East Loop Redevelopment

luftmensch · PostMay 08, 2006#512006-05-08T05:57+00:00

Just heard a rumour that Companion Baking is NOT going to move into the old Dobbs Tire Buidling on Delmar (across from the Wabash Station). Someone announced they were going to bake bread and put a "Bakehouse" there. They'd even been given a grant from Ameren and a big push from Wash U.

The little stretch there, including the bus station, the old Wabash train station, has so much promise...now seems a bit cursed. See you in five years, I guess.

bastiat · PostNov 28, 2006#522006-11-28T01:09+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:There was a good article in the West End Word that touched on a lot of the East Loop developments that we've discussed here - good stuff. Some itens from the article:

- There has been a lot of interest in the retail building that Design Alliance has under construction (near the Metro garage) - St. Louis Rib Co. and a hair salon will be moving there, with more tenants to come

- The Allanson Building (Delmar and Hamilton) is still going to be rehabbed by the Skinker-DeBaliviere Housing Corp. Allegiant Bank was supposed to handle the financing, but when they were bought out by National City, NC had no interest in doing the deal.

- Design Alliance bought the run-down grocery store at the NW corner of Delmar and Hamilton and demolished it. They're exploring development options for the site. I was so glad to hear that they're involved - you know it will be a good project!

- The owner of the run-down building next to the Design Alliance retail development is going to start rehabbing. He had planned to pre-lease the building before getting started, but has now decided to go forward without any tenants.

- Joe Edwards now owns the Delmar High School building and is looking for ideas to renovate it. Sounds like he's interested in having it used as art space

The Design Alliance retail construction and the old building to the east have long been finished. It looks like the Allanson building is coming underway. It is nice to know that Design Alliance also owns the site caddycorner to this one (the NW corner of Hamilton and Delmar). That assures quality development will happen there (maybe replace the rundown grocery with a nice one?). They also moved headquarters down the street.

DeBaliviere, you seem to know a lot; has Design Alliance started plans for the NW corner of Delmar/Hamilton yet?

luftmensch · PostFeb 09, 2007#532007-02-09T15:45+00:00

Apparently financing just came through for the Loop Hotel. Three cheers for First National Bank and another round of Hosannahs for Joe Edwards!

I'll gladly put my skepticism aside for a little while. It's great news for the neighborhood and the city.

markofucity · PostFeb 09, 2007#542007-02-09T15:48+00:00

Wow - that could be huge. renderings?

now if only Joe Edwards would grab the Bohemain Hill "developers" by teh scruff of their necks and slap some sense into them

chris_on_kingsbury · PostFeb 10, 2007#552007-02-10T02:35+00:00

The Jakes's BBQ building (which was a former McDonalds) has been razed. The lot is clear, with only the driveway and lot paving remaining. It's on the north side of Delmar, bordering east to the Delmar High School building, at the NW corner of the BiState (I mean Metro!) bus service facility. More preparation . . .

bgeldy · PostFeb 10, 2007#562007-02-10T03:38+00:00

What is the curent use of the Delmar Station building? I guess that's classified as East Loop, right?

Why didn't Metro consider that for a train station? After all that's what it was buit for in the first place.

debaliviere · PostFeb 10, 2007#572007-02-10T17:04+00:00

Chris_on_Kingsbury wrote:The Jakes's BBQ building (which was a former McDonalds) has been razed. The lot is clear, with only the driveway and lot paving remaining. It's on the north side of Delmar, bordering east to the Delmar High School building, at the NW corner of the BiState (I mean Metro!) bus service facility. More preparation . . .

That's great news! That McDonald's did not fit in with the rest of the streetscape.

framer · PostFeb 11, 2007#582007-02-11T05:17+00:00

The History Museum is going to build some kind of satellite facility on the McDonald's lot.

luftmensch · PostFeb 11, 2007#592007-02-11T22:21+00:00

Didn't Jake's BBQ get a big fat subsidy from the city within the past couple years? And wasn't it owned by a certain well known political family? (Does someone know the facts here? Sorry to trade in factoids - my source was impeccable, but my memory fails me.)

