ST. LOUIS & CLAYTON | Project Rundown

[Suburban Lou]

List of projects going on within the City of St. Louis

New Busch Stadium

website (http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stl/ballpark/index.jsp)
Ballpark Construction (http://www.ballparkconstruction.com/)
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/mlb/photo/photogallery/season_2003/1202/02.jpg
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/mlb/photo/photogallery/season_2003/1202/13.jpg
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/mlb/photo/photogallery/season_2003/1202/14.jpg
http://scottspage.freewebpage.org/images/DSC05669.JPG
http://scottspage.freewebpage.org/images/DSC05678.JPG

Bottle District
website (http://www.thebottledistrict.com)

The Bottle District features:

Construction will begin on Phase I September 27 2005 and the redevelopment project will continue over the next several years. Scheduled for completion in phases, the Bottle District will include approximately 250,000 square feet of entertainment retail. Daytime attractions will offer fun, food and shopping for the whole family. At night, the district will transform into a unique evening experience with restaurants, shops, clubs and live entertainment. Ample secure parking will be provided and up to 150,000 square feet of historic buildings will be redeveloped into loft residential and office space with retail located at the street level. In addition, 300-500 new condominium units with spectacular 360-degree views are planned, providing downtown St Louis’ first newly constructed high-rise homes

http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/49153623.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/49153624.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/49153627.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/49153625.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/49154192.jpg


To see the full plan go to: The Ghazi Company (http://www.theghazicompany.com/pdf/BottleDistrict_package_web.pdf)

Pinnacle Casino Hotel and Spa Map it (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=Cole+St+N+2nd+St,+Saint+Louis,+MO)
25 stories 200 hotel rooms
http://www.ksdk.com/assetpool/images/059721048_10V%20PINNACLE%20CASINO1.jpg
http://www.ksdk.com/assetpool/images/059721022_10V%20PINNACLE%20CASINO.jpg

Kiel Opera House 1400 Market (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1400 Market Street, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://www.geocities.com/kfpastl/index.htm)

Total investment for the Kiel project is over $100-million dollars and includes renovation of four theaters (total 5,000 seats), new seating, sound systems, and other external projects around the venue.
http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/36062736.jpg

Powell Square building 223 Cedar (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=223 Cedar, Saint Louis, MO)
Before
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0089.jpg
After
http://images7.fotki.com/v158/photos/5/50550/215098/PowellSquare-vi.jpg
http://images7.fotki.com/v157/photos/5/50550/215098/PowellSquare2-vi.jpg
http://images7.fotki.com/v158/photos/5/50550/215098/PowellSquare3-vi.jpg

Park East Tower 4919 Laclede (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=4919 Laclede Ave, Saint Louis, MO)
Website (http://www.parkeasttower.com/)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0067.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42265630/large.jpg

4545 Lindell 4545 Lindell (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=4545 Lindell, Saint Louis, MO)
4545Living.com (http://www.4545living.com/)
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42265631.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42265632.jpg

Compton Gate Condos 2201 South Grand (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2201 South Grand, Saint Louis, MO)
Compton Gate condos (http://www.comptongatecondos.com/)
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/comptongate002.jpg
This is going to fill up a really big hole
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42265633/large.jpg

Lofts at the Highlands 1031 W Highlands Plaza (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1031 Highlands Plaza Drive, Saint Louis, MO)
Lofts at the Highlands
(http://www.highlandslofts.com/)
Webcam (http://www.balkebrown.com/webcam/lofts/lofts.jpg)
http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/26379412.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/26379685.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42265634.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42265636.jpg

Marquette Building 300 North Broadway (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=300 N Broadway, Saint Louis, MO 63102)
Website (http://www.marquettedetails.com./)
82 condos
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/12292004downtown/2004_1229Image0160.jpg

Majestic Stove Lofts 2004 Delmar Blvd (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2004 Delmar Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63103)
Website (http://www.majesticstovelofts.com/)
120 units
http://stlcin.missouri.org/images/devprojects/Majestic Stove 2.jpg

Adler Frame Lofts 2035 Washington Ave (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2035 Washington Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63103)
Website (http://www.adlerlofts.com/)
32 units
http://www.pbase.com/jivecity/image/25995753.jpg
http://www.stephenschenkenberg.com/photos/stldevelopment/adlersign1.jpg
http://www.stephenschenkenberg.com/photos/stldevelopment/adlersign2.jpg

Bankers Lofts 901 Washington ave (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=901 Washington Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63101)
Website (http://www.bankerslofts.com/)
68 units
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/04042005/2005_0404Image0015.jpg

The Paul Brown 818 Olive st (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=818 Olive Street, Saint Louis, MO 63101)
Website (http://www.paulbrownlofts.com/)
222 units
http://www.paulbrownlofts.com/images/PBB-night.jpg-
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/04042005/2005_0404Image0111.jpg

Syndicate Trust Building 915 Olive (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=915 Olive St, Saint Louis, MO)
91 condominiums
84 apartment
http://builtstlouis.net/images/syndicate.jpg

Moon Brothers Carriage Lofts 1706 Delmar (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1706 Delmar, Saint Louis, MO)
43 units
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42996089.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/42996090.jpg

Motor Parts building 2201 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2201 Washington Ave, Saint Louis, MO)
80 units
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/motoparts000.jpg
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/motoparts001.jpg

Pet Building 400 S 4th (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=400 S Fourth St, Saint Louis, MO)
118 apartments
http://www.michael.leland.name/images/stl006.jpg

Westgate Lofts 2323 Locust (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2323 Locust, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://www.westgatelofts.com/)
48 units
http://www.westgatelofts.com/images/pic_elevation.jpg

Packard Lofts 2201 Locust (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2201 Locust, Saint Louis, MO)
45 units
http://images2.fotki.com/v21/photos/5/50550/217098/P3230012-vi.jpg

Arts and Crafts Building1635 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1635 Washington, Saint Louis, MO)
96 units
http://builtstlouis.net/washington/images/1635-overall.jpg

Soulard Market Apartments 1535 S 8th (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1535 South 8th, Saint Louis, MO)
132 units
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/soulardmktapt002a.jpg
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/soulardmktapt001.jpg
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/soulardmktapt003.jpg

Lafayette Walk Mississippi At Chouteau (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=Mississippi Ave At Chouteau Ave, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://www.lafayettewalk.com/)
37 townhomes
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/1005Mississippi001.jpg

Bottle District Residential Towers
Twin 15 story buildings will house 100 units each.
http://www.thebottledistrict.com/images/ArchitecturalRenderings2/Birds-Eye-View.gif

Dorsa Lofts 1007 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1007 Washington, Saint Louis, MO)
http://builtstlouis.net/washington/images/1007-overall.jpg

Curlee Building 1001 Washington (1001 Washington Ave, St Louis, MO 63101)
http://builtstlouis.net/washington/images/1001-overall.jpg


Bee Hat Apartments 1021 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1021 Washington, Saint Louis, MO)
36 units
http://images2.fotki.com/v22/photos/5/50550/231553/P4200036-vi.jpg

Ely Walker Lofts 1520 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1520 Washington, Saint Louis, MO)
180 condos
http://builtstlouis.net/washington/images/15-overall.jpg

Cheerful House 1127 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1127 Washington Avenue, Saint Louis, MO)
100 units
http://builtstlouis.net/washington/images/1115-overall2.jpg

AD Brown Building 1136 Washington (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1136 Washington Ave, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://www.1136washingtonstl.com/)
100 units
http://www.friedmangroup.com/adbrownsale1.jpg

The Annex Lofts
1511 Locust (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1511 Locust Street, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://theannexlofts.com/features.cfm)
77 units
http://theannexlofts.com/images/ext.jpg

North Market Place 1401 North Market (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1401 North Market Ave, Saint Louis, MO)
37 new homes
http://stlouis.missouri.org/oldnorthstlouis/pics/nmphousepic.jpg

Vail Place Townhomes and Condos Park at 18th (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=Park Ave At 18th St, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://www.vailplacetownhomes.com/)
Five Townhomes and three condos
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/vailplace001.jpg
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/vailplace002.jpg

Southside National Bank3611 S. Grand (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=3611 S Grand Blvd, Saint Louis, MO)
13 condominiums
http://builtstlouis.net/images/ssnb-full.jpg

1710 Carroll Street Condominiums 1710 Carroll (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1710 Carroll Street, Saint Louis, MO)
24 condos
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/1710Carroll001.jpg
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/1710Carroll002.jpg

Grant School Apartments3009 Pennsylvania (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=3009 Pennsylvania, Saint Louis, MO)
8 townhomes 22 apartments
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/3009Penn002.jpg
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/3009Penn003.jpg

Eden Lofts 1712 Chouteau (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1712 Chouteau, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://www.edenlofts.com/)
40 condos
http://pbase.com/image/26091966.jpg

The Georgian (Old City Hospital) 1515 Lafayette (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=1515 Lafayette, Saint Louis, MO)
website (http://www.thegeorgiancondominiums.com/)
102 condos
http://www.thegeorgiancondominiums.com/Ext800.jpg

Fleurs-de-Lis at Benton Park 3109 South Jefferson (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=3109+S+Jefferson+Ave,+Saint+Louis,+MO)
30 condominium units
http://stlouis.missouri.org/bentonparkwest/Millennium-Project.jpg

[dnast]

Powell Square building 223 Cedar (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=223 Cedar, Saint Louis, MO)
Before
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0089.jpg
After
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0089.jpg


:haha: I got a good laugh out of that.

Anyway, STL has a LOT of nice, smaller projects that, as a whole, are going to make a big difference in the city. Impressive.

[Suburban Lou]

fixed;)

[chrizow]

nice projects! what's up with the Lofts at the Highlands? it looks suburban. i hate it when developers play up "urban living!" then put a moat of asphalt around the project. there are a couple in KC like that, and probably every other city too.

"abortion kills babies?" is that part of a loft development? ;)

very impressive list though. st. louis is coming back in a big way.

[Dr Nevergold]

Lots of good going on in the Lou'.

[JivecitySTL]

nice projects! what's up with the Lofts at the Highlands? it looks suburban. i hate it when developers play up "urban living!" then put a moat of asphalt around the project. there are a couple in KC like that, and probably every other city too.

"abortion kills babies?" is that part of a loft development? ;)

very impressive list though. st. louis is coming back in a big way.
That bugs me so much. There is another sign on the other side of the building that reads: "Keep your laws off my body" It's a strange place to see these signs, but they have been up forever.

I also am not a fan of the Highlands development. Who would want to live in an office park.

[matguy7070]

The amount of projects that have been completed in just the last year is unreal... and today the projects are too numerous to list here.

