A once-crumbling building that served as a cherished institution in the Greenwood District has opened its doors once again.
Local leaders and elected officials gathered at 609 East Pine St. Thursday to celebrate the opening of Greenwood Entrepreneurship at Moton, a business and tech training center.
During the ceremony, Tulsa Economic Development Corp. Creative Capital CEO Rose Washington-Jones said they were standing on sacred ground.
“On this very site, Black lives were saved, Black lives were lost and generations of life began and ended,” Washington-Jones said. “If this ground could speak, if these walls could tell their story, we would hear both unimaginable pain and unwavering resilience.”
Located across from Carver Middle School, the north Tulsa building stood for decades as a hospital with roots dating back to the 1921 Race Massacre.
Now it will be a place where entrepreneurs can learn how to build a business plan, identify avenues to raise capital and integrate AI into their business, Washington-Jones said.
Tulsa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is rapidly growing as 1,480 new businesses formed in the metro area in 2022 — the highest number in over a decade, the Tulsa Regional Chamber reported in 2025.
“We stand hopeful, hopeful for the entrepreneurial dreams that will be born here. The business plans that will be built here. The aha moments experienced when problems are solved,” Washington-Jones said.
With funding from the city and county, TEDC led a series of multimillion dollar renovations to restore the “crumbled 94-year-old building with fully collapsed roof” and flooded basement, she said.
TEDC Creative Capital will operate out of the first floor which includes meeting rooms, offices and a coffee bar.
Tyrance Billingsley II, founder of Black Tech Street, said his organization is partnering with Microsoft to train entrepreneurs and people of all ages in using new tech and AI tools. They will operate out of the second and third floors.
For District 1 City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, Thursday’s ribbon cutting ceremony signified appreciation for the storied entrepreneurial history of the Greenwood District and continued investment in north Tulsa.
“While we celebrate G.E.M. today, we are already building what’s next,” Hall-Harper said. “More space, more access, more opportunity for this community. What we see here today is proof. When we invest in north Tulsa, it produces results.”
Washington-Jones echoed those sentiments.
“This is not just a ribbon cutting. This is restoration,” she said. “This is reconciliation. This is renewal. And guess what? This is just the beginning.”
The next phase of the center will commence May 21, when Black Tech Street cuts its own ribbon signifying the opening of second and third floors of G.E.M.
