Local tea franchisee purchases West Lindsey site

Aerial of the small commercial building outlined in red along W. Lindsey Street, between an older retail strip and a drive-thru restaurant.

Moonlight Ownership Company LLC, a subsidiary of HTeaO franchisee Moonlight Tea Company LLC, has purchased property located at 1807 West Lindsey Street.

The property, west of McGee Drive, was purchased from Bethel Baptist Church of Norman for $625,000. The deal closed August 29, 2023.

The building, a former fast food chain turned clinic, sits tattered awaiting demolition along one of Norman’s most trafficked corridors: the gateway to The University of Oklahoma.

Lindsey Street was hit hard as a result of the $39 million widening project completed by the City of Norman that coincided with the Interstate 35 overpass enlargement and reconstruction project by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

The projects effectively closed Lindsey for 18 months while the projects were completed. Even after completion in 2018, Lindsey Street has continued to remain depressed.

Texas Tea, the concept that became HTeaO, started in Amarillo, Texas in 2009. The company rebranded to HTeaO and launched their first franchise location in Midland, Texas in 2014.

Today, HTeaO has 124 locations operating or under development in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Florida.

Moonlight currently operates 4 HTeaO franchise locations: on Porter Ave. in Norman, S. Western Ave. in Oklahoma City, in Chickasha, and in Lawton.

Aerial overview of the small W. Lindsey Street parcel outlined in red near McGee Drive, Charleston Apartments, and the Hollywood Shopping Center.

Wider aerial of the W. Lindsey Street area with the parcel outlined in red near I-35, OnCue, and the former Sooner Legends.

Street-level photo of the vacant former fast-food building on W. Lindsey — tan brick with a brown mansard roof, a pickup parked in front.