Here are some
Your may add to that list:

Pinnacle Casino and Four Seasons Hotel and Condo Tower, Laclede's Landing Downtown

http://www.pbase.com/image/31944539.jpg

St. Louis University Biomedical Research Lab-Midtown

http://www.slu.edu/pr/images/research_bldg_200.jpg

BioMed 21 Lab, Washington University-Central West End

http://www.pbase.com/image/37432964.jpg
http://www.hok.com/Projects/SelectedProjects/84FA6198-73D9-4AF9-B221-2067D821657E/projimages/full1_6.jpg
http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/bjc2ndtower.jpg

Cortex (The Center of Research, Technology, and Entrepreneurial Expertise) Building One-Central West End

http://www.pbase.com/image/42006137.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/image/42006225.jpg

Downtown West Marriott Residence Inn

http://www.stlcity.com/photo/ezboard/residenceinna.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0073.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0080.jpg

Farrell Learning and Teaching Center, Washington University School of Medicine- Central West End

http://outlook.wustl.edu/fall2003/images/feature/ltc.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0042.jpg

Hampton Inn and Suites Central West End @ The Highlands

http://www.litma.org/Graphics%5CHamptonInn.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/dthigh/2004_0915Image0041.jpg

SLU Arena in Midtown

http://www.slu.edu/pr/images/arena_sign_slide.jpg
http://www.slu.edu/pr/images/exterior.jpg

CornerStone Gas Light Square Condos-Midtown West

http://www.cornerstone-stl.com/images/current_projects/gaslight/gaslight_large.jpg

4011 DELMAR CONDOS-Central West End

http://www.pbase.com/image/42004765.jpg

Robert's Wyndam MayFair Hotel Tower, Downtown

http://www.pbase.com/image/31837183.jpg


Not sure what this project is (in the Central West End):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0051.jpg

The Arcade Building, Downtown
Loft, Apts and Condos

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/04042005/2005_0404Image0121.jpg
http://www.builtstlouis.net/opos/arcade-upangle.jpg

The Old Post Office District, Downtown

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/04042005/2005_0404Image0106.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/04042005/2005_0404Image0116.jpg
http://www.stlcommercemagazine.com/archives/december2004/images/brief_pic1.jpg

Annex Lofts - Washington Avenue, Downtown

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/04042005/2005_0404Image0073.jpg

Dorsa Lofts - Washington Avenue, Downtown

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/04042005/2005_0404Image0023.jpg

The Alexander Lofts - CBD Downtown
www.alexanderlofts.com

http://www.alexanderlofts.com/images/Banner.JPG
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/032905/2005_0329Image0221.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/032905/2005_0329Image0223.jpg

The Bankers Lofts, Downtown

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/032905/2005_0329Image0190.jpg





Others Throughout the CITY & METRO;

St. Louis City

-Park East (26-stories), Opus Northwest
-Four Seasons Hotel (25-stories), downtown STL, Pinnacle Entertainment
-Pinnacle Condominiums (22-stories), downtown STL, Pinnacle Entertainment
-Roberts Mayfair (addition) (19-stories), downtown STL, Roberts Properties
-Forest Park condominiums (15-stories), Central West End, Cornerstone Properties
-The Bottle District condos #1 (14-15-stories), Downtown St. Louis
-The Bottle District condos #2 (14-15-stories), Downtown St. Louis
-Opera House condominiums (12-stories, est.*), downtown STL, Breckenridge
-Euclid & West Pine (12 & 5 stories), Central West End, Mill Properties
-4545 Lindell (10-stories), Central West End, Conrad Properties
-SLU Biomedical Research Lab (10-stories), Midtown STL
-Washington University Medical Center Southwest Tower (10-stories), CWE
-Washington University BioMed 21 Lab (10-stories), Central West End
-Residence Inn by Marriott (8-stories), Midtown STL
-Grand Center mixed-use (8-stories)

Clayton

-Plaza North I (18-stories), THF Realty
-Plaza North II (18-stories), THF Realty
-Maryland Walk (17-stories), Conrad Properties
-Enterprise Rent-a-Car (10-stories), Enterprise
-The Crescent (9-stories), Manlin-Mehlman Development

Richmond Heights

-Draper & Kramer Condo Tower (15-stories),
-Boulevard Saint Louis I (10-stories), Pace Properties
-Boulevard Saint Louis II (10-stories), Pace Properties
-Westin Saint Louis Galleria (10 to 12 stories), Mullenix Cos.
-Draper & Kramer (Chicago) Condo Tower (9-stories)
-Draper & Kramer (Chicago) Condos (2 7-story buildings)
-Draper & Kramer (Chicago) Condos (2 6-story buildings)

Other 'Burbs

-Meridian at Brentwood (14-stories), Brentwood, DCM Management
-Harrah's Hotel (12-stories), Maryland Heights, Harrah's Casinos (COMPLETE)
-Embassy Suites Convention Center (12-stories), St. Charles, John Q. Hammonds
-Drury Plaza (10-stories), Chesterfield, Drury Development
-CityPlace VI (10-stories), Creve Coeur, Koman Properties
-CityPlace (9-stories), Creve Coeur, Koman Properties

[courtland]

I went to the Top of the Riverfront (Millennium Hotel) on Saturday. This restaurant revolves 360 degrees, providing spectacular, panoramic views of Downtown. You can really see the renovations and improvements that are happening downtown. A really unique experience. Check it out the next time you are in STL.

[NearNorth]

It makes me very excited to see so many quality developments going on in St. Louis.

A couple of questions:

1) Is the Highlands development the one off Highway 40 near the Science Center? I believe I saw that going up last time I was there (late January). The location struck me as a very poor place to put up "loft style living" because it seemed very isolated from anything resembling an urban environment.

2) What is the latest on the SLU arena? I inquired when I was back in January (I am a SLU grad) and I was told that there was a snag in the financing and that they still have not broken ground on this. When the plans were announced, I got a mailing from the school (asking for money) with the dog and pony show about the arena. It looked awesome inside and out. Exactly what is needed in SLU and in midtown. SLU is the key to revitalizing midtown...I would assume the city and the school could work together to make sure whatever needs to get done gets done. So WTF is the holdup, and is this project in danger of not getting off the ground?

[Arch City]

Thanks for posting the pictures of the Moon Brothers Carriage Lofts. Now I know what they look like.

[matguy7070]

1) Is the Highlands development the one off Highway 40 near the Science Center? I believe I saw that going up last time I was there (late January). The location struck me as a very poor place to put up "loft style living" because it seemed very isolated from anything resembling an urban environment.

YES, it is. The Highlands consist of three Loft Buildings a new Hampton Hotel and one office building. All buildings are 5-8 stories total each. Strange area - but if you live in STL - traffic and commute wise this is a great place to live on the south cusp of Forest Park and The Central West End. Easy Metro Bus and link to METRO Trains/station at Forest Park.

2) What is the latest on the SLU arena? I inquired when I was back in January (I am a SLU grad) and I was told that there was a snag in the financing and that they still have not broken ground on this. When the plans were announced, I got a mailing from the school (asking for money) with the dog and pony show about the arena. It looked awesome inside and out. Exactly what is needed in SLU and in midtown. SLU is the key to revitalizing midtown...I would assume the city and the school could work together to make sure whatever needs to get done gets done. So WTF is the holdup, and is this project in danger of not getting off the ground?

Not a snag in "financing" as much as TIF money from the city. The project is happening, just taking some "political" manuevering - ya know what I mean???!!!

[ComandanteCero]

thanks a ton Citylover! It's always nice to step back and see an overview of all the development activity happening, I can't help but think that St. Louis City will have a different vibe (for the better) in 5 years once these projects are up and running.

I agree it's a shame about the Highland's design, but that project has been in the development tubes for a couple of years (thus the complete cluelessness in urban design). The location itself is pretty good, the site plan is a different story. I can't help but wonder what could have been if the old arena had been saved for some other purpose (that's what this site used to house).
http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/St.LouisBlues/oldfront.jpg

anywho.

I have a question, for all the stuff happening on Wash U's Medical Campus, are they tearing buildings down for the new development? If so any pics of what's being torn down? (some of the buildings i could care less about, but others look really nice, even as part of the Wash U Med Borg).

[DeBaliviere]

Quote by chrizow
nice projects! what's up with the Lofts at the Highlands? it looks suburban. i hate it when developers play up "urban living!" then put a moat of asphalt around the project. there are a couple in KC like that, and probably every other city too.

"abortion kills babies?" is that part of a loft development?

very impressive list though. st. louis is coming back in a big way.



That bugs me so much. There is another sign on the other side of the building that reads: "Keep your laws off my body" It's a strange place to see these signs, but they have been up forever.

The anti-abortion sign sits in a church parking lot - free advertising for their cause.

[DeBaliviere]

2) What is the latest on the SLU arena? I inquired when I was back in January (I am a SLU grad) and I was told that there was a snag in the financing and that they still have not broken ground on this. When the plans were announced, I got a mailing from the school (asking for money) with the dog and pony show about the arena. It looked awesome inside and out. Exactly what is needed in SLU and in midtown. SLU is the key to revitalizing midtown...I would assume the city and the school could work together to make sure whatever needs to get done gets done. So WTF is the holdup, and is this project in danger of not getting off the ground?

Fellow Billiken,

The university is still raising funds - once they hit a certain target amount (I think it's $30-$35 million) they will start construction. I believe that they are about halfway to reaching that figure, but things seem to be heating up.

They have been making progress lately - an anonymous donor has stepped up with a matching gift of up to $2 million (and possibly more), and the university has been selling bricks that from what I've head have been bringing in approx. $100k a week. Once they get the naming rights sold, I think we'll really see some progress.

This thing will happen, it's just a matter of when, not if. The university's first priority has been the new research building on the med campus, with the arena as a secondary concern.

[GatewayPizza]

Any idea when the Kiel Opera House will re-open or what the status is on this project? I have seen no visual improvements from the exterior.

[DeBaliviere]

Larry Rice's bid to acquire the adjacent building for a homeless shelter has been shot down, so I would guess that we'll start to see work being done soon.

Unless Rice appeals...

[Suburban Lou]

New downtown lofts stay 'true'
By Tavia Evans
Of the Post-Dispatch
05/31/2005

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/loft01big.jpg
Building at 1635 Washington Ave.

Developer Andy Hillin says "true loft spaces" - spacious floor plans, high ceilings and open ductwork - are in the works for his newest property, 1635 Washington Avenue.

Hillin bought the building Tuesday from developer David Jump, who owns a handful of properties along the street. Hillin declined to say how much he paid.

At 1635 Washington, 96 residential condominiums are planned; units will range from 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. Upgrades will offer buyers the option of creating an office or an extra bedroom from parts of a larger living space.

"It's a slightly different approach, as the cost of buildings and acquisitions goes up," said Vince Ebersoldt, project architect for Rosemann & Associates, which will design the units.

"It allows the buyer to really personalize it, so if people want a true loft or want to have several bedrooms, they can have it," he said. "Developers are saying, 'Let's leave the upgrades up to the owner and let them buy it,' to keep base costs down."

Paric Construction will build the units. U.S. Bank will provide financing for the $25 million development, including a $14.5 million construction loan and a bridge loan until the project is approved for state historic tax credits. Hillin said he has applied for $4.2 million in state historic tax credits as well as tax increment financing from the city.

