A new hotel is moving up at 36th Street North and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The Alfresco Group said they chose the intersection for the new hotel because of the view overlooking the skyline of downtown Tulsa.

The groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday created a lot of excitement for people who live in the area. “It’s a question of vision. Without a vision, people are perishing and due to the lack of reconstruction, the lack of good infrastructure in northern Tulsa for young people, it has left them with little vision to dream of, ”said Mary Williams.

Williams grew up in the same area where the new hotel will be built and hopes this will create jobs and future growth in that area.

“Tulsa has a story that no one else has. It’s us again, this project is about Tulsa and I don’t want to stray from that. It’s really a collective story,” said Antoine Harris.

Harris is the CEO of the Alfresco Group, the minority real estate company that builds the hotel. He names it Stradford21 after JB Stradford, who founded the Stradford Hotel in 1918, which was burnt down in the 1921 race massacre. “Honor JB Stradford and all who came before us with this important project. I think there would be no other way to come forward, ”Harris said.

The hotel will have 109 rooms and Harris said the project will also have 10,000 square feet of retail space. Harris said construction will end in 2023.