Aspiring artists, established musicians and casual fans will have a new place to congregate next year with the opening of MODE Tulsa. It’s a 1,300-capacity live music venue in the city’s Cathedral District at 913 S. Boulder Ave.
The mixed-use development will be built in the former First Christian Church of Tulsa building, and feature 31 affordable apartments, a relocated Wildflower Café, a speakeasy-style lounge and production equipment for regional artists.
The entire space is nearly 90,000 square feet and the venue is expected to create over 30 jobs.
The project is the brainchild of Corey Taylor II, a former NFL player turned musician, and his business partner Eric Sherburn, a neurosurgeon specializing in sports medicine. The pair partnered with Sharp Development to provide Tulsans with another place to gather downtown.
“What makes this property special, and being in the Cathedral District special, is that it’s always been a gathering place, and we intend to do that exact same thing by bringing people together from all different walks of life … to increase the quality of life downtown, right here in the city of Tulsa,” Taylor II said.
The first floor will house a private, intimate lounge with a cocktail bar. Plans are to host vinyl listening sessions, DJ showcases and cultural events.
The center part of the building, where the 31 apartments will be, will hover within the $850 to $1,250 per month range, Taylor II said. Wildflower will be located on the south side of the building.
You won’t need to be an established artist to access the resources at MODE. Artists will have access to a “small batch vinyl production” with capacity to create 1,000 records a day.
Taylor II and Sherburn are also partnering with nonprofit Kroma Initiative, which will provide music lessons, host workshops and teach artists how to produce and record.
“Whether it’s Wayman Tisdale, The Gap Band, Leon Russell … we wanted to create a space where we were breeding talent that was that caliber, that level, and with an emphasis on community and reinvesting into the arts and into music,” Taylor II said.
Both Taylor II and Sherburn came up with the concept through their shared love of music. Their first attempt at creating a venue came in 2022, when they bought The First Church of Christ Scientist across the street at 11th and Boulder.
Taylor II said they weren’t able to fully execute on developing the project due to being so early in the financing stages. Come 2025, an opportunity to purchase another building came and they could not pass it up.
“We’re less than a year in owning the property with our partners in Sharp Development, and we’re already leaps and bounds ahead, but the work was put in on the front end, and that was across the street,” he said.
Taylor II said it cost more than $5 million to develop MODE but didn’t offer a specific number.
Wildflower Café is expected to open either later this month or in early July, while the rest of MODE will come online midway through 2027.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