Built in 1918, the building once housed Central Shoe Co.

Units will list from $150,000 for one bedroom to $225,000 for larger, corner condos. Most units will include balconies; a rooftop pool and clubhouse will be added. The building also will have 99 parking spaces in the basement, ground floor and mezzanine levels.

"This new building complements other projects (Hillin is) doing on the street, and he's been on the forefront of getting stuff done on Washington Avenue," said Walker Gaffney, assistant vice president at U.S. Bank Community Development Corp.

Hillin partnered with developer John Carroll and McGowan Brothers Development to renovate the Rudman Building, 1228 Washington. He also completed the Garment Row Lofts, 1312 Washington, and is working on the Window Lofts, 1601 Washington.

Farther west beyond the loft district, Hillin is partnering with McGowan & Walsh LLC to turn the former Guth Lighting complex of five buildings into 60 rental apartments.

Apartments will vary from 800 to 1,200 square feet. Inside, a full-size gym is planned.

Hillin's firm, Jacob Development, and McGowan & Walsh co-own the property. For now, the building is being called the George E. Walsh Building, named for the father of Nat Walsh, a partner in the firm.

Financing for the renovation, projected at $20 million, has yet to be worked out, Hillin said.

The apartments will be aimed toward young professionals and students, because of the proximity to St. Louis University.

"We're pushing the area with one of the first projects on the other side of Jefferson (Avenue), and it lays out perfect for rental units," he said. "It's farther west and not in the core of loft development. I think we can create a community for the old Guth buildings."

Reporter Tavia Evans
E-mail: tevans@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8159

[Suburban Lou]

The Fleurs-de-Lis at Benton Park project at 3109 South Jefferson (http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=3109+S+Jefferson+Ave,+Saint+Louis,+MO) has been Completely changed.

New Rendering.
http://stlouis.missouri.org/bentonparkwest/Millennium-Project.jpg

[randella]

love the design of the new baseball stadium... especially how they respect the city grid and make it feel really solid. beats victory field in indianapolis handsdown!

[2taall]

The anti-abortion sign sits in a church parking lot - free advertising for their cause.

SO?

[JivecitySTL]

^It's such a tasteless sign, 2taall. They didn't put something positive like "Respect Life" or something like that. Instead they had to put an obnoxious "Abortion Kills Babies" sign where everyone passing by can see it. I hate those anti-abortion fanatics.

[Xing]

Let's get back to the focus of the thread.

[ComandanteCero]

one thing i don't like about the Fleurs-de-Lis project is the sizable surface lot they have adjacent. It's a great project other than that.

[Suburban Lou]

According to the Mayor Slay blog there will be underground parking.

[ComandanteCero]

well, i don't doubt the residential portion is getting underground parking, but it looks like the commercial portion required that surface parking..... in the picture, adjacent to the southwest......

[STLgasm]

MOst of the new infill developments suck. Why are we still stuck on building historic replicas? They just end up looking cheap. It's time for some contemporary designs. We could take a few lessons from Cleveland.

[Cincinnatis]

Why are we still stuck on building historic replicas? They just end up looking cheap.

I completely agree Stlgasm. This is how I feel personally for Busch Stadium. Sure, Riverfront Stadium and Busch Stadium were cookie cutter designs, but Busch Stadium is one of the few that is still standing with this design, plus, it has a lot of history. As a baseball fan, I am a little bothered with the idea of "trying" to make it look old. This only makes it look cheap, in my opinion.

http://www.missouri.gov/mo/mophotos/sports/SP_BuschStadium_Todd_012005_lg.jpg
http://www.cincy.com/photos/images/news/Riverfront_Stadium_1989.jpg

[Xing]

Yeah, I agree Gasm , but to balance out the bad with the good... How about that Park East Tower? 4 possible high rises for the Central West End? It gives me goosebumps.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/matguy70/2005_0305Image0067.jpg

[STLtrent]

Don't forget the New Mississppi River Bridge and the new Grand Ave Bridge.

[DeBaliviere]

Quote by DeBaliviere
The anti-abortion sign sits in a church parking lot - free advertising for their cause.


SO?

A little snippy, eh? Someone asked why there is an anti-abortion sign next to a loft development, and I explained why.

[Fire&Ice79]

Unfortunately, I do not have any renderings, but a main development for the new Busch Stadium area is the Ballpark Village. There is vague information available at the Cardinals website under the 'New Ballpark" section (http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20050602&content_id=1072977&vkey=pr_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl), but does anyone know if anything significant has happened since the developer was named? The rumors/plans that I have heard/read include a 3 phase program that will begin with office space and residential units (apts and condos) with first floor retail/restaurant. Subsequent phases have not been described, but a main feature that is continually thrown around is the idea of an aquarium. Too bad they couldn't utilize the old Arena for that end, as was proposed, and keep those hideous Highland condos from being built.

Also, the remaining three Cupples Station warehouses were recently purchased and should be set for renovation within 6-12 months from now. Not to mention the "under construction" Cupples Station (#6?) at 11th and Clark.

And in my opinion, one of the best things the city has invested their money in is a repainting of all of the elevated sections of I-64/Hwy 40. While I would not have picked the brown color they are now, it is a hell of a lot better than the rusted '60s green that it has been for so long.

In response to many, I feel that the new Busch stadium is very dramatic now that the first phase is nearing exterior completion and certainly does not look cheap. Maybe contrived, but not cheap. Even though it attempts to be retro (quite the rage in new stadium design), it fits in very well with the urban fabric, espcially the aforementioned Cupples Station warehouses. With that said, I do agree that it is time for some transitional architecture to emerge. There are many opportunities for that to happen, especially with Libeskind designing the new Bottleworks condos. New, crisp somewhat modern designs might help accentuate and also set apart the derth of soon to be developed historic buildings in the cities downtown and now midtown areas. Of course, too modern and the suburbanites will avoid the city even more and have something new to bitch about with regards to downtown STL.

Oh, and I love the Park East Tower...wish I could afford to live in that one...although it is nearing 80% sold. You should check out the views that they give for some of the higher floors...they are quite impressive. www.parkeasttower.com (in case it hasn't been listed before)

[Xing]

I'm telling you, A Sea World Aquarium would make sense, being that Busch owns Sea World Theme Parks.

[Suburban Lou]

I know Cordish wants to build between 500 and 1,000 residential units for Ballpark Village.

[Suburban Lou]

Interior renderings For The Park East Tower
http://www.parkeasttower.com/img/renderings/vtlindell/e.jpg
Link (http://www.parkeasttower.com/img/renderings/)

[Dr Nevergold]

yow, lots going on in STL. nice

[Suburban Lou]

Aldermen, developers request TIF for three new East Loop projects
By Tim Woodcock
Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2005

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Lyda Krewson is heading up an effort to establish a multi-million dollar tax increment financing district for the eastern portion of the Delmar Loop. Krewson, 28th Ward Alderman, said the funding is necessary for three major projects that will help revive the area.

Part of the proposed TIF district is also in Frank Williamson’s 26th Ward.

The projects that would fall under the proposed TIF plan include a 120-room hotel, a small shopping center that may include restaurants and new-build condos.

Neal Shapiro, owner of The Original Cast Lighting at 6120 Delmar Blvd., bought the vacant buildings directly across the street from his business about 18 months ago. The buildings were last used by Yellow Cab Company. He plans to demolish them and replace them with a 33,600-square-foot retail center that he wants to fill with small and medium-sized businesses.

He and his son, Josh, working under the name Metroscapes, have been working on plans since the land changed hands and they now have architectural drawings showing a brick two-story building with metalwork archways and balconies on the second floor. The Lawrence Group drew up the plans, and it would be a $7 million project, Neal Shapiro said. The project would eliminate an “eyesore” and complete that block of Delmar, he said.

It would be a “very historical looking building” that will be compatible with the neighborhood, said Josh Shapiro, project manager.

Pace Properties has been hired to scout for tenants. The company is looking for several smaller tenants rather than one big one, Josh Shapiro said. There would be 65 parking spots available behind the building, he said.

Bundling the three projects together makes sense because the projects will feed off each other, Joe Edwards said. Edwards said he is particularly keen on the Shapiros’ proposed retail center. “I’m really excited by that even though it’s not my project,” he said.
“The area could use some more diverse restaurants,” Shapiro said, citing Mexican and Italian as obvious omissions in the mix of the cuisines offered in the Loop.

Joe Edwards, who owns a number of properties along Delmar east of Skinker Boulevard and whose Pageant music venue opened in 2000 and was the first major investment in the area in decades, has said he feels the area is saturated with restaurants and doesn’t need any more for the moment.

The building would also have second-floor offices that the company is hoping will be filled up by “creative types.” The Shapiros have developed space further east of Delmar and one of those offices was taken by a web development firm. “These people are very interested in this area,” Neal Shapiro said.

“If we get the TIF, then it’s a project,” Josh Shapiro said.

Krewson said she is having preliminary meetings with the city’s TIF Commission, which has the power to approve a plan — specifically dollar amounts and other terms — and then forward it to the Board of Aldermen to sign off on. A formal presentation could be made to the TIF Commission as early as Aug. 24. For the moment, Krewson said, she doesn’t want to talk exact dollar amounts.

TIFs are sometimes described as tax-linked loans. A portion of taxes generated by a new development — in this case three separate developments — is put into a special fund used to pay back TIF bonds issued at the start of the project. TIF bonds can only be used for infrastructure improvements and they typically cover 10 to 20 percent of a project’s total cost. Technically TIFs are loans rather than direct subsidies but they do reduce the amount of tax revenue going toward the city’s general fund and its school district.

Although what is proposed is a district TIF like the one in place in Grand Center, this one will have a “very different structure,” Krewson said.

That project has been hobbled by a lawsuit claiming that, as a religious institution, St. Louis University should not receive public funds, and in making this claim the lawsuit has halted other developments in the district unrelated to the university. Initially the idea of a TIF district was sold as being one that would create synergy between various elements and allow a greater flexibility in terms of the order in which sites are developed.

Krewson said she has studied different options for TIFs in great detail and feels that a structure that links the projects together is the best choice.

Edwards said he is hoping the TIF will allow him to put in a hotel at 6177 Delmar Blvd., the site of Ronald Jones’ funeral home.

“It is difficult to get financing for a hotel to start with,” but the TIF will help bridge that gap, he said. It would be a $15 million project — “that’s the closest estimate at this moment,” Edwards said — but many components still need to fall into place and that figure may go up or down.

Edwards said it would be a “sleek-looking” 10-story hotel designed by Kiku Obata & Co., the company responsible for the look of The Pageant and Regional Arts Commission’s new offices. In both look and function it would comple-ment The Pageant and Pin-Up Bowl, properties he owns on either side, Edwards said.

The historic funeral home building would not be torn down but built around, with additions above and behind the funeral home, Edwards said. Plans have not progressed much beyond the conceptual stage, he said.

