ST. LOUIS & CLAYTON | Project Rundown

[DetroitMan]

$1.2B downtown project meets financing deadline, adds local partner

As the $1.2 billion construction innovation district planned south of the Gateway Arch moves closer to construction, the project's developer said it has met city requirements for financing of its $200 million first phase.

The developer, St. Louis-based Good Developments Group, has also added a local partner in the joint venture pursuing the Gateway South project: Robert Millstone, president of the Millstone Cos., a real estate and private equity investment firm, and the former CEO of the construction company now known as Millstone Weber.

Good Developments Group, which is spearheading plans to create the roughly 100-acre Gateway South district that would be located in the downtown and Kosciusko neighborhoods along the Mississippi River, is working to finalize tenants ahead of the start of construction on the project’s first phase. The area is often called by the unofficial name of Chouteau's Landing. In an interview last week, Good Developments Group CEO Greg Gleicher said his firm has secured the financing for the first phase and will submit the written commitments to the city ahead of a June 30 deadline to disclose financing details. A master development agreement GDG reached last year with the St. Louis Port Authority and the city's Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority required the developer to submit proof of financing for 450,000 square feet of private development.

The project’s initial phase would create a new construction-focused manufacturing site centered around the long-vacant and historic Crunden-Martin factory complex at 760 S. Second St. that spans South Second Street and takes up more than a full city block. The idea is to transform the area into an incubator for ideas for producing modular construction parts to streamline the building process and make housing and other projects more affordable. A spokeswoman for the St. Louis Development Corp., which staffs the LCRA, said the project's development team is "diligently working to comply with all requirements and finalize financing."

Gleicher declined to provide details on project financing, but said "we have term sheets from a handful of lenders, which is great."

Even though funding is committed, Gleicher said GDG won't close on a construction loan until closer to when the work is to begin, a standard practice to avoid paying interest on the loan longer than is required.

Construction could begin later this year, and environmental abatement of the historic buildings could begin sooner, Gleicher said. The developer projects a 2026 date of operation on the Gateway South website.

The firm’s applications for tax credits and incentives are also all on track, he said. The project is pursuing historic tax credits and brownfields tax credits through the state. An update on the status of those tax credits was not yet available.

A new partner; prospecting tenants
Millstone, who is also managing partner of Millstone Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm, joins a project team that also includes Houston-based Vault Partners, led by Michael Rubenstein, the founder and CEO of the St. Louis-based Wally’s mega-gas station chain.

The massive brick Crunden-Martin buildings would be adapted into manufacturing, a museum and office space for various tenants under the plan, which has public incentives in place for the first phase. The site, surrounded by long-underutilized industrial properties, has "unparalleled" national transportation connections available since it has long served as a hub of factories and industrial uses, GDG said on its website for the project.

In order to move forward, talks between the developers and the possible manufacturing tenants will have to move from letters of intent to signed deals, a process that is currently underway, Millstone said. The firm is not yet revealing details of any of the prospective tenants. Developers have previously said that two companies could locate manufacturing operations there, including a San Francisco-based firm.

The development will also have coworking-style space for other construction-related companies to operate, plans filed with the city show.

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...ict-goals.html

[meh]

Some April 30th progress pics by Chris Stritzel on urbanstl.com:

AC Hotel, Clayton
https://urbanstl.com/ac-hotel-in-old...11416-s75.html



Jefferson Arms Apartments, Downtown STL
https://urbanstl.com/jefferson-arms-...2058-s525.html





BJC Hospital, Central West End
https://urbanstl.com/bjc-wustl-medic...5279-s750.html



Bemiston Place, Clayton
https://urbanstl.com/bemiston-place-t11671-s275.html






Butler Brothers Building/The Victor, Downtown STL
https://urbanstl.com/butler-brothers...0155-s300.html

[meh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...-reliance.html

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Midtown, STL City:

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Elevator shaft rising for The Lagosian Apartments at 2300 LaSalle in Lafayette Square, St. Louis City:


Photo by @stlrainbow on Twitter: https://x.com/stlrainbow/status/1792655975239110705

This is part of phase 1 of the master plan below. The 2200 LaSalle apartments have already been completed and the Lafayette Reserve townhouses are either completed or near completion, I believe.


