Any word on this one after Kingshighway got the axe?
The Preservation Board voted 4-0 to grant preliminary approval. It helps to get support from the neighborhood!
I’m happy this one got approved. This and Optimist were the two projects I enjoyed the most working on. They taught me a lot and I liked getting creative despite limitations. I’m happy to see my triangle awning over the entrance still exists since that was a feature I thought would be a nice nod to the older building. This leaves just two other projects I was involved with in terms of design, and both are in Kansas City. Whether or not they’re still in planning, I don’t know.
Zoning variances are on the April 5th Board of Adjustment meeting agenda.
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I was trying to look for an update on what the status was on city docs. Anyone know?
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I don't think anyone does. In this recent blog post she says she got no word about when construction would begin: https://www.nickiscentralwestendguide.c ... -district/
Does anyone know what the Engineer's Club itself is up to? Every now and then I pass by the building where they are clearly having an event inside with a full parking lot. Are they just trying to move out?
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You can rent the space for events. I’ve been to 3-4 over the past few years. You can pay to be a member and get reduced rates as well. Pretty convenient honestly as they have their own catering company and they’ll staff a bar.PeterXCV wrote:Does anyone know what the Engineer's Club itself is up to? Every now and then I pass by the building where they are clearly having an event inside with a full parking lot. Are they just trying to move out?
Last I spoke with the operator of the building, is they want to move but still stay central. Unfortunate if the project is dead though.
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^I don't know. It's a pretty neat club as is. If they keep renting the space out and that pays to keep the lights on and the roof in good repair I don't see this as a loss at all. I'd love to see something replace the parking lot, but there's plenty of time for that going forward.
Unfortunately repairing the roof of this building is not all it needs. It has massive structural issues with its foundation. Lots of temporary measures are in place to stabilize, but the foundation cracking and heaving is not great. The basement gets pretty wet during rains. I think this building will need to be redeveloped in order to survive, someone with the money to be able to fix it properly.symphonicpoet wrote: ↑Oct 09, 2023^I don't know. It's a pretty neat club as is. If they keep renting the space out and that pays to keep the lights on and the roof in good repair I don't see this as a loss at all. I'd love to see something replace the parking lot, but there's plenty of time for that going forward.
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Not sure where to post this and also unsure if warrants own thread:
Reportedly, Lux Living has purchased Hampton Hall, two blocks North of this project. This large apartment building has had a nice mix of young professionals ad students, and is generally well maintained under previous ownership. Not excited to see Lux expanding their CWE footprint. I do know that several units are already listed as AirBnBs.
Reportedly, Lux Living has purchased Hampton Hall, two blocks North of this project. This large apartment building has had a nice mix of young professionals ad students, and is generally well maintained under previous ownership. Not excited to see Lux expanding their CWE footprint. I do know that several units are already listed as AirBnBs.
LuxLiving bought Hampden Hall several years ago actually, from the google reviews it's taken a nose dive since then, Lux encourages those Airbnbs. I think this is the most pernicious thing Lux has done to the city is purchase nice, affordable apartment buildings and run them into the ground through lack of maintenance. I believe they bought around 10 buildings in the Central West End which all have similar stories: Hampden Hall, The Ellsworth (renamed Rafael to avoid all the bad reviews), the courtyard apartment building at the NW corner of Mcpherson & Euclid, Maryland Apartments at 4340 & 4366 Marlyand ave, Euclid + Pine, The Leonardo on Lindell, most of the historic buildings along Pershing between Debaliviere and Union, etc.
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Central West End property back on market after developer drops plan to build around historic building
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2024/05/23/central-west-end-apartments-engineers-club-forsale.htmlAnother developer has dropped plans to build apartments at the site of a building deemed historic in the Central West End, and a representative of the owner said that the city’s historic restrictions there are preventing it from being developed.
The Engineers’ Club, at 4359 Lindell Blvd., is back on the market, said broker John Warren, who represents the owners of the site, the Engineers’ Club nonprofit that has operated there since 1963.
With dwindling membership in the society, which is one of the oldest in the country, the Engineers’ Club has been trying for years to sell its 1.47-acre headquarters property and move elsewhere, Warren said. The Engineers’ Club property, back on the market, now comes with a caveat on the listing that any builder will have to comply with the St. Louis Preservation Board’s mandate to keep the building, Warren said.
That severely hinders the Engineers’ Club ability to find a buyer that will take the property to its highest and best use, he said.
“It’s just unfortunate because it could be a nice new infill development,” Warren said.
The club’s first bid to sell the site ended when prolific St. Louis-based apartment developer Lux Living ran into issues with its various proposals to redevelop the site. Since the Central West End is a historic district, the preservation board has jurisdiction over projects that would require demolition of existing buildings. Lux faced the same issue at another nonprofit headquarters site at a historic midcentury modern building also represented by Warren, the Optimist International headquarters at 4494 Lindell Blvd.
Both the midcentury modern Engineers’ Club and primary round Optimist building were named to the city’s survey of historic midcentury modern buildings without the knowledge of the property owners, Warren said. From the city’s perspective, that designates the buildings as historic.
While it's difficult to support Lux, I thought that both the Engineers' Club and Optimist design proposals were worthy of approval.
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It’s not the designs these guys offer up that got them all but blacklisted. They are suspect builders and shady operators.
The LCRA board will consider Sept 23 declaring the Engineers' Club building blighted and advertising of an RFP by SLDC to encourage redevelopment. This includes up to 10 years of property tax abatement for market rate and 15 years for LIHTC development.
Does blighted make a path for demo ?quincunx wrote: ↑Sep 20, 2025The LCRA board will consider Sept 23 declaring the Engineers' Club building blighted and advertising of an RFP by SLDC to encourage redevelopment. This includes up to 10 years of property tax abatement for market rate and 15 years for LIHTC development.
I don't think so, just makes it easier for them to get tax breaks. Which, like I want to see this redeveloped, but calling it blighted feels like a stretch. The club still uses the building and it looks fine apart from the lack of weeding, and the cwe property market is fine too.
All feels rather ironic, listing this & the optimists on the highest merit mid century modern building list made these near impossible to tear down but they don't seem very adaptable.
All feels rather ironic, listing this & the optimists on the highest merit mid century modern building list made these near impossible to tear down but they don't seem very adaptable.