Edwards said he has always thought the Loop needed a boutique hotel — “something unique to the Loop” — and he had a hotel in mind when he first bought the property. Edwards said he was open minded about other uses, but after investigation it became clear that it would be “almost impossible to adapt it for something else,” he said.

Those most likely to stay at the hotel and be particularly attracted by its location would be people coming from out of town for a concert at The Pageant and visitors to Washington University, he said.

Like the Shapiros, he said, “Without the TIF, it would not be possible.”
Bundling the three projects together makes sense because the projects will feed off each other, he said. Edwards said he is particularly keen on the Shapiros’ proposed retail center. “I’m really excited by that even though it’s not my project,” he said.

Two blocks farther east, at 5819 Delmar Blvd., Saaman Development is proposing building a 36-unit condo on land it owns. Currently the north side of that block houses a car wash and a vacant strip mall, just west of Saaman’s site. Along this section of Delmar much of the south side of the street is taken up by buildings owned by transit agency Metro.

The condos would be aimed at young professionals rather than empty nesters, said Mark Rubin, president of the company. Prices for the units in this project have not been calculated, but at Westgate and Vernon avenues in University City, another marginal area that has improved recently, the company is preparing to break ground; those units will sell for between $199,000 and $250,000.

Although not an established market as far as condos are concerned, areas immediately to the north have seen significant investment recently, and it is the kind of area that should be next in line for a renaissance after the Loop and the Central West End, Rubin said.

This project is further behind the other two and a tentative groundbreaking date would be late 2006, Rubin said.

The company could build without a TIF subsidy, but it would mean cheaper products and having to sell each unit at a higher price, he said. The district TIF makes sense because it allows the area to be developed “holistically rather than piece by piece,” he said.

There would be a small amount of streetscape improvements as part of the project, mainly lighting and landscaping in front of the new building, he said.

No total dollar amount for the project is available yet, he said.

Source (http://www.westendword.com/moxie/news/aldermen-developers-reque.shtml)

[STLgasm]

Why build a "historical looking building" rather than a cool, modern looking building? Delmar has tons of historical looking buildings, but very few contemporary ones. The mentality that "urban = old" is 10 years behind the times. Joe Edwards gets it, I'm not sure that the Shapiros do. Although I do applaud their investments in the district. Honestly, though, the Loop needs more restaurants like a hole in the head. How about a good convenience store!

[Expat]

I am really excited about the condos east of the station and looking forward to seeing that area move forward. I am glad they are building on the old cab location, but I can understand what you mean about "historical". Yet, I am glad they are investing in the neighborhood.

[courtland]

it's about linkage. continue building eastward and soon you will connect with the CWE, along with a trolley system, I can't wait to see the loop...say within 5 to 7 years!

[Suburban Lou]

Condos are key to revival of South Side Bank building
By Charlene Prost
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/18/2005

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/real19big.jpg
Front side of the South Side National Bank facing Gravois

The limestone, Art Deco landmark also could feature ground-level stores and a restaurant in the two-story banking hall.

After surviving a demolition threat and years of controversy about its fate, the South Side National Bank building is making a comeback. But don't expect to find bank tellers and deposit slips there anymore.

What's coming inside the limestone, Art Deco building are 13 condominiums in the slender seven-story tower. And in the two-level base beneath: ground-floor retail stores, and perhaps a restaurant in the ornate, two-story banking hall on the second floor.

Developer Arjomand Kalayeh and the Lawrence Group plan to spend about $8 million to revive the landmark, built in 1928. But they're not stopping there.

Stephen Smith, president at Lawrence Group, said his firm and Kalayeh recently acquired an empty, deteriorated three-story building across the street with a rare, interior shopping arcade. They also have a contract to buy vacant land just west of the former bank.

Smith said they'll put apartments above retail in the arcade building and decide later what to do with the land.

"This will reinforce what we are doing at South Side Bank," Smith said. "We want to upgrade the whole environment at that intersection (of South Grand Boulevard and Gravois Avenue), and doing one building alone won't do it."

The fate of the bank building, a longtime anchor for the neighborhood, became uncertain six years ago when South Side officials announced a deal to replace it with a Walgreens drug store and build a smaller, more modern bank.

Preservationists and neighborhood leaders rallied to save the building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "one of St. Louis' best examples" of Art Deco architecture.

In 2001, South Side merged with the former Allegiant Bancorp, and Allegiant inherited the building. Allegiant - now merged into National City Corp. - later donated it to the Grand Oak Hill Community Corp.

After at least one other revival plan failed, the neighborhood group handed it over to the current owners after they paid off about $60,000 in back taxes.

Smith said construction will begin later this year, and the project should be finished by the end of next year.

The plan is to put two condos on each floor, except the top floor, which will have a penthouse. Prices will range from about $150,000 to $200,000 for 1,100-square-foot units. There's no price yet for the penthouse.

Views from the tower, much of it rented by the bank as office space over the years, will be one of the condo features.

"The building is on a high point, so from the upper floors you can see downtown, the Arch, office buildings in Clayton and, on a clear day, you can see the (Jefferson Barracks) Bridge," Smith said.

The most ornate area in the building is the banking hall, which still has the original teller windows, light fixtures, mezzanine level and a coffered ceiling with decorative plasterwork and beams 25 feet above the stone floor.

It's also on the second floor of the building, with stairs leading to it, an arrangement that might seem unusual today. But not when the building was designed, said Alderman Jennifer Florida, D-Ward 15, who worked for years to help save it.

"It was designed with steep steps to get to the lobby to discourage bank robbers," she said.

David Dwars, project architect at the Lawrence Group, said nearly all the original architectural and banking features in the hall remain and will be preserved, including a round, steel-and-brass bank vault door.

"If it becomes a restaurant, as we hope," he said, "we would create seating up against the teller windows and probably use the bank vault as a wine cellar."

Dwars said lobby areas on the first floor also will be restored. Drop ceilings were installed there, hiding original decorative plaster ceilings, and vinyl flooring covers parts of the original stone floor.

"We'll take out the drop ceilings and restore the plasterwork ... and we hope to be able to pull up the vinyl and restore the floor," Dwars said.

Smith said financing for the project will include a loan from Missouri State Bank, $1.4 million in city tax increment financing, and state and federal historic tax credits.

One reason for taking the project on, he said, is to try to expand on other redevelopment activity along South Grand Boulevard.

"At the bank building, you are only a mile (south) of Tower Grove Park, and eight blocks or so from the South Grand neighborhood," Smith said.


Reporter Charlene Prost
E-mail: cprost@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8140

[MattnSTL]

New Park East pics can be found here (http://www.urbanstlouis.com/urbanstl/viewtopic.php?t=75&start=165).

[Suburban Lou]

By Martin Van Der Werf
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/23/2005

Spurred by the sales success of the high-rise Park East Tower, now coming out of the ground on Euclid Avenue in the Central West End, developer Opus Corp. is going ahead with plans for a second high-rise condo complex about three blocks to the north.

The building would be at the northeast corner of Euclid and Lindell Boulevard, where the now-vacant former local headquarters of the American Heart Association stands. Opus, a Minneapolis-based company, is asking the city for $9.5 million in tax-increment financing toward the $92.6 million project.

"We have a concept, we think it will come together financially," said John Pitcher, the director of real estate development for Opus Development Northwest LLC. "It's a go so far, until we hit a roadblock."

The company is still drawing up plans, but the building likely will be 26 stories, the same height as Park East. But it would have 200 units, more than twice as many as Park East's 89. Translated, that means smaller units at lower prices. The target range for most units: $275,000 to $450,000. Retail space would face Euclid. Opus is going ahead with plans for second high-rise

If the project gets the city's nod, Pitcher says a marketing office would likely open in February. For construction to begin, about half of the units would have to be sold.

And Opus may not be done. It would like to add one or two new projects in the Central West End, Pitcher says. At Park East, fewer than 20 units remain.

[Suburban Lou]

Pinnacle increases investment in St. Louis-area casinos
By Jim Salter
Associated Press
08/29/2005

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. plans to substantially increase its investment in two casinos planned for St. Louis and St. Louis County, the company said Monday.

The Missouri Gaming Commission in September approved plans for Pinnacle casinos along the Mississippi River in downtown St. Louis and in Lemay in south St. Louis County. At the time, Pinnacle said it planned to spend at least $208 million on the downtown casino and $300 million on the one in Lemay.

Now, the Las Vegas-based company plans to spend about $400 million downtown and $375 million in the county.

The downtown casino will be on 18 acres in the Laclede's Landing area north of the Gateway Arch. Pinnacle's plans for the casino, scheduled to open in 2007, include 2,000 slot machines, about 40 table games and 200 luxury hotel rooms.

The additional commitment includes $45 million to purchase and refurbish the Embasssy Suites hotel. An additional $15 million is being spent to acquire more land around the casino site.

Pinnacle also has agreed to spend $50 million on residential development in the city, perhaps in the form of a condominium tower at Laclede's Landing. Pinnacle will pay a fine if it does not build the project within five years of opening the downtown casino.

"This level of investment makes Pinnacle a major force in the renewal of downtown St. Louis, and it will further strengthen our market position," said Daniel Lee, Pinnacle's chairman and chief executive officer.

"After examining the growth of the market and the status of the competition, we've decided to build a facility that is significant in both scope and quality. We intend to lead the currently underserved downtown gaming and entertainment market and today's announcement reflects that commitment."

The only other gambling boat in the city of St. Louis is the President, also at Laclede's Landing, which has struggled financially. Other St. Louis-area casinos include Harrah's Maryland Heights in northwest St. Louis County, Ameristar St. Charles in St. Charles, and two casinos on the Illinois side of the Mississippi -- the Casino Queen in East St. Louis and the Argosy Alton Belle in Alton.

In Lemay, Pinnacle plans to open a casino in late 2007 on a former industrial site. The company will build a four-lane road and a bridge over railroad tracks to the site, and create a county park on 24 acres of the 80-acre site.

The complex is expected to feature a 90,000-square-foot casino, 100-room hotel, retail space, movie theater and bowling alley. Lee said the company expects the Lemay casino to become a travel destination for the region.

"We have great confidence in the St. Louis County market," Lee said.

Pinnacle also operates casinos in Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana and Argentina, and receives lease income from two card club casinos in Los Angeles. The company opened casinos in Lake Charles, La., in May, and in Neuquen, Argentina, in July.

------

On the Net:

http://www.pinnacle-entertainment-inc.com

[Suburban Lou]

Curtain's up: Breckenridge signs Kiel deal
From the September 2, 2005 print edition
Christopher Tritto

Developer Don Breckenridge got the green light to move forward on his $45 million redevelopment of Kiel Opera House and an adjacent garage.

The go-ahead appears to indicate a local buyer is in the wings for the St. Louis Blues.

Mark Sauer, president of the Savvis Center and the Blues, agreed to lease the Kiel Opera House to Breckenridge and assured Breckenridge that he could proceed with his planned parking garage next door, Breckenridge said.

