urbanSTL

I thought I heard the owner of the Burger King was wanting crazy money for his lot. Something along the line of a couple a million dollars.

The article says that only a dozen reservations had been made so far out 0f 113 available units. Pace had wanted 50% sold before construction started. The article also says that McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant has signed a lease to open in phase 2.

^Except outside its own relatively little development area, it's isolated. Within The Boulevard, it's nice to walk and has a somewhat urban feel, even if it's too fake for my tastes. But other than regional connections (MetroLink, highways), there is no local connection to the surrounding area. Like the isolated Highlands development on the former Arena site, living in an otherwise auto-oriented world is likely a tough sell to urban-minded folks who are looking at condo options. Downtown, CWE and Clayton all have better, established context of a walkable environment as neighborhoods, such that their high-rise developments aren't isolated pods like Boulevard or Highlands. Given the lack of connectivity between the Bottle District and Downtown, the Valencia's fate could be a hard lesson for that project too.

I completely agree. They have tried to spur pedestrian traffic in an area that is totally hostile to that type of development. With highways on 2 sides, strip mall & U club to the north and Galleria to the west there is no possibility that this will ever expand. If the development had taken place somewhere less isolated, further development may have widened the urban landscape, but not where this is located. Although there are similarities to TBD I'm not sure that it is a fair comparison. It would be isolated yes, but an isolated island in a sea of pedestrian communities has potential. What will have to be done by TBD developers is to soften the disconnect from the surrounding areas - difficult but possible. Not possible at Boulevard STL.

I argee that something like a trolley system here would make all the difference in the world. However, I seriously doubt that Clayton would ever agree to anything that "innovative". I have long been saying that Joe Edwards' trolley should continue on through U City down delmar and up Hanley to Clayton and the Metrolink stations there. This would connect an awful lot of neighborhoods and open up the system for commuters and not just for tourists as it currently stands.

Let's be honest, how many of us expected this thing to be built? As proven by the numbers, there simply isn't enough demand for a luxury high-rise condo tower on Brentwood South, a few feet away from I-40. Why spend the money and live in a very pedrestrian unfriendly area when you can just spend the money up the street in Clayton and have easier access to so many more amenities?



Now, I will say this...if these proposed projects do not get off the ground very soon the chances of them getting cancelled will skyrocket. The Fed paused rates again so if potential buyers are going to buy they want to do it in a more stable rate invironment, instead of a rising environment (that's pretty much given).



It's a shame this got cancelled. It was a nice design and would've added a lot of value to the area.

Economics people



The Metrolink station alone has enhanced the economics of the Galleria Brentwood area and this is a great location with access to I-64, I-170, Clayton CBD, greater proximity to Lambert INTL. than Chesterfield or Des Peres



Transportation proximity

Regional spatial location

Countyseat government, commerce, banking center location

demographics > dense concentration of upper classes in Clayton, University City, and Forest Park area

just to clarify - it's the residential tower that's been cancelled, not the extension of the Boulevard? Is that what other people understand? There was supposed to be a hotel also I think - was that to be part of the tower?

^No, the BJ article claims Pace is going ahead with all of the retail of Phase 2, although I thought it was interesting that they only mentioned one new tenant that had signed a lease (granted, however, it is a big coup for them to get McCormick & Schmick's).



The article did not mention the boutique hotel at all. Considering there are two new hotels being built just two blocks away, I'd be surprised if this one happens, although the operator they had identified would be the only one in the Midwest and might have been able to work it's own niche.

dweebe wrote:I thought I heard the owner of the Burger King was wanting crazy money for his lot. Something along the line of a couple a million dollars.

The Burger King and Shell are both part of what would be Phase 3, so the price of that land should have little impact on this phase, except to the extent that it increases the combined risk to Pace for Phases 2 & 3.

I think that the reason that this project failed was due to the marketing efforts by Pace. They don't have much experience in the residential market, and I don't recall the building being marketed since the fall, if memory serves me correctly, I only remember the renderings becoming available since about May or so of this year. In my opinion, they really screwed this one up.

Valencia cancelled per the Business Journal



Pace shelves plans for Valencia at The Boulevard

St. Louis Business Journal - September 22, 2006

by Lisa R. Brown



The victim of rising building costs and a cooling housing market, the Valencia Condominiums at The Boulevard is no longer on the drawing board.



After heavily marketing the Valencia Condominiums at The Boulevard for nearly a year, Pace Properties has canceled the $63 million project.



Pace Properties officials said Sept. 20 that they halted pre-sales at the Valencia due to rising construction costs and a slowdown in the housing market.