Photo by Chris Stritzel at urbanstl.com: https://urbanstl.com/the-edge-at-laf...1044-s325.html

[meh]

Why a Canadian construction tech company chose St. Louis for its HQ

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...tion-tech.html

Turnbull is founder and CEO of MBS, which launched in 2019. The firm has created a construction system it says can make building panels off-site, providing “ready-to-assemble” buildings that can be developed more quickly than with traditional construction methods. Turnbull said he believes the company’s technology could be used in commercial real estate projects, while also being an option to use for affordable housing and disaster relief.
...
“Everything just kind of clicked in St. Louis. It just made sense,” Turnbull said. “You're landlocked in the middle of America. You have the Mississippi for shipping our panels on barges. You have an incredible infrastructure system of rail and road, highways and whatnot.”
...
“The collaboration centers on the multiyear Gateway South project at Chouteau's Landing, where MBS will play a pivotal role in implementing our panelized building system. The partnership is poised to achieve significant cost savings and efficiency by utilizing MBS' cutting-edge technology,” Turnbull said.

[meh]

Versa Development plans to convert the Optimist International building into a hotel

https://nextstl.com/2024/05/versa-de...-into-a-hotel/

Hopefully this one won't be killed by NIMBYs or the Preservation Board.

[meh]

Developers plot new $66M plan for vacant North City warehouse

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...Pos=0#cxrecs_s

Two development firms are partnering on a new effort to turn a vacant warehouse in the city’s Near North Riverfront neighborhood into 177 apartments.

The developers behind the $65.9 million project, at 2000 N. Broadway, are Virginia-based ABC Realty Advisors and the Lodging to Living Fund of Bethesda, Maryland-based real estate firm Saul Urban. The project includes redevelopment of the 147,000 square foot building that will include affordable housing.

...

ABC Realty Advisors is behind an adjacent project in the Near North Riverfront neighborhood that includes plans to turn a former industrial building at 1920 N. Broadway into just under 100 apartments.

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A lovely skyline shot from the roof of the recently completed Victor Apartments (see above):

[meh]

$30M expansion planned for Maxine Clark's Delmar Divine development

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...ine-clark.html

Delmar Divine, the mixed-use redevelopment of the former St. Luke’s Hospital built on the “Delmar Divide,” will undergo a second phase of development.

Construction is expected to begin later this year to add about 80 new apartments, additional offices and community space at Delmar Divine, located at the former St. Luke’s Hospital at 5501 Delmar Blvd. in the city of St. Louis’ West End neighborhood. That will add to the project’s initial $89 million phase, which included development of 150 apartments, office space for nonprofits and retail storefronts.

Construction on Delmar Divine’s second phase is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024 and be completed in 2026, said Maxine Clark, the Build-A-Bear Workshop founder who has spearheaded Delmar Divine...

[meh]

Progress on Powell Symphony Hall Expansion/Renovations:


https://www.dezeen.com/2022/05/06/sn...uis-orchestra/

https://www.slsostories.org/post/pow...ansion-updates

From the Terrace Circle level, scaffolding blocks the view of the stage.

Crews form the new spiral staircase from the Grand Tier level to the Dress Circle level.

Seen from above, steel has begun to encase the new lobby.

[meh]

New Midtown Target has opened in the recently completed Edwin (apartments) near St. Louis University


https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...ning-date.html

http://www.stlouiscitytalk.com/posts...-midtown-opens

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Updated Renderings for the new Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in Midtown near St. Louis University

https://urbanstl.com/ssm-slu-hospital-t8299-s275.html

[meh]

Mayor Jones signs zoning bill encouraging density along [new] north-south MetroLink line

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/...reen-line.html

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones signed Board Bill 13 on Wednesday, changing zoning rules within a half-mile of the planned MetroLink Green Line light rail stations by reducing minimum lot sizes by 40% and parking minimums by 25% and raising the maximum number of stories from three to four.