The Kiel Opera House, which includes a 3,500-seat main auditorium and four adjoining smaller theaters, was closed in 1991 when construction of Savvis Center began. Breckenridge's renovations will include constructing a sound-proof wall between Kiel and the Savvis Center and expanding loading docks.

Breckenridge has been trying for three years to redevelop Kiel as a venue for Broadway shows. The Savvis Center and the Opera House are physically connected, and Savvis Center holds the long-term lease on the building.

Sauer's move indicates team and building owners Bill and Nancy Laurie are confident they will find a new owner who will keep the Blues in St. Louis.

When the Lauries put the Blues and Savvis Center up for sale June 17, parking became an issue for Breckenridge, who plans to convert the former L. Douglas Abrams Federal Building at 15th and Market streets into an 800-space garage to serve Kiel.

"There's no need for two parking garages," he said. "It depended on whether the team would stay and use their garage or not. If it would, we'd build another parking garage (in the Abrams building). (The Lauries and Sauer) certainly have to know where they are going for them to give us the go-ahead."

Sauer and the Blues declined to comment for this story.

Breckenridge said several local parties remain interested in buying the Blues. The Business Journal reported Aug. 19 that local groups being assembled by Michael Shanahan Sr. and his son Michael Shanahan Jr., Shaun Hayes, Tony Sansone Jr., and Tony Novelly and his son P.A. Novelly II have emerged as potential buyers of the Blues.

Michael Shanahan Sr., chairman emeritus of Engineered Support Systems Inc., helped build the St. Louis Blues franchise in the 1990s until he was forced out by Civic Progress leaders. His son, Shanahan Jr., owns the Huntleigh/McGehee Inc. insurance agency and an area minor league hockey team, the Missouri River Otters. That team plays in the St. Charles Family Arena. When the Lauries announced they were selling the Blues, Shanahan Jr. was among the first to express an interest in buying the club.

Hayes is regional president of National City Bank. Tony Novelly is chairman of Apex Oil Co., while his son is an executive with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Sansone is a principal in his family's commercial real estate firm, The Sansone Group.

Breckenridge also said Los Angeles-based AEG remains interested in buying the long-term lease on the arena. AEG owns and operates entertainment venues and sports teams around the country but would be prohibited from buying the Blues, because the company already owns the Los Angeles Kings hockey team.

Boston-based Game Plan LLC is managing the sale on behalf of the Lauries. Bob Caporale, Game Plan's chairman, said AEG is one of a few venue owner-operators that have expressed interest in the Savvis Center.

"We don't comment on any deals that are in negotiations," said AEG spokesman Michael Roth. "I can't even give you a gauge of our interest. But we own and operate venues as part of our core business."

Breckenridge said his architects were scheduled to arrive from Washington, D.C., and visit the building Sept. 1 to complete final measurements of the space and designate the formal division between Savvis Center and Kiel. "Once we do that, we can execute our leases with Central Parking and Clear Channel."

San Antonio, Texas-based Clear Channel Communications Inc. agreed in 2003 to sign a 20-year lease for an undisclosed amount to manage Kiel and bring Broadway shows and other cultural events to the historic building. Central Parking Corp., based in Nashville, Tenn., signed a letter of intent in 2003 to lease Breckenridge's planned parking garage for more than $1 million over 10 years, Breckenridge said.

ctritto@bizjournals.com

[Suburban Lou]

It's hats off to developer of Washington Avenue site
By Charlene Prost
Of the Post-Dispatch
09/05/2005
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/916f565f7f2e169b862570710032d7a1/$FILE/STG23874/STG23874.gif

It's been five years since the Bee Hat Co. closed up shop in its distinctive, seven-story building on Washington Avenue - the one with the stone-faced, bosomy, terra cotta women around the top.

But as things turned out, the company that sold and distributed hats there starting in the 1930s left something behind. The building was brimming with thousands and thousands of hats.

"When we bought the building, there were still 150,000 hats in there, perfectly maintained, many in boxes that were never opened," said developer Sam Glasser. "We were giving them away."

Now developer Matt Burghoff, who bought the building from Glasser and plans to revive it with apartments above retail, is dealing with the remaining inventory.

"The top floor is still basically full of hats," Burghoff said. "The bulk appear to be men's hats ... and all varieties, from baseball hats and straw hats to cowboy hats and fedoras.

"We've been trying to think of creative uses for them, and talking with charities," he said.

Regardless of what happens to the hats, Burghoff intends to start construction this month on the $11.5 million renovation project. The cost includes $2.3 million he paid for the ornate brick and terra cotta building, designed by noted architect Isaac Taylor and built in the late 1890s.

Montgomery Bank and Great Southern Bank are financing the project. Burghoff, managing partner of Mambo Development LLC and owner of an appraisal company, also is using city tax increment financing, state and federal historic tax credits and state brownfields tax credits.

What's coming, within a year, are 36 one- and two-bedroom apartments on the second through seventh floors. An Irish bistro owned by restaurateur Eddie Neill, a women's clothing store and another retail space will open on the first floor.

Above the first floor, on the building's exterior, Burghoff plans to turn 11 ornamental terra cotta lions' heads into a feature passersby won't miss.

"They were part of the building's gutter system," he said. "The gutters would drain into the lions' heads, and water would go out through the lions' mouths when it rained. We're going to replace the water with the steam system in the building and hook the steam up to a clock or timer, so that every half-hour or whatever, the lions' heads will 'roar,' shooting steam out of their mouths."

Apartments there, designed by Rosemann & Associates P.C., will range from 900 square feet to 1,350 square feet and rent from nearly $1,000 to $1,400 or so a month.

Gary Rogowski, Rosemann's project architect, said the floors were "completely wide open" and ideal for creative layouts.

The apartments will have restored wood beam and plank ceilings, wood or concrete interior support columns in some living areas and big windows.

One challenge, Rogowski said, was a windowless wall on the east side, where the building abuts one next door. The solution, he said, was reserving the east side for elevators, stairs, laundry rooms and "all the stuff that doesn't need windows, and focusing the apartments to face west and south."

Parking will be built into the basement; Burghoff owns a lot a block away if more is needed.

Burghoff's previous renovation projects include converting the Kirkwood Cinema building and a utility substation in downtown St. Louis for offices.

He said he envisions Bee Hat as "a boutique apartment building, small in scale with nice amenities." And he expects it to attract a mix, from young professionals to empty nesters.
"Not everybody wants to own in the loft district yet," he said. "Renting is a good way to test a living environment and see if you like it."

Neill, an ownership partner at Cafe Provencal in Kirkwood, said what attracted him to Bee Hat was the building, its location downtown and the 18-foot-tall hat display area where he plans to open his Irish bistro early next year.

He said he'll keep the wood floor and wood panels on the walls, although he'll change the color of the panels. "They're blond now, because they were installed in the'20s," he said, "but we'll warm the wood up with brown and red hues."

Neill said his menu will feature organically and locally grown meats, poultry and produce. He also plans an oyster and mussel bar and is lining up Celtic bands and other entertainment and activities.

"The market is there with all the condos and lofts going on," he said. "And the neat thing is that buildings (like Bee Hat) are being saved."

Reporter Charlene Prost
E-mail: cprost@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8140

[Xing]

So, when are they going to put a cinema downtown? Don't you think a theater showcasing art and mainstream films is appropriate? The nearest indie theater to Illinois is in the Central West End.

[Suburban Lou]

Don't they show indie movies in that theater in Downtown Belleville?

[Xing]

No, they show mainstream films.^

[Suburban Lou]

Storm-tossed Pinnacle starts casino
BY ERIC HEISLER
Of the Post-Dispatch
09/06/2005

http://www.ksdk.com/assetpool/images/059721048_10V%20PINNACLE%20CASINO1.jpg
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Its Mississippi casino was massively damaged last week, but Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. still will break ground today on a $400 million casino complex in downtown St. Louis.

Today's ceremony comes after Pinnacle's Casino Magic Biloxi was battered badly enough by Hurricane Katrina that it might not be salvageable, the company said Tuesday. Its New Orleans casino was banged up, too.

But company officials said construction will begin as planned on the Laclede's Landing complex and, in October, on a second casino, in south St. Louis County.

"In terms of our company, life does go on," said Dan Lee, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas-based Pinnacle. "It will be somewhat of a subdued ceremony because of what's happened, but we are moving ahead."

McCarthy Building Cos. of Ladue will be the general contractor for the downtown project, Pinnacle announced Tuesday.

Along with a casino featuring 2,000 slot machines, the complex will include a new hotel and spa. It's expected to open in 2007.

Pinnacle also said it has closed on the $38 million acquisition of the Embassy Suites Hotel from FelCor Lodging Trust. The Embassy Suites will be connected to the downtown casino by a pedestrian walkway.

While Katrina likely damaged Pinnacle's properties to the tune of more than $100 million, the company still is in a good position to make major investments in St. Louis, analysts said. That's because the company is insured for up to $400 million on the New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., complexes, company officials said.

"While those properties won't be generating cash, they're protected with insurance," said Andrew S. Zarnett, an analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities. At most, "there could be a short-term delay based on the clarity of the insurance and the clarity of the redevelopment in the Gulf Coast."

Last year, the Missouri Gaming Commission chose Pinnacle to build both St. Louis area casinos. The two will raise the number of casinos in the region to seven.

Besides its Gulf Coast properties, the company operates casinos in Indiana, Nevada and Argentina.

Last week, the Biloxi casino was lifted by a storm surge and moved several hundred feet, Pinnacle said. Katrina also punched holes in the exterior that leave slot machines and other equipment inside vulnerable. A hotel on-site might be a total loss, the company said.

One Pinnacle building in Biloxi "now looks like toothpicks," Lee said, but the company intends to rebuild the complex. Pinnacle sustained less damage in New Orleans, though that casino will be closed for an undetermined amount of time, Lee said.

"We're trying to assess the impact right now" on the two properties, Lee said, "but it's clear that it's large."

[Suburban Lou]

Empty Cupples warehouse gets owner with big plans
By Charlene Prost
Of the Post-Dispatch
09/08/2005

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/cupples09big.jpg

Workmen from Clayco proceed with the renovation of one the Cupples Station warehouses

Conrad Properties Corp. will start construction this fall on one of the last empty Cupples Station warehouses, planning to revive it with office space above what probably will be a restaurant.

The company is in an "advanced stage" of negotiations with a potential office tenant that would move from another downtown location and take up to four floors of the six-story, 108-year-old building at 1000 Clark Street, said Kevin Kloster, president and chief executive.

Kloster also has been talking with restaurateur Ted Geiger, who originated J. Bucks Restaurants and is Conrad's partner at the Finale Music and Dining nightclub in the Clayton on the Park hotel and residential building.

"We see the makings of a double play here," Geiger said in a statement, "drawing baseball fans and fans attending sporting events at (nearby) Savvis Center" to a J. Bucks Restaurant.

Conrad bought the building Thursday from Bank of America, backed with financing from Enterprise Bank & Trust and U.S. Bank. The sale price wasn't disclosed, but Kloster said it is rolled into the $15 million renovation cost.

