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PostNov 27, 2010#476

Photos of AT's office space. Beautiful:

http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture ... ryID=38578


And an update article on Centenne Plaza:

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 1f7e1.html

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PostNov 28, 2010#477

It sounds like this building is an early success with 94% of the office space leased.

The article doesn't mention the garage portion of the retail space (perhaps there isn't much activity on that front?), but a UMB will be going into the tower's corner retail space at Hanley and Forsyth, and a "casual" restaurant might be signing a lease for the remaining 3000 sq. ft. of retail in the tower.

This strong show of demand for new class A office space ("The tower's space rents at $33 a square foot, which is five dollars more than the average rent for Class A office space in mid St. Louis County.") bodes well for the chances of a second tower. It also bodes well that the financial markets think Centene will benefit from the passage of Obama's healthcare plan.

Nonetheless, I will only believe,"work begins on the second office tower, within three years," when I see it.

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PostDec 05, 2010#478

From this latest press-story, and other articles cited earlier, maybe this new building will host between 50 and 80 employees per floor [?], or about 900 (to 1300) daytime-residents total. [How many of these ~1000 new daytime-residents can afford to buy property in the nearby neighborhoods????]

Excerpts from various press stories cited above:


14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th [no thirteenth floor?], Armstrong Teasdale400 … employees into the top five floors

12th floor: JP Morgan … share the with Koman Group … (? How many employees?)

10th and 11th floors, Stinson Morrison Hecker … more than 100 attorneys and staff ...

9th Floor, Cassidy Turley (? How many employees?) … manages building w/ Rafco Property

Floors 1-8, Centene: HQ= 570 employees, planned +800 /over next seven years [maybe future 1300+ human occupants of eight floors]

Ground Floor: UMB bank (? How many employees?) … ground-floor corner at Hanley … Forsyth … bank will occupy 3,500 of 7,000 sq-ft … ground-floor retail. The remainder … a casual restaurant

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PostDec 28, 2010#479

From the Dec. 20 ARB minutes...

NEW BUSINESS

A. Centene Plaza Garage—Modification to Previously Approved Plans
7730 Forsyth Boulevard
Consideration of a request by Koman Group, developer, for review of modifications to a previously approved exterior design (wind wall) for the Centene Plaza garage, currently under construction.

PostNov 27, 2011#480



Looks like they are FINALLY putting up the sh*t on that hideous behemoth.

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PostNov 27, 2011#481

Thanks for the update. Good to see they're doing something. That thing is awful and at least 2x too tall. Any signs of life in the retail space on the ground level?

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PostNov 27, 2011#482

Bump the "Wind Veil" render

moorlander wrote:ahah!


Nice to see the Clayton ARB standing ground and upholding the previous plans for a Wind Veil on the west wall.

