Looks like there's a hotel proposed for the old City Health Department building just South of Powell Hall. This is a couple of blocks north of the stalled Hyatt in the Metropolitan Building:



http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... tory3.html

That's a beautiful building, but do we need another hotel?

the more hotels the better. I'm waiting for someone to post a picture of this building. or my lazy ass can just pull it up on street view.

There's a pic on the bizjournals article.



Also here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 2970596027



The building across the street is very beautiful as well. Anybody know what that is? It's not as long or as wide.

Anyone know how well the U. Club apartments have held up? I almost rented in there when they were redone about 20 years ago, and at the time, the interiors were pretty spectacular.

there is no excuse for GC not being a serious draw... right now there's basically just the FFox and PHall. Kudos for something finally happening.

Grand Center Inc., the nonprofit organization that oversees development and revitalization in the Midtown arts and entertainment district, is moving to a new home to pave the way for a $35 million hotel and residential development....



...Grand Center will move in June from a city-owned building at 634 N. Grand Ave. that will be converted to a 120-room hotel, as well as 20 to 30 apartments and ground-floor retail. Christian said a deal is in the works with a developer and a hotel operator but financing has not yet been finalized.



In February, several developers responded to a request for qualifications to buy and rehab the 12-story, 150,000-square-foot Old Missouri Theater Building at 634 N. Grand Ave. in a project that’s estimated to cost $35 million. The building is located on the east side of Grand, a block south of Powell Symphony Hall. The city’s health and social services departments are headquartered there and are in the process of relocating.



The developer of the 634 N. Grand building and the hotel flag that will fly there have not yet been identified, but Hyatt Place could resume plans to open a hotel in Grand Center. A 125-room Hyatt Place was slated to open this year at the Metropolitan Building at 500 N. Grand Ave., but those plans stalled when the developer, Pyramid Cos., shut down operations last April. A Hyatt Place spokesperson said no information was available by press time.



Hotel analyst Gary Andreas of St. Louis-based H&H Consulting said demand for hotel space would be driven by the 4,500-seat Fox Theatre one block away and nearby Saint Louis University.



“SLU draws good demand despite the downturn in the economy, as parents visit the campus,” Andreas said. “I wouldn’t put 500 rooms there, but 100 to 150 rooms at the right price, there’s significant demand for a four-star hotel.”



http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... tory5.html

^

This will be great for the area - a hotel for people visiting SLU and the cultural venues will add a little life to GC. Some first floor retail would be nice.



Does the Missouri Theater Building (Health Dept. Building) still have a theater in it? I've been in it only once.

The theater is long gone. It had been on what is now the parking lot in the rear of the building. The theater's entrance was in the southern end of the building's Grand Blvd. facade. Like JMedwick says, there are still some remnants left in the former Health Dept. waiting area, such as fancy flooring and chandeliers.



I've seen several photos of the Missouri Theater entrance, but only one of the performance area, and none of the lobby.



BTW, The Rockets got their start at the Missouri Theater, not the Fox, as some people think.

It's great to see plans for a hotel in the area moving forward, especially since the plans for the Metropolitan Building fell through.



It'll be nice to see the Missouri Theatre building restored. Hopefully what's left of the building's original features can be incorporated into the new development. As I said in another thread pertaining to Grand Center, it's really encouraging to see so many new businesses in the area, especially since (1) we're in a recession and (2) efforts to redevelop this area have been in progres for roughly 30 years with some mixed results at best.

It's too bad the city no longer has a public health department.

^I thought the Health Department was moving to the old Federal Building on Market St. Downtown.

A 136-room Hyatt Place Hotel could soon be towering over the once struggling neighborhood as well. Schoemehl hopes to finish financing the hotel project by the end of the year, which would renovate the old Missouri Theatre building just south of Powell Hall.

Link

Alex Ihnen wrote:^ sometimes I wonder why this stuff is news. By the end of the year? You mean, he hopes to have financing some time in the next five months? That doesn't sound like anything new.

I don't know, it fits in with the overall story outlining development plans for Grand Center. The planned Hyatt development probably is news to most people who don't follow this board closely.

Now THIS could be considered questionable news: http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... ridge.html

They may be re-thinking this project.

A few out-of-context quotes from a recent neighborhood meeting: "1st floor retail, 2nd floor office space, and the rest apartments". Not sure what this means, but perhaps the success of the Metropolitan Building is pushing them in a new direction. Personally,I never thought this was the best site for a hotel.

So are we looking at new construction in Grand Center in the next couple of years? Definitely need more residential to make this a more vibrant neighborhood.