As Conrad was moving forward with its project, the McGowan/Walsh development group was at work on an $80 million-plus plan to renovate the other three empty warehouses in the Cupples complex.

Built between 1894 and 1917, the nine former warehouses still standing were once part of a thriving railroad freight depot; the noted Eames & Young architecture firm designed most of it.

McGowan/Walsh has a contract to buy the three warehouses from Bank of America for a total of about $6 million and also is lining up tenants.

"We are talking with a number of restaurants who want to be there," said Kevin McGowan, a partner at McGowan/Walsh. "We have three law firms, all downtown now, talking about going there. I think the rest of the project will be residential."

He added: "In a couple of years, this is going to be a very exciting area."

McCormack Baron Salazar Inc. led the way at Cupples when it, and partners, recycled the first four warehouses into a $75 million Westin hotel that opened in 2001. More recently, HRI Properties bought a seven-story warehouse it is reviving, at a cost of $37 million, with 131 loft apartments and retail space at street level. HRI plans to finish the project early next year.

Kloster, at Conrad, said the location and the building itself attracted his company to what was once the Hammermill Paper warehouse.

"It has architectural character, a midsized floor plate ... and a superb location - within two blocks of the entrance to the new Busch Stadium, within three blocks of Savvis Center and two blocks of a MetroLink station."

Kloster said the building was "in decent shape" but would need "some minor structural work." He said renovation would take 14 months or so.

Conrad hired the Lawrence Group, which specializes in "green" or environmentally friendly architecture, to design a renovation that meets certification standards set by the U. S. Green Building Council.

Architect Tim Rowbottom at Lawrence Group said the firm intends to use recycled and environmentally friendly building materials, energy-efficient mechanical systems, light fixtures and other features. To bring in more natural light, he said, "we'll make openings on the west facade that now has no windows."

Lawrence Group also designed a two-level parking garage with 80 spaces that will be built into the slope of the land, giving it a low profile, Rowbottom said.

What's now Bank of America teamed up with McCormack Baron in 1998 to buy and save the once-threatened warehouses from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri.

Mary Campbell, a senior vice president at the bank, said officials there were "feeling very good" about progress since then.

"When we bought them, downtown was not ready for major development on the south side. The new stadium was not a certainty. The office market made it impossible to lease space, and the housing market was still being tested on Washington Avenue," Campbell said.

"Now fast-forward to today," she said. "We have a relatively mature housing market on Washington Avenue. We have a beautiful new stadium about half done. The time has finally arrived for Cupples Station."

[Suburban Lou]

http://www.pbase.com/image/48978074.jpg
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.

[courtland]

that's a bold design for downtown STL. Very nice!

[Suburban Lou]

Curtain goes up on plans for arts district condos
By Tavia Evans
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/23/2005
http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/condos155metropolitan092405.jpg
A large sign put up by Pyramid Construction on the Metropolitan Building at Grand and Olive announces the company's plan to convert the building into condos.

Grand plans are in the works to convert vacant buildings in Midtown's arts and entertainment corridor into the next crop of condominiums.

The old Metropolitan building, 500 North Grand Boulevard, will be the first candidate. Parking for the condos may be built on a grassy lot on the southeast corner of Olive Street and Grand currently owned by St. Louis University.

Grand Center Inc., the development and promotional arm of the arts district, on Friday announced an agreement with Pyramid Construction to refurbish the property.

And more housing is on the way, said Grand Center President Vince Schoemehl Jr. "We would like to add upwards of 300 housing units for sale in the next four years," he said.

Schoemehl said he hopes to increase residential presence in the arts district, home to several galleries and the Fox Theatre.

"We've got rental in the area with the Continental Building and the Coronado with mostly students, but at Christmas and during the summer they're gone, and we don't get the residual effect of having year-round tenants."

Built in 1907, the Metropolitan was laid out as a typical office building, with offices near the windows, an elevator core and interior corridors.

The building will be converted into 63 condominiums on its eight floors. The units will be "more luxury versus lofts" with hardwood floors, plaster walls and drywall ceilings, said Matt O'Leary, senior vice president for Pyramid.

Street-level retail will occupy 16,000 square feet of space on the first floor. Two national restaurants already have signed on, O'Leary said.

With 100,000 total square feet, it's a smaller project for Pyramid Construction, which recently converted the Paul Brown Building into 222 apartments. Pyramid and developer Robert Wood also converted the old Sporting News building at 2020 Washington Avenue into 103 lofts.

The Metropolitan building could be among their most difficult buildings to resurrect. The nine-story structure has been mostly vacant and open to the elements for about 20 years. A retail tenant on the first floor left earlier this year.

Asbestos tiles, trash and broken fixtures are strewn throughout the building. Structural problems have been the biggest surprise for the firm, raising the project's price tag to $27 million. Developers said they hope to have the building ready by late 2007.

The project will take advantage of federal and state historic tax credits, along with Missouri brownfields credits. Grand Center Inc. will add $2.5 million in city tax increment financing. Bryan Davies from National City bank said financing is nearly complete on the project.

As older buildings in the city's core are recycled for new uses, property in Grand Center, with several vacant and aging buildings, may be the next rehab corridor. It's the next logical area for redevelopment, Davies said. "With development pushing west from downtown and recent projects on Locust Avenue, the area is ripe for potential in the next few years," he said.


tevans@post-dispatch.com
314-340-8159

[Xing]

Midtown should help connect Downtown with the Central West End. Wasn't there an other article in the PD that discussed the start of Midtown's Loft Movement?

[Xing]

Gateway Arch Connector / Freeway Lid (proposed)

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http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/38358582.jpg

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Chouteau Lake (proposed)

http://www.hokplanninggroup.com/projects/portfolio/3b07fa6a-fed5-43e6-8e15-d18676dccae4/projimages/mouseover1_1.jpg

The Bottle District (under construction)

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Washington Avenue (Various Projects, completed, approved, and under construction)

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/1294/dsc087264wr.jpg

New Busch Stadium (under construction)

http://cardinals.mlb.com/stl/photo/ph_ballpark_downtownview.jpg

Ballpark Village (approved)

http://cardinals.mlb.com/stl/photo/ph_ballpark_walnutstreettownhouses.jpg

http://cardinals.mlb.com/stl/photo/ph_ballpark_ballparkvillage.jpg

http://cardinals.mlb.com/stl/photo/ph_ballpark_villageplaza.jpg

Pinnacle Casino/Hotel/Entertainment area (under construction)

http://www.ksdk.com/assetpool/images/059721048_10V%20PINNACLE%20CASINO1.jpg

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Cortex Technology Corridor (under construction)

http://www.hokplanninggroup.com/projects/portfolio/3b07fa6a-fed5-43e6-8e15-d18676dccae4/projimages/full1_4.jpg

Park East Tower (under construction)

http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/modirend005.jpg

Various Neigborhood Developments

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http://www.cornerstone-stl.com/images/current_projects/gaslight/gaslight_large.jpg

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http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/1005Mississippi001.jpg

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http://www.culverwaycohousing.com/test.jpg

http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/charlestonsquare.jpg

http://stlouis.missouri.org/oldnorthstlouis/pics/nmphousepic.jpg

Metrolink Expansion (cross county- under construction, others proposed)

http://www.artic.edu/~rmoran1/metro.gif

[chrizow]

wow. great stuff. i have some job prospects in st. louis, so this thread makes me happy.

[courtland]

nice Xing! most of these projects are a go. good job.

[Suburban Lou]

City Hosptial (The Georgian) update. photos posted at Urbanstl.

http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/georgian004.jpg

http://www.urbanstlouis.com/photos/urbanstl/georgian005.jpg

[Expat]

Pretty cool when you see them all together. It is an exciting time to be in St. Louis. Wish I were there.

[ArchMadness]

Nice update of the City Hospital site. Can't wait to visit this weekend to check out some of these projects in real time.

[KM1410]

wow, those projects look great.

[Suburban Lou]

Rattling skeletons of the North Riverfront Corridor
By Tavia Evans
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/05/2005

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/north06big.jpg
North Broadway still feels 5 miles from downtown St. Louis rather than 5 blocks.

A bustling industrial corridor, just north of St. Louis' central business district, may hold the next promise for redevelopment.

The North Riverfront Business Corridor extends north of downtown along the Mississippi River. The area has long been home to diverse industries and businesses, some rooted in the city's past.

They include metal-processing plants, scrap yards and fabrication companies, steel factories, food distributors and Produce Row.

The empty hulls of large warehouses and vacant lots are common here, too, remnants of companies that moved or went out of business.

But the city and some developers see the potential for adding residential and commercial development.

Developer Kevin McGowan said his company, McGowan/Walsh, owns several groupings of old warehouses, just north of the site where Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. plans to build a $400 million casino, hotel and mixed-use complex on Laclede's Landing.

"Our plans are to put residential there," McGowan said. "But for now, we're taking a wait and see what happens with the area and the buildings along Broadway and east down to the river."

Stan Meoli said he almost sold his building at 2000 North Broadway last year. He runs American Warehouse, a shipping and receiving company that also leases storage and selling space in its 160,000-square-foot building to other companies. He's waiting now to cash in on the area's potential growth.

"We decided to hold onto the building when they said we'd have to update the sprinkler system for about $30,000" in order to sell it, Meoli said. "With everything going on downtown, if we sell it, it will be for $850,000."

The Missouri and Illinois transportation departments have proposed a new bridge to span the Mississippi River. It will cut a huge swath through several blocks of businesses in the area.

Barbara Geisman, deputy mayor for development, said "the area between the highway and the new bridge would be mixed-use going south, with new retail, office, and business and industrial continuing north."

Even with construction of the bridge, there still would be room to expand, said Carol Perry, president of the North Broadway Business Association.

"We have roughly about 110 businesses as part of the association, and most have indicated they want to grow and acquire more land in the area," Perry said.

That includes Anthony Tocco, president of M&L Foods Inc., who's looking to buy property next to his business at 1717 North Broadway. The company moved to its present location in 1985 after being displaced by construction of America's Center. Now, the food distributor sits in the path of the proposed bridge.

More recently, businesses have moved to the area for its large warehouse spaces, inexpensive land and easy access to transportation routes.

In search of more space, Walter and Marti Hauck moved their company, Zymo Sculpture Studio Inc., to 1520 North Broadway from the Central West End five years ago.

"It's been an interesting neighborhood to watch," said Marti Hauck, who handles the administrative side of the business while her husband sculpts and molds. "The area feels separate from downtown. But when you see the Arch, you definitely know where you are and you realize all the projects going on (downtown) aren't that far away."

Jack and Scott Larrison said they felt that someday, the downtown renaissance would creep farther north, so they bought two dilapidated buildings on North Broadway.

For 15 months, they gutted the insides, salvaging old wood from Mexican cedar, mahogany and maple fence posts left in the buildings to build a bar and adjacent garage. In September, they opened Shady Jack's at 1432 North Broadway.