Update from Jan 2011
CENTENE PLAZA GARAGE – MODIFICATION TO PREVIOUSLY APPROVED PLANS – 7730 FORSYTH BOULEVARD
Dan O’Connor, the Koman Group, developer, was in attendance at the meeting.
Susan Istenes explained that this is a request for consideration of proposed modifications to the location of the Ned Kahn-designed wind veil on the exterior of the Centene Plaza parking garage. On March 15, 2010, the Architectural Review Board approved the wind veil to be applied on the entire north, west, and most of the east elevations, above the ground-floor commercial
level (please refer to attached meeting minutes). The developer is requesting that the wind veil be completely omitted from the west elevation and be applied to only a portion of the east elevation. The application on the north elevation facing Forsyth Boulevard will remain as originally approved. Changes to the exterior design of the garage are also subject to approval by the Board of Aldermen in accordance with the Centene Plaza Special Development District ordinances. The wind veil system features moving stainless steel panels and cables which create a watery ripple effect across the façade when activated by wind. This system of small metal panels, cables and swivel mechanisms will be attached to the trusses at the top of the garage and the roof of the retail space and will cover parking deck levels P3 through P9. The commercial ground floor will not be covered by the treatment. The proposal calls for the wind veil to be applied to the entire northern facade. On the eastern façade, the plans are modified so that the wind veil will terminate at the end of the garage openings. Previously, the wind veil extended to the stair tower and a glossy black version of the system was to be applied to face the Forsyth Court area, south of the elevator tower. The submitted plans do not indicate any changes to the proposed LED lighting which are to be installed on the top of the bottom trusses behind the metal panel system. According to a letter submitted by Dan O’Connor of The Koman Group, the developer is requesting approval of the revised plans due to the possibility of redevelopment of the parcels to the west of the garage which would conceal the wind veil from view and the finished look of the existing architectural pre-cast panels on the west elevation. On the east façade, scaling back the application would preserve the atmosphere of the Forsyth Court area. Susan noted that the original application of the wind veil system was well-received by the Architectural Review Board and the Board of Aldermen given the parking garage’s prominent location in the Central Business District. The developer is requesting a scaled-back version of this unique façade treatment, which staff finds only partially acceptable. Approximately one-half of the east elevation will receive the wind veil treatment, in a location which is most visible from Hanley Road. The remaining sections of this elevation face inward to the Forsyth Court area and contain breaks in the façade, which provide visual interest. For these reasons, staff supports the modifications, as proposed, to the east elevation. With respect to the west elevation, staff is very concerned with the aesthetic impacts of leaving the west elevation in its current condition. This elevation consists of a large, solid, blank, concrete wall which contains no visual relief. Its massing is very pronounced at the intersection of Forsyth Boulevard and Bemiston Avenue and especially travelling east on Forsyth Boulevard. Although the applicant states that the expense of the originally approved wind veil does not justify its installation should the adjacent property be redeveloped, it is staff’s opinion that the architectural pre-cast concrete panels as installed do not go far enough to reduce the massing nor do they create visual relief. Furthermore, no guarantee exists that the property to the west will be redeveloped nor is there any guarantee that the extent of redevelopment, if and when it occurs, will obscure the large blank wall area of the garage structure. In summary, staff supports the scaling back of the wind veil as proposed for the east elevation, but does not support the elimination of the wind veil on the west elevation and therefore, staff recommends approval of the proposed modification to the east wall and to deny the proposed modification to the west wall.
Mr. O’Connor began a PowerPoint presentation.
He indicated that they believe there is the potential for future development of the property to the west. He then reminded the members of the original approval for the garage exterior when Phase I and II were approved, showing glass panels only extending back 40 feet with the remainder of the wall being the exposed pre- cast concrete. He stated that back in the fall when the wind veil was presented and approved, they did not take the possibility of future development to the west into account. He stated that
2
this is something they feel very strongly about and asked for approval of the proposed modifications.
Steve Lichtenfeld commented that since the wind veil was the most recent approval, that approval should be considered; not the original approval. He stated that the wall (west elevation) has no character, no texture and is out of context. He stated that he feels it is a blot on the landscape and will not support the removal of the wind veil from that elevation.
Scott Wilson commented that losing the wind veil on that big chunk of this large structure would hurt its aesthetic value. He stated that this project has become very special and that he has bragged about the wind veil.
Mr. O’Connor asked if the Board would consider re-approving the glass panels originally approved.
Chairman Sanger informed Mr. O’Connor that the glass panels are not what were presented for consideration this evening.
Ms. Sally Cohen, 6464 Ellenwood, agreed with Scott Wilson and that the wall is much more visually appealing with the wind veil applied.
Chairman Sanger stated this is brazen and he is not ready to deviate from the agreement and cannot imagine an alternative to the wind veil. He stated that he is very excited about the installation of this wind veil and does not support a change to the west wall.
Being no further questions or comments, Steve Lichtenfeld made a motion to approve the proposed modification to the east elevation and to deny the proposed modification to the west elevation (as per staff recommendation). The motion was seconded by Jim Liberman and unanimously approved by the Board.

http://www.claytonmo.gov/Assets/Agendas ... inutes.pdf

PostNov 27, 2011#483

bump info on the "Wind Veil"
moorlander wrote:It moves with the wind.

