Seventy new homes opened at 36th Street North and Peoria on September 29.

That number is the easiest part of The Landing at 36N to describe.

The more interesting part is what those homes are joining.

The Landing is the second phase of 36N, the Tulsa Housing Authority redevelopment taking shape on and around the former Comanche Apartments site. Its 70 homes include affordable, workforce and market-rate housing, along with a resident lounge, fitness room and commercial space.

Those details matter because this is not being built as a single apartment complex dropped onto an otherwise unchanged corner.

The larger plan is a seven-phase neighborhood redevelopment.

And one of its everyday pieces is already operating nearby.

The Grocery Box opened in April inside Phoenix @ 36N, the first phase of the development. The small grocery carries fresh food, pantry staples and household goods and accepts SNAP.

That gives the project something renderings and development numbers cannot: a place where somebody can actually stop for groceries.

Now another 70 homes have joined it.

The Landing itself adds more than housing. There is commercial space intended for future use, along with shared spaces for residents. But much of 36N is still ahead. Tulsa Housing Authority describes a plan for 545 homes across seven phases, so the September opening should be understood as another completed piece rather than a finished neighborhood.

That distinction makes the corner more interesting to watch.

Large redevelopment projects are usually described in totals, investment figures and phases. On the ground, they become easier to understand when those pieces turn into ordinary routines.

Someone moves into an apartment.

Someone walks into the grocery store.

Someone uses the lounge downstairs.

And a corner of North Tulsa that is still being rebuilt begins to feel a little less like a plan on paper.