"The area is up and coming, there's a lot of great potential here and we see it coming this way," Scott Larrison said.

[Suburban Lou]

Couple is brewing new life into beer factory
By Tavia Evans
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/06/2005
http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/real07big.jpg
A bicyclist passes by the former Centennial Malt House for Schnaider Brewery.

Wendy Hamilton thinks it was the arched entryways in the basement that caught her eye first, wide enough for the horse-drawn wagons that might have passed through the building in the late 19th century. Today, she thinks the space would be perfect for a lower-level wine shop.

Her husband, Paul Hamilton, can envision the views of the Arch and downtown St. Louis' skyline from the future rooftop terrace of a new restaurant - Vingt Dix Sept - the building's address in French.

At the moment, the building at 2017 Chouteau Avenue, bears little resemblance to their visions.

Built in 1876 and formerly home to the Centennial Malt House, it was an annex of the Joseph Schnaider Chouteau Avenue Brewery that lined the block of Chouteau and Mississippi avenues in the 1870s.

The Hamiltons are turning the two-story building into a banquet hall with a rooftop restaurant. Some office and retail space also might go into the 35,000-square-foot building, which they expect to have ready by April.

After several reincarnations, including storage for auto parts and a shade manufacturing company, the structure suffered from years of neglect and has been open to the elements.

It will cost $4 million to renovate the building and make it structurally sound. "The former owner thought we were crazy; he said we should tear it down," Wendy Hamilton said.

The couple has experience handling old structures. The Hamiltons renovated and own 1111 Mississippi, the Lafayette Square restaurant named for its address. It's housed in the former brewery's main building.

The Hamiltons paid $400,000 for the property on Chouteau in April.

Spiegelglass Construction Co. is the general contractor.

National City Bank is financing the project; a mix of state and federal historic tax credits also might help fund it.

With that in mind, the couple has applied for the building to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"Their restaurant has been successful, and the location and facility they're proposing dovetails nicely with the other projects in the area" said Brian Davies, who brokered the deal for National City.

The building will need new electrical wiring and plumbing. Wooden structural beams made of rare Douglas fir hold up the inside of the building, but many will need to be replaced because of rot from exposure to water and weather.

On the rooftop, the couple say they'll build a deck and repair an L-shaped building that will become part of a French, bistro-style restaurant. An old grain chute, along with pieces of slate, wheels, pipes and parts scattered from a century ago will be incorporated into the building's design, Paul Hamilton said.

But the 129-year-old building is still revealing surprises, such as the bricked-up archways the couple found throughout the structure. A once-hidden tunnel in the basement leads to a bricked-up wall under Chouteau Avenue. The Hamiltons believe the tunnel might originally have been at street-level, back when the neighborhood bustled with business at the old brewery.

[Suburban Lou]

Opus plans $20 million Park East Lofts project
Christopher Tritto
St Louis Business Journal
From the October 7, 2005 print edition


Opus Development Northwest LLC has another project in the works for the Central West End. This time the Chesterfield-based company is moving forward with plans to construct Park East Lofts, a $20 million, 48-unit condominium residence.

The Park East Lofts will be located on Euclid Avenue, immediately north of Opus' Park East Tower, a luxury 26-story condominium project under construction at Euclid and Laclede avenues.

The loft units will average about 1,000 square feet each, ranging in price from about $250,000 to $450,000, depending on size, said John Pitcher, Opus' director of real estate development. The new building will be no more than six stories tall so that it won't block views from the Park East Tower.

Park East Lofts will include about 8,000 square feet of street-level retail space. Pitcher said he has spoken with some potential tenants.

The city of St. Louis also plans to build and own a public parking garage on the property, Pitcher said.

Opus, which is part of the Minneapolis-headquartered Opus Group of companies, has the site of the Park East Lofts under lease now. The site is owned by the city treasurer's office, but Opus plans to purchase the building air rights, meaning it would hold the rights to build and own anything built on the land, but not the land itself.

Pitcher said Opus would not seek any tax increment financing (TIF) for the residential or retail development. The city could consider a TIF for its own development of the garage, he said.

Pitcher hopes to start building in the spring and expects the project would take about 15 months to complete.

Opus' enthusiasm for additional residential development in the Central West End has been ignited by the early success of the company's $50 million Park East Tower development. More than 80 percent of the high-rise's 89 units already have been sold, though the first condos won't be finished and delivered to buyers for about 12 more months, Pitcher said. Only about 15 units remain available for sale. Units are selling for $250,000 to $1 million.

Opus also is planning a second high-rise residential building just up the street, at the corner of Euclid and Lindell Boulevard. The former local headquarters of the American Heart Association stands vacant there now. That project has a price tag of $92.6 million, but Opus and the city are still hammering out the financial details, including Opus' request for about $9.5 million in TIF.

Dennis Gorg, executive director of the Central West End Business Association, said residential development is evolving so quickly in the neighborhood that it has been tough to accurately track the number of new housing units coming on the market.

"Every day something new seems to be coming on," Gorg said. "The density of the Central West End is growing. Anytime you get more infrastructure -- housing, stores, churches, schools -- you make a neighborhood stronger."

ctritto@bizjournals.com



© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc

[Suburban Lou]

By Jane Henderson
POST-DISPATCH BOOK EDITOR
10/23/2005

http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/library1023.jpg
Plans to renovate the downtown public library would include a 300-seat auditorium, an atrium, a cafe and a screening room. Backers hope the $50 million project can respect the building's architectural heritage.

When the St. Louis Public Library turns 100 in seven years, its director hopes it will serve readers like never before.

He plans for the Beaux Arts beauty to add more wireless technology, a 300-seat auditorium and a new plaza for reading, people-watching and drinking coffee.

Its historic ceilings will be restored and humdrum offices moved out. It will offer more space for the public, including bigger areas for genealogy, regional history and children's literature.

And, not least, it'll provide restrooms with 2012's amenities rather than 1912's.

"We want to give the city the cultural centerpiece it deserves," Waller McGuire says.

A man marking his one-year anniversary as executive director this month, McGuire is moving forward on a "concept design study" for the central library - considered one of the most important and architecturally significant buildings in the city.

And there sit the potential land mines:

As downtown's cultural centerpiece, McGuire says, the central library must preserve its architectural heritage. But to serve 21st-century readers, it also needs to meet modern fire and earthquake codes, update technology and welcome new residents.

The cost to restore ceilings, keep the marble and add modern plumbing: perhaps $50 million.

"That price may be a bargain for a city's main library," McGuire says.

The concept

As deputy director under executive director Glen Holt, McGuire helped organize the building or restoration of 12 library branches, with two more to go. Plans to renovate Central Library developed under Holt, who retired last year, but no capital campaign got going. Now, McGuire says he's pushing for a solid date to start renovating the Italian Renaissance building, designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1912.

The library's board of directors has approved the design study by Hillier Architecture (http://www.hillier.com/portfolio/), based in Princeton, N.J.

Hillier's plans show an atrium and "winter garden" on the north side of the building, facing Locust Street and bustling Washington Avenue, making the building more inviting. When McGuire had lunch at a new restaurant on Washington, he says, a waiter divulged that he thought the building's rear facade, with its tall, narrow windows, looked like "a jail."

Inside the library, plans call for transforming the lackluster ground floor (derided by workers as resembling the "Greyhound bus station") by adding, among other things, a Center for the Reader, cafe bookstore and screening room.

On the main floor, plans include restoring the magnificent ceilings of the fine-arts room (decorative plugs of plaster were taken out in the 1950s for fluorescent lights), the Great Hall and other area. A new computer center might triple the number available. Twenty are in the Great Hall; eventually, there might be 200-300 throughout the building.

The library would keep the same number of books and materials but make more accessible to the public, McGuire says. Old offices and meeting rooms would become rooms for special collections, genealogy and St. Louis history. Staff offices and a parking garage would be built across the street in another building the library owns.

"Right now the building is designed around the research collections," McGuire notes. That was part of the early 20th-century theory of a library. The massive staircase on Olive Street leads readers up into the aristocratic world of art, literature, poetry. Readers of popular fiction and children's books found themselves on the more utilitarian ground floor until they were good enough readers to ascend the marble staircases, McGuire says with a laugh. "We don't think that way anymore."

What he wants is "a whole new, in effect, general-interest, browsing, popular library on the first floor of the building. It will be both convenient and easy-to-use and bright and beautiful."

(long article)

continued (http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/books/story/2BB1495D4DEBB8CA862570A10032B58B?OpenDocument)

[James Bond Agent 007]

Should this be moved to City Compilations?

[Suburban Lou]

Yeah I would like it to be moved, but I don't think alot of the STL forumers go over there.

[James Bond Agent 007]

^
Well, technically-speaking, it should be there. So I'm moving it.

If enough forumers object vehemently-enough, a mod from the Midwest can move it back here. ;)

[Expat]

What about the new 30 story condo building on Euclid & West Pine?

[Suburban Lou]

It has it's own thread in the highrise section.
Link (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?threadid=89885)

[Suburban Lou]

Lofts aren't the only housing being built downtown
By Tavia Evans
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/02/2005
http://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/lofts03big.jpg
The Ely Walker Lofts on Washington Boulevard.

The market for housing in downtown St. Louis is becoming more diverse, offering high-end condominiums, townhouses and finished lofts along with traditional open loft spaces.

Pent-up demand is driving the market, said Jim Cloar, president of Downtown St. Louis Partnership, a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving downtown.

About 9,700 residents live downtown now, he said, and by 2008 that number is expected to bloom to almost 15,000. And they're not just young and single urban dwellers anymore.

Downtown developers are building varied products to meet demand - especially from a growing segment of empty nesters who want less house and upkeep and are interested in a more finished look.

That's part of the idea behind the loft corridor's newest entry, the Ely Walker Lofts at 1520 Washington Avenue. The 365,000-square-foot building is to have 173 lofts with carpeting in some rooms and more plastered and painted interior walls.

All units would include hardwood floors and more finished spaces, a trend away from the concrete floors and open ductwork in lofts built just five years ago along the same block.

The Ely Walker lofts would range from 1,000 to 1,700 square feet. Prices could start at $140,000 and go up to $275,000.

Retail space and a restaurant could occupy 40,000 square feet on the first floor.

"Our product adds to the range of lofts and locations you can now get downtown, and these are more on the softer side," said Paul Giacoletto, director of operations for Orchard Development Group. "That range has helped the market stay stable, with something for everyone who wants to move back to the city."

The absence of high, warehouse-style ceilings and columns made finished condominiums a better choice for the Marquette building, said Steve Smith, president of the Lawrence Group, which is developing that building at Broadway and Olive.

At the 93-year-old Marquette, 82 condominiums and 40 apartments are planned for the former office building, along with about 25,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor. Carpeting and some hardwood floors, along with finished walls and luxury amenities, are part of the $53 million renovation.

A YMCA will continue to occupy two floors, and first-year residents will receive a free, year-long membership.