The St. Louis-based developer said it will evaluate other housing alternatives for The Boulevard. The Boulevard restaurant and retail center, located on Brentwood Boulevard across from the Saint Louis Galleria, is anchored by a Crate & Barrel, Ann Taylor Loft, Maggiano's Little Italy and P.F. Chang's.



http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... 00^1348706



Note: copy and paste the whole url to be able to read the whole story.

It's a shame, but not entirely surprising.

I looked at the 'demo' unit and the floorplans, and the floorplans were very odd. They didn't seem too well designed and there were only a couple units that made sense from a design and living point of view.

Also, the quality of the demo wasn't up to par for the target market, the views would have been not so nice, and the metrolink is in a very awkward, difficult position (I saw a few people nearly get hit by traffic trying to access it).

Then of course, the two blocks of pedestrian zone in the middle of a pedestrian hostile neighborhood. Yeah, it's a shame, but it had a lot going against it.

Pace scraps plans for 15-story condominium building on Brentwood

By Gail Appleson

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

09/28/2006



Pace Properties Inc. says it has scrapped plans for a 15-story condominium building at the Boule­vard -- St. Louis, across Brentwood Boulevard from the St. Louis Galleria. Pace cited construction costs that have risen 10 percent to 20 percent from when the project originally was priced in 2005.



About a dozen units in the $63 million structure, called Valencia Condominiums, had been sold and Pace is in the process of returning money to the buyers, said Julie Oelman, Valencia development manager. The 113 condos were priced between $250,000 and $1.8 million.



"Rising construction costs were primarily to blame," said Oelman, adding that the slowing housing market was another consideration.



The Valencia building was to have been located at the south end of the Richmond Heights-based retail, residential and dining property.





The 74-unit Allegro Apartments were constructed during Phase I of the project and Oelman said Pace will continue to look at other housing options.



She said shelving the condominium tower will not affect the developer's plans for Phase II of the Boulevard, which includes the construction of an additional 126,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space expected to be completed by 2008.



About 10 to 15 stores and three restaurants, including McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants, are planned during this part of development. Oelman said no announcement has been made about other retailers who might locate in the shopping area.



The second phase also includes the construction of a hotel with more than 200 rooms.



The grand opening of Phase I of the project was about one year ago. The Boulevard mixes upscale chain restaurants and specialty shops into a trendy concept of retailing known as a "lifestyle center" with units opening onto the street instead of into a mall.



Existing retailers include Crate & Barrel, Ann Taylor Loft and Soft Surroundings along with restaurants Maggiano's Little Italy and P.F. Chang's.



gappleson@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8331

[/b]

STLgasm wrote:Kind of disappointed to hear that this project is being scrapped. It would've looked great from Hwy 40. Let's hope something worthy gets built, and soon.

I would've liked this to have been built, but the market. layouts, and pricing were going against it.

Like others here, I'm disappointed but not surprised to see the plans for Valencia Place die. Given the lack of strong marketing, and the market conditions, I suppose we should've seen this one coming.



I'm glad to see the second phase of retail at The Boulevard going forward, though. Hopefully a less ambitious residential project will be featured, even if it's nothing more than units similar to those available at The Allegro to the north. I know occupancy in the existing units isn't great- have they thought about lowering that rent just a tad?



Although I'm not a big fan of zero-sum relocation of existing retailers, I'd like to see H&M abandon their Galleria location for a larger one on this side of Brentwood, complete with a men's section. The West County store has men's clothing but the selection there is underwhelming IMHO.

^ a 'real' H&M would be great. Having been in one in Oslo (at least the size of the downtwon Macy's) it's disappointing to see what was put in here.

ThreeOneFour wrote:Although I'm not a big fan of zero-sum relocation of existing retailers, I'd like to see H&M abandon their Galleria location for a larger one on this side of Brentwood, complete with a men's section. The West County store has men's clothing but the selection there is underwhelming IMHO.

I was just at the H&M at 5th avenue and 51st street in Manhattan this past weekend, and I have to say their men's collection is pretty blah this fall. It didn't look much different than Old Navy, which surprized me. I'd still like to see them open an StL store with a "real" men's department, though.

I was just at the Union Square H&M in SF a few weeks ago and was very impressed. Maryland Plaza would've been a great location for a "real" store.

"Big" retail in the CWE would be great - but I don't know where the space could be found - I'm guessing not in Maryland Plaza. I know, put it in infill on Manchester (just a plug for the Grove)

Zezuz wrote:Maryland Plaza would've been a great location for a "real" store.

Here here! I think that would've been an ideal location.



Since that's probably out of the question, though, how about a location in 600 Washington (St. Louis Centre), or the ground level of the former Stix Baer & Fuller (Dillard's) store just across the street? I think in this location, a "real" H&M would actually benefit the nearby Macy's location, as it would give shoppers another reason to come downtown.