More Than Century-Old Downtown Building Brought To Its Former Glory

A more than 100-year-old building in downtown Tulsa is brought back to its former glory.

The old Santa Fe Train Depot has been empty for years and is now the headquarters for industrial development firm IDO.

IDO partner Matt Klimisch says, “we are trying to recruit young talent with something downtown that’s more urban.”

The building, built in 1915, was originally planned as part of the lobby and event space for the currently under construction hotel Indigo.  That didn’t work out, so IDO scooped up the property.

“We decided to redevelop the building and try to do something very nice to try and kick off the Santa Fe development as a whole,” said Klimisch.

That more than $100 million Santa Fe development is still underway in the lot next door and will include apartments, retail, and a parking garage.

Klimisch says that “with everything that’s happening around here, we felt this was a building that needed some investment and we were happy to do it.”

The space was pretty much gutted, being most recently renovated in the late 80s, so it needed a little TLC.

There are still several thousand square feet for rent for other companies interested in moving some of their workforce downtown.

“To try and kick it off and be more higher end because that is what we expect the overall project to be,” said Klimisch.  “It is basically a show piece for Tulsa.”