A one-story building at 1116 N Broadway that has long stood out as an eyesore in Oklahoma City's Automobile Alley district is set to get a facade renovation and a new second-floor apartment. The property, which consists of two separate structures, has sat largely unchanged for decades along one of the district's most visible commercial corridors.
According to The Oklahoman, county assessor records show the north half of the building was built in 1947 as an L-shaped structure, with that portion originally set back from the street. The same records indicate the north section was later expanded all the way to the curb in 1952, giving the building its current footprint. Those details, drawn from assessor documentation, are among the few hard facts available about a structure whose ownership, renovation cost, and construction timeline have not been made public.
What exactly the apartment will look like, or when work might begin, remains unclear — the reporting that surfaced this project does not specify a budget, contractor, architect, or projected completion date. Still, the plan to breathe new life into a building widely regarded as a blemish on the block fits a broader pattern playing out across Automobile Alley, where investors have spent recent years chasing adaptive reuse of century-old storefronts.
A District Built on Cars, Reborn as Mixed-Use
Automobile Alley earned its name in the 1920s, when the district was developed primarily as a commercial hub for car dealerships, according to Automobile Alley. The same history notes that 52 of Oklahoma City's first 76 auto dealerships once lined Broadway. That boom didn't last through the century — the organization notes the area fell into decline during the 1970s and 1980s before local efforts began turning it around with revitalization and restoration work.
That turnaround has only accelerated in recent years. A three-story property at 1015 North Broadway, originally constructed in the early 1900s, underwent a renovation that included extensive structural shoring and a full overhaul of its interior spaces, per Timberlake Construction. That building now houses street-level retail, including a coffee shop and art gallery alongside a bike shop, the same account notes.
Bigger Projects Still in the Pipeline
Other Automobile Alley proposals point to even larger ambitions. The Pivot Project has said it wants to open what it calls the first hotel along Automobile Alley by renovating the historic Magnolia Petroleum building, according to a separate report from The Oklahoman. And at 13th Street and Broadway Avenue, a proposed complex called The Hub would bring 292 apartments, a six-story parking garage and seven floors of commercial space to the district, per KOCO. That project would total more than 570,000 square feet of combined living, working and parking space, though KOCO reported the plan had not yet received the city's final go-ahead.
Mayor David Holt pointed to that kind of growth as central to the city's identity, telling KOCO, “If you're not a city that's building new things, you're not a city that's growing.” Against that backdrop, the modest overhaul planned for 1116 N Broadway looks less like an isolated fix and more like one more piece of a corridor still working to shed its decades of decline.
Residents curious about the building's progress can track permit activity through the city's own Oklahoma City permit database, which allows searches by permit number or application information. The city also maintains a page listing Historic Preservation Administrative Approval Documents, filed through its offices at City Hall on North Walker.
