urbanSTL

Glad demo is not an option. That would put a huge hole in our skyline that would not likely get replaced by anything close to 44 stories. 

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Apr 29, 2024

Building isn’t getting demolished.  Too much free tax credit money

Building can  handle parking decks but that will be the last resort.  Owner is looking to buy the lot behind where Bailey’s range was for a small garage.  

Also the building is in very good condition.

Good to see - when activated, the lights on this building will add to the skyline and feel of activity downtown. Although not a popular building, diverse architecture across decades is good, including brutalist. Downtown needs a handful of modern high rises to fill out and catch up for having only one new high rise build in the last 30 years, hopefully on the eastern edges between ballpark and arch and along the gateway mall. 

If they are going to build a new parking garage, I'd really like to see that at least have 5 stories of residential on top. We do not need any new  "parking garage only structures". We have too many of those from the 80s that eat up space and kill activity. The new way to build is at least to have residential on top and maximize use and revenue of the property. In the downtowns building up rapidly today that I have visited, all the new parking garages are the first several floors of the project, not only a parking garage 

^I used to enjoy seeing them do things with the lights at night. Saw it as a Christmas tree, or with a Cards logo for the playoffs. These are silly games, but it's the sort of thing that gives a city a bit of pride. I really hope they get it activated again. Not sure why it's unpopular. I love that building.

It was one of 50 buildings selected in this book describing highlights of St. Louis architecture: American City

The PD's art and architecture critic at the time described it as "unquestionably one of HOK's finest designs".

TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote:

good, including brutalist. Downtown needs a handful of modern high rises to fill out and catch up for having only one new high rise build in the last 30 years, hopefully on the eastern edges between ballpark and arch and along the gateway mall.  

We have two. Robert’s Tower Apartment building. I always enjoy seeing it peak out of the skyline coming from market or olive.

The 4 Seasons in downtown and is almost 300ft and was build in the last 20yrs.


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The Eagleton Courthouse of course is a federal building but it also was built in the past 30 years.... opened in 2000 so coming up on 25.  It's 550' and apparently the largest single courthouse in the nation.

framer wrote: ↑

Apr 30, 2024

The PD's art and architecture critic at the time described it as "unquestionably one of HOK's finest designs".

I've always kind of hero-worshipped Obata from a distance. And now I have I think two friends who probably worked with him at some point or other. (Just in the last couple of years suddenly I start meeting architects. In orchestras, mind. Or German language clubs. So odd places. But still.) Finding floorplans for the place on this forum was a really cool moment. Learning how the elevators worked. Seeing that one oddball urbex video that was up for a while. Yeah. It's a really cool building. And AT&T is bonkers for abandoning it. (But they've clearly been bonkers for a while.)

Can Turning Office Towers Into Apartments Save Downtowns?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/06/can-turning-office-towers-into-apartments-save-downtowns

^ Paywalled. What's the consensus?

The tallest building in Ft. Worth, in one of the fastest growing regions in the country, just sold at a whopping 91% discount price is just 3 years. We are not alone.

https://x.com/triplenetinvest/status/17 ... KjVjNb_Kng

Yeah, these are weird times. 

That is one ugly building

framer wrote: ↑

May 09, 2024

Yeah, these are weird times. 

I honestly don't think it is weird times for real estate.  

I think 909 Chestnut and the Fort Worth building shows how convoluted the tax code is as it relates to these large properties and transactions take place, how they are set up as stand alone entities/companies and sold off on pennies to the dollars.   These type of losses are being reported on someone's, some companies taxes as write off's, losses to either dampen their net income and or written off at a different date to generate some cash via tax refund.  

 By no stretch of the imagination a tax expert, or real estate expert, or expert of anything but I think you could make an argument that the tax code has favored some large players to play a shell game of riding the peaks and taking advantage of the lows with these real estate deals.  Keep reading articles on the crushing debt coming due on commercial loans/credit but somehow things are not collapsing.  My gut feeling is the collapse will not be what it is made out to be because the tax code lets the players involved carry and recover a significant chunk of the losses..   

The loan to value ratio on commercial real estate isn’t very high. That helps stave off collapse.

New owner is in town all this week for meetings with people. This is his 3rd multi day visit since April.

I write this with sobriety 
I have noticed the conversation here with regard to parking /AT&t building 
I also read the word fantasy and I wish written here  on numerous threats 
The classic old AT&T building that's sits  west of the Brutalist   AT&t building; what about retrofitting that building or part of it into parking?  I know it'd be cheaper to tear it all down and build a garage but did I mention the word fantasy and wishing. Could  the sequoia AT&T building  spare a few floors for parking?

That is a terrible idea we do not need to turn any part of that building into parking.

^ that’s irrelevant if the owner of att doesn’t control those

Can they not rent spots or purchase one? Anything is better than disfiguring a historic building

@ugbrokeft you have to understand that people prefer parking within the same building where they work or in worst case adjacent building with a skywalk.

I think it’s time we move past that type of thinking and focus on human-centered downtowns