul Coury, who says he intends to restore it “to its former splendor” as a hotel. The group fails to line up sufficient funding for the plan but announces a downsized effort to use the building for retail and hotel space.

February 1996: Northern Lights of Traverse City Inc. submits a plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to convert the building into apartments with commercial space on the first floor.

Federal officials turn down the plan later that year.

May 1997: Tulsa Development Authority rejects a $4 million sales tax plan to develop the hotel as housing.

Preservation Oklahoma Inc. puts the building on its most endangered buildings list.

January 1998: owners Bruce robson and Jack Neely announce a plan to restore the building as a hotel. The plans are later put on hold.

July 2002: The mayo basement is renovated for public parking.

October 2002: Plans announced to reopen the building’s ground level as an events center. The facility opens in 2003.

March 2006: Mayor Bill LaFortune announces that $4.7 million to $4.9 million in Vision 2025 tax funds will be dedicated to plans to convert the top floors of the building into loft apartments.

October 2006: Topéca Coffee opens on the mayo’s first floor.

May 2008: The $40 million renovation officially begins.

Research by Hilary Pittman

Robert Evatt 581-8447
robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Mayo Hotel preparing for September opening," which was published on 8/5/2009.

	Report Comment WhereIsThought, Chandler (8/5/2009 7:40:48 PM) Great!!! Looking forward to seeing it!
	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, Small Country Town State Line (8/5/2009 7:45:32 PM) This is great for Tulsa and exciting.
	Report Comment Thunder196, Tulsa (8/5/2009 8:28:46 PM) I had two people tell me that if I get a chance to see this, I should go. They said it is unbelievable what it now looks like.
	Report Comment TU Homer, (8/5/2009 8:37:34 PM) I'm enjoying downtown.
	Report Comment Guillermo, (8/5/2009 8:38:38 PM) This is a great reason to go downtown and discover Tulsa. Tulsa proud
	Report Comment livinglarge, (8/5/2009 8:44:55 PM) I'da renamed it miracle whip, it's a southern thing.
	Report Comment Ayo, T-Town (8/5/2009 9:19:40 PM) This is just about the most exciting thing since ice cream! My HS prom was in the Crystal Ballroom. My first cocktail waitress job was in the Crest Club. Haha, this very beautiful, but mean German lady taught me to cocktail, and eventually bartend. Working for her, most new cocktail waitresses left in tears before the end of the shift on the first day. Ha! not me, and boy did she and I get in much trouble with us both being ornery, and opinionated. I wonder if they still have that beautiful wooden bar, and cabinets that was in the Crest Club?? It was gorgeous, and stately. Teak?? Then I was the weekend wine steward in the Golden Flame. (faked it, faked it, faked it) Elvis stayed there when he played Tulsa in 1976. He was snuck in and out through the warehouse door that faced Boulder Ave. That was before I worked there, but I heard all the tales. The penthouse was soooo cool with its balcony that seemed to go all the way around the building. We could see for miles. The marble in this building was beyond spectacular. Seeing the Mayo sign lit again is going to be simply wonderful. The Mayo has so much history, and I'm so excited for the opening, and to see that Mayo sign beaming! Thank you, thank you, thank you for not imploding this building too.
	Report Comment MBB, (8/5/2009 9:47:38 PM) I'm so happy for Tulsa. Now downtown needs a grocery store and a Medx or Walgreen's.
	Report Comment outspoken, (8/5/2009 9:48:32 PM) Can't wait to see it.
	Report Comment Moses, Jenks (8/5/2009 10:17:42 PM) It will be nice to see the Mayo alive again. It was the place to see and be seen! My high school prom was held at the Mayo, in fact all of the high schools had their prom there. The Crystal Ballroom was amazing.
	Report Comment Bedazzled, (8/5/2009 11:38:56 PM) This is good for Tulsa and exciting. My mother worked at the Mayo Hotel for a while after college and is now deceased. I wish she could see it. Ayo you are right it has a lot of history.
	Report Comment jasouthard, Tulsa (8/6/2009 12:12:12 AM) Great for Tulsa!!!!!!!
	Report Comment Graybeard, Tulsa (8/6/2009 5:42:48 AM) Wonderful! Kudos to the developers......am going to visit. A small grocery downtown.....remember Wolferman's?....might be a viable concern for the area.
	Report Comment FromTheHeart, (8/6/2009 7:21:08 AM) A long time in the making, I'm sure it will be beautiful!
	Report Comment Sarge776, Tulsa (8/6/2009 7:32:19 AM) Judging by what the article says, and the picture that was attached to the clipping, I have to admit that this historic building deserves this happening to it than it being a converted parking lot like so many of the other old buildings that were once there.
	Report Comment Ayo, T-Town (8/6/2009 8:31:17 AM) If I didn't own a house I would live there. Dang it. With all the lofts, apartments, and condos that are now downtown a grocery store is needed. Like yesterday.
	Report Comment Slatz, Tulsa (8/6/2009 8:33:47 AM) My grandmother was there the day the hotel opened in the 1920's...she was about 9 or 10 at the time..she said that they had some stunt guy (like Spiderman?) crawl up the outside of it. I attended a company party there in the ballroom in the late 1970's. Many thanks to the Snyder family for having the vision and persistence to see this project through. It's good for downtown and Tulsa.
	Report Comment p003220, (8/6/2009 8:57:01 AM) Kudos to the Snyder family and to Tulsa...I will be a frequent visitor of a rooftop bar!
	Report Comment Bullhead, Nicut (8/6/2009 9:32:33 AM) I hope they give us a slide show of the apartments and hotel rooms.
	Report Comment SRV, (8/6/2009 9:33:06 AM) We still need a grocery store downtown, folks.....
	Report Comment Ayo, T-Town (8/6/2009 9:41:10 AM) "If you ain't hitch to other than yer house...sell it and we will get a nice roomy apartment down there...one that separates us..." Heheheheheheh, do you like cats?
	Report Comment Few Clothes, Austin, TX (8/6/2009 9:46:53 AM) I'll come by when I visit Tulsa again.
	Report Comment Davy Crotchety, (8/6/2009 9:51:30 AM) This is terrific for Tulsa and will enhance our City permanently. I think we can all agree on that. I am surprised, however, to see some of you conservative clowns paying compliments. Do you not know about all the local, state, and federal grants and tax credits in this project? Or, are you just conveniently ignoring that fact? Sensible people understand that without these public subsidies, the Mayo would still be a vacant, pigeon-filled, shell. Sensible people recognize those subsidies for what they are, a public investment that helps restore vitality to downtown, raises our image, and brings returns that will outlast all of us. Conservative clowns just whine. And whine. And whine. Except this time, for some reason. What gives?
	Report Comment douglassm, tulsa (8/6/2009 9:52:15 AM) You should see the inside! The lofts are gorgeous.
	Report Comment The Man, Broken Arrow (8/6/2009 10:42:54 AM) "Conservative clowns just whine. And whine. And whine. Except this time, for some reason. What gives?" Okay...they whine, you complain. They support, you complain. As a matter of fact, you inject your politics into a discussion where people are being universally positive in order to try and start partisan bickering. Conservative...liberal...whatever. Davy Crotchety...apparently a whiner.

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