City is ready to fuse daring design with red-brick heritage
By Louis Saur (from West End Word):
"If you?ve driven along Lindell Boulevard recently you have probably noticed that construction has begun on 4545, the new high-rise residential condominium building being inserted between two residential high-rises from the early years of the 20th century.
As the architect of 4545, I?ve been most intrigued by numerous comments related to me about the modern design of this building in an area known for its grand old mansions, landmark hotels and historic apartment buildings. These comments have come from architects, bankers, contractors, city officials, developers and ? last but by no means least ? residents of the Central West End. Validating the compliments are strong pre-sales for the units. This building is something of a testimonial to how modern architecture can generate interest and provoke discussion even before construction starts."
That was a great article that shows off the CWE and the West End as a whole to be the leader in architecture in the Metro region. It is to our benefit that Louis Saur is the principal architect that designed the building since he also holds the prestiguous position of design fellow to the American Institute of Architects. With Saur, HOK, Lawrence Group and others our region is plentiful with quality and high aspiring notable architects. We need more of their bold designs here in St. Louis. Here here for Saur, Huzzah!
That is an excellent article. Good point on how modern buildings contrast and highlight old buildings. I suspect that 4545 will be my favorite modern building in the metro area.
^For the sake of density, yes. However, adding more floors might affect the aesthetics of the design of the building. I'll take it the way it is. There's plenty of room in the CWE to build higher density structures, and I do hope--and wouldn't be surprised if--they do--aside from the ones already planned. (Driving down Kingshighway as I look east, I wonder to myself how long all those surface parking lots will continue to waste valuable real estate.)
Sure, I'm with ya on that point, St. Louis Texan! That means density, and I think and hope we'll be getting there before too long...I guess we gotta take steps in the meantime.
Construction's been coming along at a pretty steady pace. The crane is going up next tuesday-thursday (I know because my building manager warned us that Lindell was going to be down to two lanes for a couple of days because of it).
Was wondering when it would actually go up. The base had it's concrete anchor poured the same day as the Lindell Condos meeting. I knew they would have to wait for it to sufficiently harden, but was unsure how long they would wait.
St. Louis Texan wrote:You know this building could be like 5 stories taller. It wouldn't hurt it to have made it a little more interesting for the skyline.
I brought this up at dinner last night and a developer friend of mine suggested it was probably a financial decision based on risk and reward. Obviously each floor adds cost to the project, and while they stand to make more if they sell those additional floors, they are also taking on more risk. So they probably did a market study of how many units they could safely sell and voila 11 floors. He also pointed out that each new floor makes lower floors more unattractive and possibly less expensive. It could also be air rights, financing, blah, blah, blah. In the end, I'm just happy we're discussing how many floors it should be and not whether it should be at all because I love the design of this building and I think it will be a great asset to the CWE.
dashalove wrote: He also pointed out that each new floor makes lower floors more unattractive and possibly less expensive.
You know, I never thought about it that way. I suppose once you put an elevator in a building, everybody wants to live as high up as possible. So yeah, each lower floor really is less desirable.
I brought this up at dinner last night and a developer friend of mine suggested it was probably a financial decision based on risk and reward. Obviously each floor adds cost to the project, and while they stand to make more if they sell those additional floors, they are also taking on more risk. So they probably did a market study of how many units they could safely sell and voila 11 floors.
Well, yes and no. For every developer it comes down to what they can finance and their level of risk aversion. The market study I'm sure would have supported a taller building, if it was done correctly (without all those worst-case assumptions that St. Louis developers seem to make). Conrad is a St. Louis company, started by St. Louisans, therefore, they are inherently skeptical of market studies. Financing for a taller building would not have been a problem if they had gotten enough commitments/deposits and had enough equity in the project (which shouldn't be a problem for Conrad). Structurally, there is no reason why it couldn't have been taller. The only legitimate reasons for not going taller here would be aesthetics, i.e. city standards, and parking. I suspect, however, that the real reason the building is not taller is that Conrad is not completely sold on the revitalization of the city and because Conrad is a small developer they are thus more risk averse than a company like, say, OPUS.
I agree with you jlblues. I don't think it's a coincidence that the major player in the CWE is an outside developer right now. In some ways it's great and in some ways it's a shame. If things play out as OPUS feels they will, St. Louis developers will be kicking themselves for not having any confidence in their fellow St. Louisians. At the same time, I'm not surprised. Sometimes it takes an outsider. It's a big stretch but look at Bugsy and Las Vegas. When you're living there you just don't see it. I remember the first time I saw downtown, coming from Manhattan. It was like seeing SOHO 10 years BEFORE SOHO. But when I asked my friends about it, they would just tell me that the downtown revitalization projects were like a broken record and that NOBODY would ever live downtown because of the schools. Well, that is obviously not the case. I only WISH I had bought one of those lofts years ago. Well, it's not a novel point, but maybe when you're living there year after year, you don't notice the potential and see what could be there if we only rolled up our sleeves and got to work. That said, it's obvious from this website that a LOT of people see the potential. And frankly, even with all those parking lots, I thought the CWE was a wonderful place to live. I just think it can only get better as more and more people move into the area, thereby creating more of a demand for local shops et. cetera. I'd like to one day be able to satisfy all my shopping needs in the CWE so that I don't have to go to the mall.
Conrad is a much smaller company and has more revitalization and rehabs than new construction in the city. They most likely don't have as much finance backing as the big companies for new construction.
I also believe that this building is being built as an "infill" and definately would look out of place if the height was to excede some of the other towers that literally "butt" up to it. Not to say that this doesn't happen sometimes. I also think that this building is in a Central West End building zone/block that restricts new construction over a certain height, I know that Opus' planned 30 story Lindell is just down the block, but didn't I read something that this is a different "zoning area"... someone know?
Conrad, I thought, is more of a higherend developer and tiny firm (Clayton based and home construction area) than
OPUS, less highend and national company with a hefty portfolio
Thus, we should applaud Conrad as much as OPUS for being daring to build Metro lofts and Lindell in the CWE and the M Lofts in Lafayette Square since they are a Clayton/University City area developer that has only begun to build in Creve Coeur and Richmond Heights
Well, Conrad certainly managed allright with the 20+ story Maryland Plaza. Not exactly a small project. But of course we know that EVERYBODY wants to live in Clayton, but only a few very daring souls would want to cross the line into the city, especially as far into the city as the Central West End!
jlblues wrote:Well, Conrad certainly managed allright with the 20+ story Maryland Plaza. Not exactly a small project. But of course we know that EVERYBODY wants to live in Clayton, but only a few very daring souls would want to cross the line into the city, especially as far into the city as the Central West End!
I believe you mean the Clayton on the Park 23 story tower across from Shaw Park.... btw I have several friends who live in the building...They all love it...The roof top deck is spectacular...
