'Santa Fe Square' bringing apartments, restaurants & office space to Blue Dome District in downtown Tulsa

A new development in Tulsa's Blue Dome District wants to bring some excitement to the area with apartments, restaurants and office space.

It's called Santa Fe Square.

The developers wanted to give a nod to the history of the space, near 2nd and Greenwood, which was the old Santa Fe railway.

The Santa Fe Square will offer a European flair, a welcome change for a space that has been lackluster for years.

"This was just a parking lot. There was nothing here. It was just all dirt,” Sofia Villalpando said.

Villalpando is a waitress across the street at Jinya Ramen Bar. She's worked there for eight years, watching her view change.

"Seeing downtown Tulsa grow so much, it's been amazing,” she said.

"Our plan is to have these huge European umbrellas, which are like 20 by 20 feet, and they'll have integrated heaters and lights. And we're gonna do white tablecloth dining out there,” McNellie’s Restaurant Group Owner Elliot Nelson said.

Nelson shared his vision for the space from an apartment balcony.

"We're gonna program the symphony, and the orchestra, and try to get different arts and music and things going out here on the weekends and really bring the plaza alive,” he said.

With a law office (completed more than a year ago) and nearly 200 apartment units, he pictures people filling the space and bringing his 20-year-old dream to life.

"I've been working on this project since 2004. So a long time,” he said. “We opened McNellie’s March of 2004. I had my first drawings done on this site in August of 2004, just kind of, every day staring across the street thinking about maybe what could be."

No longer what could be -- but what is, the Blue Dome District's latest space to live and play.

"I'm ready for downtown to come alive,” Villalpando said. “I'm ready for people to bring their ideas here. I'm ready for it to just grow."

Nelson said he’ll open an Italian restaurant at the square sometime this fall. Nearby Maestro will offer Latin cocktails and tapas.

Developers are talking with a handful of other tenants about moving into the space as well.