Given that the restaurant had bizarre opening hours, never had any customers, and never advertised, there seems to be something really fishy here. It's too bad there's no responsible daily newspaper in this town that could it investigate this kind of thing.

Alex Ihnen · PostFeb 12, 2007#602007-02-12T01:46+00:00

never had any customers

I guess you were never there on the 1st of the month.

debaliviere · PostFeb 12, 2007#612007-02-12T14:28+00:00

Luftmensch wrote:Didn't Jake's BBQ get a big fat subsidy from the city within the past couple years? And wasn't it owned by a certain well known political family? (Does someone know the facts here? Sorry to trade in factoids - my source was impeccable, but my memory fails me.)

Given that the restaurant had bizarre opening hours, never had any customers, and never advertised, there seems to be something really fishy here. It's too bad there's no responsible daily newspaper in this town that could it investigate this kind of thing.

Freeman Bosley Jr. was one of the owners. I don't know if they received any subsidies though.

chris_on_kingsbury · PostMay 13, 2007#622007-05-13T20:30+00:00

6050 Delmar building re-hab, with the new slate roof above the building on the SE corner of Delmar and Rosedale.

5/11/07

framer · PostMay 14, 2007#632007-05-14T05:04+00:00

I love slate roofs. It's a shame that they're so danged expensive. Do you know if that's real slate, or just a good imitation?

nora · PostMay 15, 2007#642007-05-15T17:56+00:00

I walked by this building every morning for a year. I would see painters and carpenters entering and leaving the back of the building every week, but there was never an announcement of a new tenant.

Another year has passed since then. Whoever is rehabbing this building seems to be in no hurry. I've often wondered how they dealt with property taxes having no tenant.

luftmensch · PostAug 09, 2007#652007-08-09T17:34+00:00

They just chopped down the only three trees that stood along the sidewalk on Delmar at the southwest corner of Delmar and Skinker. Two youngins, and one quite mature tree.

I'm in shock.

This corner was already forbidding for pedestrians. My wife and I fought for months to get ATT and the city to fix up the sidewalk, which had massive cracks, bumps, and holes in it. They finally fixed it this spring.

Now they've destroyed the only shade and the only pretty touches for people brave enough to head east.

The likely explanation seems to be that the trees were going to block the view of the new traffic control camera they've installed in front of the ATT building. How idiotic can we get???? Why doesn't the city care about pedestrians?! And what do they have against trees?!

dweebe · PostAug 09, 2007#662007-08-09T19:41+00:00

Luftmensch wrote:They just chopped down the only three trees that stood along the sidewalk on Delmar at the southwest corner of Delmar and Skinker. Two youngins, and one quite mature tree.

I'm in shock.

This corner was already forbidding for pedestrians. My wife and I fought for months to get ATT and the city to fix up the sidewalk, which had massive cracks, bumps, and holes in it. They finally fixed it this spring.

Now they've destroyed the only shade and the only pretty touches for people brave enough to head east.

The likely explanation seems to be that the trees were going to block the view of the new traffic control camera they've installed in front of the ATT building. How idiotic can we get???? Why doesn't the city care about pedestrians?! And what do they have against trees?!

City of St. Louis is going to make a ton of money off those cameras. That no right turn on red from Delmar east to Skinker south will be a mint.

chris_on_kingsbury · PostAug 10, 2007#672007-08-10T05:12+00:00

Luftmensch, as a fellow SK-D, I miss the trees also. Guess the money was too much for the City to pass up. Maybe the cams will make pedestrian crossings of Skinker less fearful. [Remove off-topic stuff, edit]

I always feel good when I return to St. Louis!

PostAug 13, 2007#682007-08-13T01:58+00:00

12 August 2007. Progress on the new building directly across from the Pageant, to the right of Mirasol. Joe Edwards was here a half hour earlier giving a sort of mini-demo to a small group.