Wind Veil - Gateway Village, Charlotte, North Carolina. 2000
A 260’ long by 6-story tall facade of a new parking garage in Charlotte, North Carolina was covered with 80,000 small aluminum panels that are hinged to move freely in the wind. Viewed from the outside, the entire wall of the building appears to move in the wind and creates the impression of waves in a field of metallic grass. Inside the building, intricate patterns of light and shadow, similar to the way light filters through the leaves of trees, are projected onto the walls and floor as sunlight passes through this kinetic membrane. In addition to revealing the ever-changing patterns of the invisible wind, the artwork was designed to provide ventilation and shade for the interior of the parking garage. Commissioned by Bank of America. Completed in August, 2000.

See Here - scroll to bottom for video of example in Charlotte



http://nedkahn.com/wind.html

PostNov 27, 2011#484

@Alex - you have a pretty cool picture of the colorful main entrance on your FB. Would you mind posting it here ?

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PostDec 19, 2011#485

Just saw this... Here's one at night - lit fountain wall, glass fire pit and lights shine on the colored panels from the parking garage. The other is during a sunny day.




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PostJan 28, 2012#486


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PostJan 28, 2012#487

^ Ah - now I see the little panel. Nice.

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PostJan 28, 2012#488

Glass firepit, huh? Im typing this in front of one as we speak. This intrigues me.

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PostApr 25, 2012#489



Looking good!

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PostJun 30, 2012#490

They have a lot more of the metal screens up (I have no pictures [this seems to be taking quite a while, Moorlander's picture was from late April & still not one whole side complete]). Looks REALLY cool when there is a slight breeze. Made me think...

Something like these metal screens would look cool down on the Stadium garages (Or the inevitable concentration of large garages in BPV). I feel like they would make really need backdrops for videos/movies of some sort. Like maybe show the FSN feed of Cardinals Live before Cardinal games, show some touristy videos for visitors, have specialized videos up for when large conventions are in town. Throw in some commercials/adverts & you've got this paid for. My biggest concern would be if someone were driving (on I-64 especially) and they looked at the screens & got distracted.

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PostJun 30, 2012#491

^ More than the ballpark villages, the Kiener garages need something. In fact, putting something interesting and attractive on the Kiener garages would do more for the plaza and Gateway Mall than redesigning the plaza itself.

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PostJun 30, 2012#492

I'll snap some pics or a video and post it. Looks just like this http://nedkahn.com/wind.html

Very interesting view if you're headed west on Forsyth and stopped at the light at Hanley. Signs are up announcing 2012 openings of both Niche and Pastaria.

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PostJul 06, 2012#493


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PostJul 06, 2012#494

Alex Ihnen wrote:^ More than the ballpark villages, the Kiener garages need something. In fact, putting something interesting and attractive on the Kiener garages would do more for the plaza and Gateway Mall than redesigning the plaza itself.
Agree 100%

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PostSep 14, 2012#495

moorlander wrote:City of Clayton approved March 24, 2010 artist Ned Kahn's Wind Veil wall design for the new Centene garage.



I think I might actually like this.
I went to the Art Fair in Clayton last Saturday and parked in the Centene garage. I took this video of the mirror wall waving in the breeze. The curtain is made up of hundreds of tiny square mirrors suspended individually from the top of each mirror.


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PostSep 14, 2012#496

^ very cool. the Kiener garages need to be covered with this stuff until they're torn down. i think people would sit in the plaza and watch it for hours. i would.

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PostSep 14, 2012#497

I've been watching this veil go up for months, and it looks super cool when the wind blows. It's really nice to see something contemporary being constructed.

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PostSep 14, 2012#498


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PostJan 01, 2014#499

ObamaCare has been good for Centene. The empty floors are quickly being gobbled up so I suspect we'll hear something sooner than later regarding phase 2.

PostApr 21, 2014#500

Centene continues to hire at a torrid pace. fold up tables are being used as temporary work stations. IT personel are being relocated to open space in the Chesterfield office building home to HomeState - Centen's Missouri Medicaid subsidiary.

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