A rendering can show what a housing project may look like. An application changes the question: could this become my address?

That is the stage Black Wall Street Square has reached in North Tulsa. Applications are open for homes in the development near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and East Reading Street, according to Ismael Lele’s October 1 reporting for Tulsa Flyer.

The first phase includes 13 of the project’s planned 25 townhomes. Construction is still underway, and the report gives mid-January as the projected completion window for the first phase, so moving boxes can stay in the closet for now.

The development includes different purchasing routes. Tulsa Flyer reports that eight homes are planned for market-rate sale through McGee Enterprises, while 17 are intended to involve down-payment assistance. Green Country Habitat for Humanity is among the project partners.

For households exploring the Habitat route, Green Country Habitat offers virtual and on-site information sessions explaining its homebuyer process. Income, credit and other eligibility requirements apply. Attending a session or expressing interest does not guarantee a particular home, financial assistance or approval.

Habitat also offers counseling for households working toward its requirements, creating a starting point even when an application is not ready today.

Black Wall Street Square is not yet a row of completed homes filled with residents. It is a North Tulsa project crossing from plans and construction into a stage where prospective buyers can take concrete steps.

The paperwork is less photogenic than a groundbreaking, but it marks a different kind of progress. Eventually, someone has to get a key.

North Tulsa is not at that last step here yet. The first 13 townhomes are taking shape, applications are open and the project is getting closer to the point where an address on a site plan can become an address someone calls home.

One development cannot define North Tulsa, and 25 townhomes cannot carry the future of an entire community. They can become 25 addresses.

Right now, the first 13 are getting closer.