The Hawthorne Neighborhood of north Tulsa and the adjacent commercial corridor along 36th St. N. were developed in the 1950’s. “White flight” in the early 1970’s led eventually to the closing of many of the retail businesses and Northland Mall (the counterpart to Southland Mall, now named Promenade Mall). 36th St. N. is now left with many vacant buildings and razed properties. Consequently, the Hawthorne Neighborhood (along with most of north Tulsa) faces a serious lack of retail and services.

When Crossover Community Impact started Crossover Development Company (CDC) in 2015, a City of Tulsa economic gap analysis/leakage study for north Tulsa showed that roughly $250 million leaves north Tulsa every year. In addition to reflecting the lack of retail and services for members of our community, this lack of capturing and turning dollars over in our community contributes to the 8% unemployment rate and 43% of residents not in the labor force (towncharts.com).

To help address this lack of services and quality jobs, CDC pursues economic development projects, workforce development through the creation of construction jobs, and entrepreneurial support. CDC is working to develop its first mixed use development on Crossover Community Impact’s land at 36th St. N. and Peoria Ave. We hope this development will help catalyze the rejuvenation of 36th St. N. (The Phoenix District) as a main street.

In the single family residential neighborhood of Hawthorne, the post-WWII housing is characterized by small lot sizes with three bed, one bath single story tract homes. Roughly 10% of the houses were boarded up when CDC started working to purchase and renovate boarded-up houses and sell them to individuals and families. CDC also works to expand the available housing by doing housing additions on existing houses, new construction, and building missing middle housing (two-flats and three-flats) as well as townhouses.