Oklahoma City bungalows brought back from the brink
23rd Street Courts is home to Cupcake shop, salons, gift store
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
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Published: November 4, 2009
Mike and Vickie Tharasena have taken a neglected stretch of bungalows along NW 23 and renovated them into shops and offices. Photo by PAUL HELLSTERN, The Oklahoman
A once neglected stretch of bungalows has come back to life this past year and is now home to a popular cupcake shop, salons, a gift store and offices.
Now Mike Tharasena, developer of the 23rd Street Courts, is down to renovating the last two buildings on the block — and is looking forward to a resurgence for all of the area known as "Uptown.”
"They were very neglected,” Tharasena said about the bungalows that line the 700 block of NW 23. "When I took over there were just five tenants. They were low-grade, and while the area was trashed out, I was surprised to see they hadn’t beaten up the wood (inside the old homes). They were rehabable.”
Tharasena estimates he has spent about $1 million since buying the nine buildings in 2006. Designs by architect
Brian Fitzsimmons called for widening of one-lane-wide
Guernsey Avenue to allow for improved access to parking behind the bungalows facing NW 23. More parking was built between the 23rd Street Courts and an adjoining fast food restaurant to the east.
The former homes date back to World War I, Tharasena said, and retain much of their original decor, including ornate fireplaces and built-in shelves, desks and benches.
Michelle Franks, owner of Starlite Salon, the Courts’ newest tenant, said she dreamed of opening a business in one of the bungalows as they were being renovated and was happy to get a chance to get a space that was leased for a short time to another salon.
"This vintage style building is great for me because I’ve got a vintage-type salon,” Franks said. "People like coming here because it’s a salon and an old house. They’re enjoying seeing restoration coming to an old part of
Oklahoma City.”
The final building awaiting renovation may also be the oddest of the bunch — a two-story home facing the interior parking lot that was last used as an artist’s studio.
Touring the home at 2418 Guernsey, Tharasena shows old exterior siding and windows in enclosed spaces that indicate the building was expanded not just once, but multiple times. In the early 1940s a small gymnasium and outdoor pool was added the home — remnants of both still stand.
Tharasena said he’s holding off on further renovation until he signs a tenant — one he hopes might be an upscale restaurant.
Looking down the street, Tharasena is jubilant about the success of Big Truck Tacos and the opening of Market C next to Cheever’s. He has also watched restoration of the Tower theater sign and hopes to see
Marty Dillon succeed in his redevelopment of the surrounding block.
Tharasena notes his bungalows weren’t as historic as Cheever’s, the theater or the nearby Gold Dome. But he believes he has taken the worst part of NW 23 and turned it into a showcase of what’s possible.
"I’m very happy,” Tharasena said. "I’m feeling a great amount of accomplishment having done this.”
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