[RBB]

Didn't see any older threads on this proposal. Mods, if I've overlooked one feel free to merge:

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/bui...-still-around/

The McGowan Tower idea is still around
By Tim Bryant
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

A fifth of downtown St. Louis office space is vacant but that hasn’t stopped several real estate experts from insisting the area needs new office buildings.

They point out that most of the emptiness is in older buildings with few amenities. New Class A space is needed to keep existing employers and attract new ones, the experts say. One, Richard Ward of Zimmer Real Estate Services, says that, for starters, downtown needs 500,000 square feet of additional class A offices.

That brings us to developer Kevin McGowan, who has a much bigger project in mind. He wants to build a 1,000-foot, 80- to 90-story giant somewhere near the proposed Chouteau Lake development in the southwest section of downtown.

Projected to be nearly as tall as the Chrysler Building in New York, the McGowan tower would dwarf the 630-foot Arch. Put another way, it would be as tall as the Laclede Gas Building stacked atop Met Square.

McGowan, head of Blue Urban LLC and best known as a loft developer, said recently he has studied his skyscraper proposal “pretty hard” for four years.

“If a brand new tower was built, it would be A space and would immediately make everything else B space, or less, in St. Louis,” he said. “That’s the reality of where we’re at.”

McGowan said the building would combine offices, residences and a hotel. Financing seemed close about 18 months ago but then the recession hit and money pools evaporated, said McGowan, adding he believes his tower could be built for about $300 million. Downtown needs something to make St. Louis internationally recognized for something more than the Arch, he said.

“A 10-story building won’t do much,” McGowan said. “What I’m talking about is a landmark that begins a national discussion about St. Louis. I want the rest of the country talking about St. Louis.”

We’ll talk more if we get new information about this project.

-RBB