The light has gone. Spot the construction within the dark urban skyline.

debaliviere · PostAug 13, 2007#692007-08-13T13:06+00:00

I love seeing the gaps filled in!

framer · PostAug 14, 2007#702007-08-14T03:46+00:00

What exactly is that new building? Is there a thread on it somewhere? I know it's not the African Heritage Center, so what is it?

luftmensch · PostSep 22, 2007#712007-09-22T02:58+00:00

Metro has (finally) asked for bids on the building of a new transit plaza next to the Delmar Metrolink station.

The design is nothing special, but it will represent a huge improvement for the neighborhood. They've got an easement from the owner of the old Dobbs Tire Building (Wash U.), so the plaza will start at the intersection of Delmar and Des Peres and cut inward toward the Metrolink station. There will be benches and bus shelters on the west side of Des Peres, which will be the only place that buses let off and load up. On the east side of Des Peres there will be a small building housing bathrooms for Metro personnel. They're creating new sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, and a tall iron fence to separate the plaza from surrounding properties and lots of surveillance cameras. They are hoping to control the amount of loitering at this station and to make it a more pleasant atmosphere overall. They're also planning some kind of art installation for the Delmar/Des Peres corner.

Metro designers met with the Skinker-Debaliviere Community council today. (Nice of them to meet with the neighborhood afterthey've finalized the plans!) I've got their renderings and can post it once I figure out how best to digitalize it.

dweebe · PostSep 22, 2007#722007-09-22T13:11+00:00

Luftmensch wrote:Metro has (finally) asked for bids on the building of a new transit plaza next to the Delmar Metrolink station.

The design is nothing special, but it will represent a huge improvement for the neighborhood. They've got an easement from the owner of the old Dobbs Tire Building (Wash U.), so the plaza will start at the intersection of Delmar and Des Peres and cut inward toward the Metrolink station. There will be benches and bus shelters on the west side of Des Peres, which will be the only place that buses let off and load up. On the east side of Des Peres there will be a small building housing bathrooms for Metro personnel. They're creating new sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, and a tall iron fence to separate the plaza from surrounding properties and lots of surveillance cameras. They are hoping to control the amount of loitering at this station and to make it a more pleasant atmosphere overall. They're also planning some kind of art installation for the Delmar/Des Peres corner.

Metro designers met with the Skinker-Debaliviere Community council today. (Nice of them to meet with the neighborhood afterthey've finalized the plans!) I've got their renderings and can post it once I figure out how best to digitalize it.

Cool to hear they're going to make some improvements. There's a lot of characters who hang out around the station. Plus there always seems to be a ton of trash around the place. A once or twice daily cleaning crew would also really help make the station feel nicer/safer.

chris_on_kingsbury · PostSep 24, 2007#732007-09-24T03:06+00:00

Across Delmar from the transit-site, the stately 6050 building is now set up for a lease, for the first time ever that I can remember. This building continues farther south along Rosedale, with a bit of room for an outside patio and upper balcony.

It would make for a good corner pub or a literal coffeehouse-house, or a B&B for the upstairs?

To the left, the 'blue' storefront is now paited grey and had a for lease sign up also.

23 Sept 2007

Expat · PostSep 24, 2007#742007-09-24T14:05+00:00

Thanks for the pics and updates. Back in the day, I lived on Rosedale. It seemed like a lost cause in those days. Now it seems like 'most likely to succeed'.

chris_on_kingsbury · PostNov 12, 2007#752007-11-12T04:19+00:00

Latest news: Delmar Metrolink transit station work to be done between Novemeber (now) and April.

Separate project, the bridge at Wabash station will be rebuilt also.

Page 7:

http://stlouis.missouri.org/skinkerdeba ... es0711.pdf

I had been hoping that the Metro project would have taken a slice of the WU lot to facilitate more of a direct-line-of-sight between the Loop and the station. When one walks west on Delmar and rounds the Des Peres corner, one walks directly for the station steps, which means now crossing Des Peres diagonally a lot of the time.

A bigger and perhaps more open stairway? Maybe dig out the approach slope a bit so train riders can see out to the Loop?

East Loop Redevelopment

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