urbanSTL

Maybe somewhere along FPP?

Why don't covington make a proposal on the old sky house site. What CWE doesn't gain downtown can certainly benefit from a new structure in and near the garment district.

ward17 wrote: I haven’t commented more on this site about the Pevely demolition because there are some non public issues that need to be resolved, I don’t know what SLU’s new administration intentions are, and I don’t have time to compose a thoughtful response that might be moot, but I do think there is value to compare Pevely to the Optimist project.

I supported the demolition of the Pevely Building , which was vacant, declared historic by its developer so it could receive tax credits “in addition” to local incentives. In the process, part of the building burns down and the developer who was very experienced in historic rehab abandons the project. SLU, an institutional partner of Cortex, wants to create a development that would create jobs and is consistent in use to what has been discussed for years, although never codified in an ordinance, as Cortex’s Southern node. That proposal received tremendous opposition.

The proposal -- which wasn't even real -- was for an ambulatory care center that could have been built on any number of parcels SLU owns. Hopefully the new administration and you will recognize the importance of bringing the medical campus into an urban form that relates well to its neighbors and brings more vibrancy to the area. There have been two times I have been embarrassed to live in Saint Louis in recent years.... the first was seeing the antics of the SLU goons during the Pevely process. (The second was the mayor's lamentable, Stockholm-Syndrome tweet about the GSA shipping almost 900 workers out of downtown.) If we get more Doisy Center bullcrap at key intersections in the city like Grand and Chouteau, it will be a huge lost opportunity for creating a more vibrant future.

"declared historic by its developer "

Hahaha. This is my favorite line. Declared historic by its developer. It was clearly historic and fit in with the, what used to be, urban nature of the area. That suburban style replacement couldn't have been worse for that site. Where is that "development" now? Was it entirely fake?
As for optimist, we can forget it from what I've heard, Covington won't come back to the table. I hope other developers aren't so turned off they don't venture into the area or consider the site either. Oh well, I guess another non profit or lower grade user will move into the building.
Roddy is almost 60. It's time to get some fresh blood in this ward. He's done a lot of good, but it's time for a younger generation. Roddy is past his prime. When does his current term expire?

What if this went up over Straub's? Would that be possible? Would it be a smart move? Is it heresy to suggest it?

I think the Straub's site could hold a very nice development with Straubs and other retail on the ground floor and a housing tower above that complements the Park Plaza (Unless NIMBYs to the immediate north try to kill it)

This could be built AROUND/on top of Straub's and the design tweaked a bit to match the existing building. Besides, the CWE skyline stops so abruptly to the north with the gigantic Chase Park Plaza right now. This shorter building would help ease the skyline down a bit. Not to mention, the views would be amazing! Also, Maryland Plaza surely has a shortage of available units, right? It has to.

Of course, this building would still have the garage as originally planned, and they could add a story for shoppers. But yeah, Straub's might close, in which case that spot will become even more perfect for a new tower. I say make it even taller, maybe 20 stories.

What ever happened to that talk of towers around the Barnes MetroLink station?

I mean, it's right by MetroLink and the future streetcar, so...

Anyway, add some retail/dining to it and I guess another floor of the garage.

As much as I'm in favor of towers in the CWE, I highly doubt and wouldn't support a huge tower backing up to Pershing Place. Maybe five stories or less.
Covingtons proposal had more than adequate parking. There is zero precedent for retail along this block along Lindell.
Maybe another developer will step up to the plate for this site. One can hope..

If I lived in the surrounding blocks, I would like a little store or something right by my place. Even if just a convenience store/small grocer or something. Maybe a bar with decent food, too. Shoot, even street-level office space is better than nothing I suppose. It would add a bit more foot traffic for sure and make more money for the City and create jobs.

This one is supposed to be what, 12 stories? 14? Sounds fine. If Straub's were no longer part of the equation, it would provide the opportunity for more retail as opposed to dining. I was at one of the meetings regarding the OPUS tower a few months ago and some residents were adamant about the fact that the area has too many restaurants and they want more retail/entertainment. I could see an antique shop or live theater being popular somewhere in one of the CWE's new towers.

By the way, what's up with the OPUS tower?

I still can't believe Roddy killed this development.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised.

^ I think it is to easy too say Roddy killed this. For starters, someone on the thread did a good job of outlining the appeal process if a tax abatement wasn't going to be awarded, or another way to put it go directly to the city and therefore outside of Roddy's jurisdiction.

Second, some renderings is very easy and inexpensive thing to put forth. Securing the finance, closing on the property and actually building on a construction loan let alone having an agreement in place with the Optimists is a different story. I haven't read anything that stated where the developer was at it terms of what needed to be done or if they even had the Optimist building locked. Another way to look, didn't Bruce Mills secure a building, did a demo and took a lot of heat for leaving a hole in the ground before he had an incentives in place for his Euclid/Whole Foods development? could be mistaken.

As part of this story, I also see a developer who is walking away rather quickly unless some one knows more. Why? my guess, and that all it is, is they do not have the bank account let alone any serious financial backing to proceed beyond the renderings.

As far as Koplay/Koman coming together and hopefully put forth a proposal sooner or later. I think your looking your a family and developer with a proven record, experience and a bank account to follow through a true infill project on an ideal location. Simply put, I would be prioritizing them for incentives if I was in a political position.

Dredger, Covington has developed thousands of units across the country, certainly not all of them are the best designs, but they are far more experienced developers than Koplar / Koman with multi-family. From what I heard, the developer was told they wouldn't receive tax abatement and decided to focus on areas that made more sense. There's no way a lender would loan a developer money to build new apartment units within blocks of competing apartment developments that received abatement. It's an unfair advantage. Oh well, instead of a new modern highrise that could compete for clayton modern highrise residents, we can now assume the existing building will retain class B or Class C building/ tenant status. So, again, Roddy essentially killed this deal.

He did. And that pisses me off (as evidenced by previous posts). But I agree that Covington could have gone above Roddy and Park Central and gone directly to the City with their request. Maybe they didn't want to play that game, and didn't want to get on the bad side of both their Alderman and local review board. They may have thought that doing so would have complicated things going forward (what developer wants to start a project by going to war with the local politician and neighborhood group?), and possibly increased legal costs by extending and complicating the review/appeal process. Nonetheless, I wish they'd appealed directly to the city for abatement and exposed some of the hypocrisy and protectionist/favoritist behavior going on in the CWE.

^ That's my point, Yes Roddy support is huge in moving forward in how St. Louis works but Covington has options and they are willing deciding not to pursue them. Why? Is it because for what is stated in the thread, is it because the Optimist building was the only building/property in their price point to purchase, is it because they didn't see things happening as quick as it did in CWE and missed out on some prime real estate, do they want to develop on a specific street and this Optimist building is the only property available.

But, I will also defend Roddy on one point. At what point do you say no to tax incentives and subsidies for the one part of the city that is thriving? I'm not buying that Covington is innocent in all this because Roddy is unwilling to support tax abatement. At what point do you give everybody a blanket tax abatement, including single residential owners just up the street.?