The Cherokee Nation cut the ribbon Oct. 28 on its first housing project in north Tulsa, a seven-unit apartment building on North Harvard Avenue built with Green Country Habitat for Humanity (via the Tulsa Flyer). Tribal leaders used the event to lay out plans for more homes in the area over the next few years.
The Harvard Apartments, at 110 N. Harvard Ave., hold seven two-bedroom, one-bath units of 840 square feet each, according to the Cherokee Nation. Three are ADA units, and one is set up for residents who are visually and hearing impaired. Rent is based on income, and each unit went to a Cherokee citizen from the Cherokee Nation Housing Authority's waitlist.
Habitat broke ground in November 2023. Construction cost a little more than $1.35 million, the tribe said, with $450,000 from the Cherokee Nation and $900,000 in grants from the City of Tulsa and PartnerTulsa. That works out to roughly $193,000 per unit. The tribe's housing authority runs the building under a management agreement with Habitat and plans to buy it from Habitat in the next few months.
"This is a milestone day in the Cherokee Nation," Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said at the opening, according to the Tulsa Flyer. Hoskin said the tribe is trying to do its part toward Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols' goal of 6,000 new housing units by 2028.
What comes next is bigger. Hoskin and Deputy Chief Bryan Warner signed a letter of intent the same day that, according to the tribe, directs money to three more north Tulsa projects through 2028:
$2.5 million toward Flat Rock Ridge Phase II, near 36th Street North and Peoria Avenue, to buy buildable lots for up to 45 units, a mix of ownership and affordable rentals.
More than $1.9 million for up to 10 units at Utica Crossing, a Habitat brownfield project in the former Crutchfield neighborhood, with work expected in 2027.
$3 million for three duplexes for Cherokee elders on the North Tulsa Community Center campus at 1205 E. 46th St. N.
The Tulsa Flyer described those plans more cautiously, reporting that the 45-lot project is still in the planning phase. The tribe also formed a work group on housing solutions.
"It's all of our problem. And if we treat it that way, we can chip away at it," Hoskin said.
Why it matters for Contractors
This is a small project, but it shows how infill housing is getting built in north Tulsa right now: a nonprofit builder, layered public money and a tribal partner with a long-term pipeline. For contractors, the pipeline is the part to watch. Flat Rock Ridge alone could mean up to 45 units, and Habitat's Utica Crossing work is slated for 2027.
Those projects will need builders and trade partners. If you're a small shop in Tulsa, it's worth getting on the radar of Green Country Habitat for Humanity and the Cherokee Nation Housing Authority now, before that work is lined up.
The roughly $193,000-per-unit figure is also a useful benchmark for what small, accessible rental units are costing to build in the city.