LOCAL shopping center getting a major facelift

Thursday, May 24th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

One of Tulsa's oldest shopping centers is getting a facelift, with a bulldozer and construction crane. The Holliday Hills Shopping Center will be demolished, and then rebuilt under a new name.

KOTV's Emory Bryan went to 61st and Yale to and found out that long time Tulsans will remember the early days of this shopping center in the 1960's. This winter, this entire stretch of buildings will be torn down, replaced with new shops and restaurants, a big change for this part of town. The intersection of 61st and Yale is always busy with people going places, but more of them will be stopping now that the new Kings Pointe Village has opened. Some of Tulsa's most established names have moved in here, some just across the parking lot in the nearly 50 year old Holliday Hills Shopping Center. Sharon King-Davis, Owner/Developer: "All of our businesses here so far are Tulsa owned businesses and we're very proud of that." Sharon and Terry King's father developed Holliday Hills. Now they're redeveloping it, by building Kings Pointe in the parking lot, with plans to demolish the old Holliday Hills. Terry King, Owner/Developer: "We're currently in the planning and designing stage for phase two where we'll go in and tear down and rebuild the old Holliday Hills center with about 80 thousand square feet of retail and restaurants."

The redevelopment at Holliday Hills is part of a trend in Tulsa. In the last five years, about a dozen such projects have been completed with several in progress now. Terry King, "I think it's a sign of a good economy in Tulsa." The owners say they hope to keep a grocery store in the center, and expect some national chains to move in to the new buildings, which will be finished late next year.

As an indication of the positive turn in the economic development at 61st and Yale, Emory says that 80% of the new Kings Pointe shopping area is already leased out. Several businesses have already made inquiries into the future plans for rebuilding Holliday Hills.