Gentry's Landing owners want to give it a different look
By Charlene Prost
Of the Post-Dispatch
09/08/2005
Since opening in 1966, three matching, 28-story, glass-and-concrete towers at Mansion House Center have been landmarks overlooking the St. Louis riverfront.
But that could change dramatically under a $114 million renovation plan. Owners of the northern-most apartment tower, Gentry's Landing, want to add a 14-story condo building alongside it, replacing a three-story commercial building.
The new building - and Gentry's Landing itself - would have a look all their own, one that no longer would match the other two towers.
Architects at Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets Inc., PGAV, designed the condo building with a brick- and stone-clad exterior and other features to make it blend visually with older buildings nearby, along Washington Avenue and in Laclede's Landing. They also designed a new "skin" for Gentry's Landing.
Architect Al Cross said the synthetic veneer with "tones similar to brick and stone" would "add warmth" to the existing modern-style tower.
"What we are trying to do is humanize the building," he said, "and make it seem more approachable and more pleasant."
The architects considered staying with a modern design, Cross said, but in the end "we felt this better achieved our goals."
He added: "This is about starting over, making things feel fresh and attracting people. ... Part of our thinking was that the site is at a crossroads of the loft district and Laclede's Landing, and we wanted to strengthen the connection."
Gentry's Landing owner Peter McCann, like owners of the other two towers, wants to move forward with renovation plans. But all the plans are on hold as they negotiate to try and take control of land beneath their properties from investors in Florida.
A New York-based group owns Mansion House Apartments, the middle tower; Capstar Hallmark Co. of St. Louis owns the south tower, now a Radisson hotel. They and McCann say they can't finance renovations without owning the land.
Some owners have been working with the St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, which has power to use eminent domain. Deputy Mayor Barbara Geisman said the city wants the owners to work things out on their own. If they can't, she said, "then I think we are potentially looking at eminent domain."
Real estate developer McCann, who keeps an apartment at Gentry's Landing and recently opened a business office there, has invested $19 million in the property since acquiring it in 1989. He owns the tower, adjoining commercial building and rights to part of the center's subterranean, 1,700-car garage.
Occupancy in the 416-apartment Gentry's Landing has slipped to about 80 percent, and McCann said the building "looks tired." It needs reviving, he said, "to bring it back to luxury status."
The work would be done in phases, starting with Gentry's Landing. Inside, it would include lobby and elevator area upgrades, new sewer and water lines, improved air conditioning in halls and elevators, and ultra-modern appliances and fixtures installed in kitchens and baths.
Outside, planned improvements include a health facility on the roof, spruced-up promenade deck, more lighting and improvements in the garage, as well as banners, awnings and other features at the front entrance.
The new building would come next. Cross said all the condos would have "loft-like windows, about 10-feet tall." Retail stores would face the street, and at the corner of Fourth Street and Washington, a stairway would lead to an attraction on the second level, possibly a restaurant. Fountains, trees and landscaping would line Fourth and Washington.
"We want this to help re-energize street life in that section of downtown," Cross said.
The new skin would be added in the last part of the renovation. That's also when apartments would be converted to condos.
"This would be down the road, maybe five, seven or eight years," McCann said. "And we would not displace anybody. We would give tenants opportunities to buy condos."
At the Radisson Hotel & Suites, owners have a $12 million plan to build a new banquet facility, swimming pool, renovate the promenade deck and upgrade mechanical systems.
Mansion House Apartments owners say they plan a $25 million project but haven't disclosed details. They've been negotiating with lenders to avoid a foreclosure sale.