The move is designed to enhance density and transit-oriented development along the Green Line, the proposed north-south light rail expansion which is largely set to run on Jefferson Avenue. Officials have set the price at $1.1 billion and aim to lower St. Louis' obligation to $850 million. Locals are asking the Federal Transit Administration for project aid through New Starts.

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen approved Bill 13 11-1 on Aug. 8. North riverfront Alderman Rasheen Aldridge voted against it. Aldermen Tom Oldenburg, Joseph Vollmer and Pamela Boyd were absent or did not vote.

“The expansion of MetroLink with the new Green Line, along with this important bill, will enhance walkability and support residents along this corridor, improving their quality of life and ability to get around our city,” Jones said in a statement. “By responsibly loosening restrictions on parking, the maximum number of floors, and the minimum size of lots, we’re making it easier for those alongside the Green Line to invest in St. Louis and help neighborhoods to grow and be full of life and opportunity.”

Jefferson Avenue cuts across some of South St. Louis' most densely populated neighborhoods, but five stations north of Interstate 64 are in areas long beset by population decline.
...
Plans are for the Green Line to intersect with the Red and Blue lines at a new transfer station at Scott and Jefferson avenues.

[meh]

This type of small-scale residential rehab and new construction is happening all over the South Side and Central Corridor, and has recently picked up on the near North Side as well. Just thought I'd share a few nice examples from Twitter:

https://x.com/stlrainbow/status/1810063509767487902


https://x.com/stlrainbow/status/1827039480030626098


https://x.com/stlrainbow/status/1827050945315844558


https://x.com/stlrainbow/status/1788669444236988824

[meh]

Another lovely cluster under rehab on the North Side:

https://x.com/NEXTSTL/status/1809961804186992958

[Xing]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe all the construction in Clayton takes away from the demand to build downtown. There is such a culture of destroying old, and building new in St. Louis, even when there is so much that can be revitalized, it’s mind numbing. It’s like, they even built a new downtown. Even with that though, downtown remains resilient. Imagine how much more could go on without Clayton sucking all the development away.

[meh]

Originally Posted by Xing

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I believe all the construction in Clayton takes away from the demand to build downtown. There is such a culture of destroying old, and building new in St. Louis, even when there is so much that can be revitalized, it’s mind numbing. It’s like, they even built a new downtown. Even with that though, downtown remains resilient. Imagine how much more could go on without Clayton sucking all the development away.

I think that's the prevailing opinion actually, at least regarding the state of things now. Though Clayton probably absorbed some of the 80s, 90s, 00s corporate flight that otherwise would have ended up farther out in the suburbs. I do like that Clayton, U City, and Wash U create a walkable urban bookend on the West side Forest Park. If the city can start adding appreciable population again, the stretch from DT to Clayton will densify quickly—it's already happening to some extent with development picking up in DT West and Midtown, and steady growth in the CWE.

DT's main problem is that it's disconnected from the rest of the city. We badly need contiguous, walkable, residential infill between the CBD and points North and West. Connectivity to the South will likely remain a problem as long as the rail yards are there. And then there's East St. Louis... Man, I wish Alton were directly across the river from DT. That would be amazing.

Regarding the culture of destruction, it's gotten a whole lot better on the South Side and in the Central Corridor. Even some Near North Side neighborhoods (e.g. West End, Academy) are starting to see $400K–$500K rehabs (thanks largely to Wash U's efforts). Unfortunately, rehabs of historic brick buildings cost a shit-load of money and most of the North Side market just won't support that yet.

Oh, arson and vagrants burning down vacant buildings continue to be a HUGE problem as well. We recently lost another historic North Side church (1) AND another historic Near North Side warehouse (2) AND a substantial historic North Side corner building that had just received a permit for rehab before suspiciously burning down (3). I'm sure that's not all. Is there another city in the US (or the world for that matter) that loses so many buildings to arson?

(1)


(2)


(3)

[meh]

Another gorgeous South City rehab:





https://x.com/SMB_Grove/status/1814676398658793727

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