"We felt there are a lot of people in the metro area who think downtown would be fun, but aren't ready for a loft lifestyle and want a more finished product," Smith said. "This eases them into it."

The Arcade building, under development by Pyramid Construction, is also being marketed as a luxury condominium development, with 140 units under construction at 800 Olive Street.

The differences between housing styles often depends on the building's function in its former life. Washington Avenue had its beginnings as a garment district; later, the area played a major role in dry goods manufacturing. So, many of its building have large floor plates and more depth than standard office buildings.

"Washington Avenue's buildings lend themselves toward lofts, and that's what the market has been interested in," said Matt O'Leary, vice president for commercial development for Pyramid.

"Now we've gotten to a point where we have lofts and more finished spaces. ... People in the suburbs moving downtown want something dramatically different than what they had in Chesterfield, and that means having different finishes and textures to choose from."

But the traditional loft spaces aren't going away. As the market for downtown housing matures, varied home products are likely to be in demand as more residents gravitate to downtown, along with the amenities and services that prospective residents expect.

"The market is nowhere near tapped; we're in a second stage of development now," O'Leary said. "We now meet a broader group who see it as less risky, with more support services and more to offer, and they're ready to come in and be a part of what's becoming a neighborhood."

[Xing]

More High Rises

http://www.cordish.com/images/developments/bpv_g07.jpg

http://www.cordish.com/images/developments/bpv_g06.jpg

http://www.cordish.com/images/developments/bpv_g05.jpg

http://www.cordish.com/images/developments/bpv_arial1.jpg

[Suburban Lou]

Three groups make pitches for Chouteau's Landing
Rick Desloge
Three property owners want to transform the neighborhood south of the Gateway Arch into St. Louis' next hot spot. If any of their proposals take off, the area known as Chouteau's Landing could complement Laclede's Landing, and become a second bookend for the Arch grounds.

But the three plans for the area are not entirely compatible.

The trio of competing property owners all hope to take advantage of Chouteau's Landing, which overlooks the Mississippi River. The neighborhood is bordered by Broadway on the west, the Mississippi River on the east, Interstate 64 on the north and Convent Street on the south. The area is close to the new Busch Stadium, though the site also is boxed in on two sides with elevated railroad lines. The frontage facing the Mississippi looks directly at the city's flood wall. The wall and the rail lines will obstruct views for people and businesses on the first four floors, said Dale Ruthsatz, an executive with St. Louis Development Corp., the agency handling the development for the city's Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA).

Read More (http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/11/21/story6.html)

[Xing]

Yet another bottle district rendering. I think they're doing this to confuse us.

http://www.theghazicompany.com/images/future_photo_stl_large.jpg

[Suburban Lou]

I think this thread should be moved back to the midwest section. it has become quite dead.

[Xing]

I agree. We told them it wouldn't work here...

[Xing]

So , um... you think we can move this back to the Midwest Forum?

[spyguy]

Anything new in this one? I didn't see it on the front page.

Luxury Condos Push St. Louis Riverfront Redevelopment
December 09, 2005
By Amanda Metcalf, Managing Editor

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/3293/portstlouis3ag.jpg

In partnership with Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., Rodgers Group Development plans to develop a 10-story, 49-unit condominium complex in St. Louis. Located at Laclede's Landing, the development, named Port St. Louis, will overlook the Mississippi River, the Gateway Arch and downtown St. Louis.

The $25 million project represents half of the development investments to which Pinnacle committed in an agreement with the city of St. Louis. Pinnacle agreed to invest a total of $50 million within five years of breaking ground on a nearby hotel-casino complex. Pinnacle CFO Steve Capp told CPN that the two projects will complement each other and the Gateway Arch stylistically, as well as benefit each other. "If you think of the concept of redevelopment in a downtown area, there's a mutual dependence," he said. "Residential, retail and mixed use work together to drive traffic, interest and convenience."

What's more, "We can participate in the upside of the regeneration of some of these areas," Capp said. Though the size of the condominium structure pales alongside Pinnacle's 18-acre plot of land and the $400 million casino-hotel complex going up there, Pinnacle also wants to serve the "latent demand of this kind of (luxury) living in downtown St. Louis," he added. "For us, this is a very important milestone investment in the continuing resurgence of downtown. This is the right scale to get going in St. Louis."

The scale allows Pinnacle and Rodgers Group to maintain exclusivity and introduce luxury, with water views on one side and city views on the other. Rodgers Group Development held an option on the land where the condominiums are going up. The partnership, Capp pointed out, is equal financially and operationally.

[Xing]

Yeah, it's a go.

[Xing]

St Louis's 5th Ward- An old plan, but still in the table. It includes the proposed North MetroLink line and possible stations.

http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/planning/cnp/images/5thwardbg.gif

http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/planning/cnp/images/p5watel.jpg

http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/planning/cnp/images/p6watel.jpg

http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/planning/cnp/images/p1watel.jpg

http://www.swtdesign.com/_images/experience_urban.jpg

[JMedwick]

Xing, what was the name of that proposal. DOn't think i remember it.

[Xing]

Anything new in this one? I didn't see it on the front page.

Luxury Condos Push St. Louis Riverfront Redevelopment
December 09, 2005
By Amanda Metcalf, Managing Editor

http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/3293/portstlouis3ag.jpg

In partnership with Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., Rodgers Group Development plans to develop a 10-story, 49-unit condominium complex in St. Louis. Located at Laclede's Landing, the development, named Port St. Louis, will overlook the Mississippi River, the Gateway Arch and downtown St. Louis.

The $25 million project represents half of the development investments to which Pinnacle committed in an agreement with the city of St. Louis. Pinnacle agreed to invest a total of $50 million within five years of breaking ground on a nearby hotel-casino complex. Pinnacle CFO Steve Capp told CPN that the two projects will complement each other and the Gateway Arch stylistically, as well as benefit each other. "If you think of the concept of redevelopment in a downtown area, there's a mutual dependence," he said. "Residential, retail and mixed use work together to drive traffic, interest and convenience."

What's more, "We can participate in the upside of the regeneration of some of these areas," Capp said. Though the size of the condominium structure pales alongside Pinnacle's 18-acre plot of land and the $400 million casino-hotel complex going up there, Pinnacle also wants to serve the "latent demand of this kind of (luxury) living in downtown St. Louis," he added. "For us, this is a very important milestone investment in the continuing resurgence of downtown. This is the right scale to get going in St. Louis."

The scale allows Pinnacle and Rodgers Group to maintain exclusivity and introduce luxury, with water views on one side and city views on the other. Rodgers Group Development held an option on the land where the condominiums are going up. The partnership, Capp pointed out, is equal financially and operationally.

Yes, a better rendering.

http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/5075/portstlouis7al.jpg

[kazpmk]

IS the bottle district on hold? It is listed as approved by emporis.

[Xing]

It is approved. They're already taking down the warhouses at the site. The actual construction starts in March. They're retouching the designs, and I assume making it more urban friendly. The first renderings showed it closed to traffic, but the most recent ones show it open to it. The towers are also expected to be taller.

[Xing]

St Louis's latest downtown high rise rendering, Robert's Tower at Mayfair Plaza. Groundbreaking is this month, the 22nd of February. The building will be residential.

http://www.urbanstlouis.com/images/renderings/robertstower.jpg

[HomeInMyShoes]

^That is nice. Maybe 3 or 4 more stories would have really emphasized the slender profile, but with all the glass that is a nice development.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Yet another bottle district rendering. I think they're doing this to confuse us.


I checked www.thebottledistrict.com this morning and the last rendering Xing showed is looking like the new direction. I really thought the original curved glass structures looked cool, but not entirely mid-west St. Louis. The new renderings are tough to get a feel for as they are a bit too pencily-gritty-moody. I think the massing looks pretty good with some nice details and it will definitely be nice to extend downtown around the Edward Jones Dome. Hopefully they release more renderings of what is actually going up before they start in March.

[Suburban Lou]

Well according to this article click here (http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2006/01/23/story5.html) Libenskind is still involved.

btw I will try to update the front page sometime soon.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I missed that one. It does say some stuff about name and design change. Gateway Village sounds more like a retirement community. The Bottle District name is only being applied to the dining and entertainment area within. Clayco must think Gateway Village markets better than Bottle District, but it sounds so lame and could-be-anywhere to me.

[shaohsiin]

:sly: "Gateway Village"? that name is horrible, some images of fake tropical shelter selling cheap t-shirt to tourist come into mind.....

[mhays]

I'm impressed by the size and speed of St. Louis' turnaround. It seems like just last year I was reading Neil Pierce's critique as an outsider and wondering if St. Louis would ever rise again.

My other comment: What astonishingly great deals for those condos! For the price of my 607 sf in Seattle, I could get 1,500 sf. Not gonna happen, but it's tempting.

Actually I'm surprised projects pencil out at those rates.

If you have enough for a down payment, for dog's sake buy a condo. I bet the values will rise heavily as the mass market discovers DTSL. Nothing like getting in while the bet is safe but most people don't know it yet.

[Xing]

Population of St. Louis scores third straight year of growth
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - After more than five decades of declining population, the city of St. Louis saw growth for the third straight year in 2005.

Mayor Francis Slay announced Friday that the U.S. Census Bureau's population estimate for July 1, 2005, is 352,572. That is up about 1,800 people from the previous year.

The original Census projection for 2005 was lower, but the city successfully challenged it.

For the third straight year, the Census Bureau accepted the city's numbers, Slay said.

It's easy to understand why the city is advertising the good news. For 50 years, the city had an annual average loss of 10,000 residents.

"There's new energy in the city of St. Louis, and people are starting to recognize what we offer in the city -- architecture, diversity of culture and people, entertainment and cultural attractions, tight-knit neighborhoods," Slay said.

He said the city has done a better job of processing building permits. Most are granted the same day they are sought. Slay said 20,000 new or rehabilitated homes have been brought onstream in the last five years.

"The building boom in neighborhoods shows no sign of slowing down," he said.

[Xing]

Update

http://www.parkeasttower.com/img/views/05_04_2006_01.jpg

http://upload.pbase.com/citylover/image/58683960/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/citylover/image/58726985.jpg

[Suburban Lou]

damn I really need to update the front page.

[kazpmk]

What ever happened with the Bottle District??? Did phase one ever start? Including the 395 ft tower that is part of phase 1???

[jkl96c]

Any news are should we wait a month.

[chicago2stlouis]

seems like a dead thread
anyway does anyone have any information on the st. louis center down tower i heard pyramaid group will take over it and build it up with shops and residental and also the bridges are suppose to come down
anyone has anymore information?

[Pandemonious]

On the St. Louis diagram, what is MW Tower? Listed as a 71 story proposed office tower. Where at in SL is this building proposed?

On the US diagram its spot is inbetween Aon Center and JHC?

[erasercut]

There's a rendering of the MW Tower but no info about it on their website:


http://www.mcgowanwalsh.com/index.php

[Xing]

We're not entirely sure if that's going to be the actual MW Tower or not.