Montgomery Bank has a $100 million plan to build a tower in the heart of Clayton, where it intends to move its headquarters from Sikeston.



The bank is finalizing its acquisition of five Clayton properties at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Forsyth, across the street from the St. Louis County Police Department Headquarters.



The tower will have between 25 and 30 floors, with office, retail and residential components, said Joel Montgomery, one of the principals of privately held, family-owned Montgomery Bank and also its general counsel. The residential component could either be condos or a hotel, he said.



Planning is still in preliminary stages; the project will be presented to Clayton officials in the coming months, Montgomery said. Construction could start in 18 months.



A few of the tenants in the buildings the bank has acquired are World News, St. Louis Bread Co. and Bella Yoga. Two buildings it was acquiring this week house Wasabi, Pasta Plus and Jerome E. Glick Real Estate. "We have some tenants with existing leases that would require us to come to terms," Montgomery said.

Arch City wrote:Anyway.......I have a feeling that a bank will be anchoring a new tower downtown in the future - U.S. Bank, BOA perhaps.

Grover wrote:Clayton does enjoy a well-centered location, geographically. Metro can handle a few thousand more passengers before it's over crowded and FPP can handle more too. Once I-170 and the Daniel Boone Expressway is done the city should be accessible. Hanley and Brentwood are a mess at rush hour, but what are we to expect? There's quite a bit of room in Clayton, especially if they insist on tearing down buildings like this and avoiding opportunities to build on surface parking lots. Clayton will grow, but will remain a second downtown because of its size.

I agree that MetroLink/FPP/I-170 improvements help and have yet to reach capacity, but my overall point is .... what will be next once they do reach capacity? They way they are building - or proposing - developments for Clayton and the surrounding area (Brentwood, RH) they need to be thinking about this now. This area is essentially landlocked with limited ability to widen roads.

New mixed-use, high-rise planned for Clayton

By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

05/18/2007



If a local developer's plans come to fruition, a $100 million mixed-use, high-rise building may be built at Central Avenue and Forsyth Boulevard in downtown Clayton.



Joel Montgomery, managing partner in Webster Groves-based Montgomery Development LP, has acquired four properties along South Central and has one on Forsyth under contract.



Montgomery wouldn't disclose the purchase prices. But the St. Louis County assessor's website lists the one at 10 South Central as having sold for $850,000 on April 26, and the World News building at 4 South Central as sold in July for $1.75 million.



The deeds of the remaining properties have not been recorded, so the prices are unknown.



Montgomery is vice chairman and general counsel for Montgomery Bank of Sikeston, Mo. The bank, which is listed as the owner of the World News building, will have a 4,000-square-foot branch on the first floor. The bank's headquarters will remain in Sikeston, according to a news release issued by Montgomery.



"We had the opportunity to acquire the corner site, the World News building, and it made sense to assemble a larger tract to get something developed," Montgomery said.



The Central and Forsyth buildings will be razed to make way for a 25- to 30-story tower that may include some retail on the first floor, offices, and condominiums or hotel space. The project is still in the design phase and plans have not been completed, Montgomery said.



Montgomery hinted at the possibility of additional land to be acquired.



Montgomery, through his development company, has been involved in other projects around the metro area, including a strip center in Des Peres on Manchester Road that has Trader Joe's and St. Louis Bread Co. as tenants.



Montgomery said he won't build in Clayton until he has a certain amount of space leased.



"It won't be purely speculative. That is why the timeline is hard to predict," he said. "It largely depends on how quickly we can pull together a plan we think is viable financially and politically."



The property also would need to be rezoned before it could be developed.



"It's pretty exciting to pull this assemblage off," said Lynn Schenck, senior vice president of brokerage services for CB Richard Ellis in Clayton, who helped broker the deals. "The only building that was for sale was the World News one. The rest of them, we approached the owners and convinced them to sell."



In addition to World News, several businesses operate out of the various buildings, including St. Louis Bread Co., Pasta Plus, Wasabi and Jerome E. Glick Real Estate.



Tenants in the different buildings started hearing rumors about four months ago, said Carla Ounanian, owner of Pasta Plus, and it was confirmed about a week ago.



"I cried when I heard. This is my livelihood," Ounanian said of the business she and her husband have owned and run for 14 years in the same location. "It came as quite a shock. I am trying to find another location, but it is hard."



She has a lease until next year with an option to renew until 2010. Other tenants also have leases, which will need to be considered when charting a development plan, Montgomery said.



The developers are considering leasing space to some of the existing tenants in the new development, said Jim Schnurbusch, spokesman for Montgomery.



"It doesn't help us to hold the property without developing it. We are interested in developing it as quickly as possible," Montgomery said. "But we are not looking at delivering space in less than three years."



And that's if things go well. That leaves businesses like Ounanian's and Wasabi looking to relocate.



"I can't do that. We are a little mom-and-pop operation," Ounanian said. "We have been steadily looking since we heard the rumors, but we don't want to move out of Clayton. Our customers don't want us to leave, and it's hard to find something."

The Curmudgeon wrote:This is a shame.



The office vacancy rate in St Louis has been at 20% since 2002.



This will cost St Louis Taxpayers money in the aqusition and building but even more in additional cost for services.



Clayton continues its careless growth on the back of taxpayers.



What a shame.

Clayton continues its careless growth on the back of taxpayers.