urbanSTL

^ I use the quick stop method.

Here is a no strings attached article on the Crowne Plaza closure from the Biz Journal...

The Crown Plaza hotel in downtown St. Louis will close May 11, resulting in nearly 150 employees losing their jobs.

Officials with the hotel said in a March 9 letter to the state of Missouri that 147 workers would be terminated as the facility, located at 200 N. Fourth St., is turned into mostly apartments and a boutique hotel...

HREC Investment Advisors, a real estate advisory firm in Colorado, facilitated the deal for the hotel. According to an HREC release, the project will include 140 key boutique all-suite hotel rooms and 300 residential units.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... ntown.html

This looks like a good move for downtown and hope the new owners make a bit of a splash with the property.... hopefully a new and popular entry to the market for the boutique hotel portion (Aloft, Kimpton, etc.) and a nice job on the residential conversion. I also hope they can add a bit of color somehow to the rather drab exterior.

wabash wrote:^I agree this is a good move. I think it'll be something like a slightly lower price-point OPOP (particularly since it'll be 100% studios and 1 BRs). But I do wonder about the health of the hotel industry downtown. I've read and heard that it's been recovering in terms of occupancy and room rates, but I find it a little disconcerting that Millenium and now Crowne Plaza are closing up shop, and that Sheraton left the Edison Brothers building (which is now an independent).

The Embassy Suites and (more recently) Magnolia have been great additions. And I suppose the Lennox Hotel's conversion into a Courtyard by Marriott will be another good addition, along with whatever "140 key boutique hotel" goes into the Crowne Plaza. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but between those three the trend seems to be toward Wash Ave and the immediate vicinity of the convention center. Hopefully it's all just musical chairs and not an indication of any downturn in the health of the downtown hospitality industry.

I think the hotel market remains in pretty good shape.... The Millennium was in need of major upgrades and I believe the Crowne Plaza too a degree as well in order to compete with the new hotels coming online and existing ones that have recently completed/are undergoing major upgrades. Hopefully we'll see something similar to 200 N 4th's mixed-use hotel/residential happen with the Millennium property. Having the hotel perks for residents would also make that side of things more attractive.

The Four Seasons (the only AAA five-star hotel in Missouri) isn't enough shiny hotel tower?

I know we're way off topic, but personally, I think the demise of the printed newspaper is a tragedy. I've recently subscribed to the local newspaper here in Newport News and get the digital copy every day of the week along with the printed Sunday edition. I read news from a variety of sources every day online, but I think I actually learn more from sitting down and reading an actual paper because articles catch my eye that wouldn't have if I saw them in the digital edition. Plus, I trust local papers more and it's nice to just be able to cut through the noise and all the BS that is found online. Before, I thought it would make me more well-rounded in my understanding if I read all the different perspectives on issues, so in addition to the Washington Post and Al Jazeera for news, I would read Breitbart, Salon, the Huffington Post, The Blaze, etc. for commentary. But, I finally came to the realization that reading all of those BS sites just made me more and more pissed off and hateful. I'm trying to stop, but it really is kind of addicting.

And finally, like books, there's just something about a real newspaper, having it in your hand and reading ink on paper while you sip on a mug of hot coffee. But perhaps that's more of a romantic reason than logical.