When I saw them punch holes in the Jack Thompson Square building for new windows and convert the lot on the southwest corner of Washington and Tucker to a surface parking lot, I thought all chances of something going up in that space were gone. I thought I recalled someone else on this board posting the same type of comment. Well, guess what....



<A HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/busine ... 42677">New building is planned at Washington, Tucker</A>

By Tavia Evans

Of the Post-Dispatch

05/12/2005



New construction might soon join early 20th century masonry along the Washington Avenue corridor in downtown St. Louis.

Tony Thompson, president of Kwame Building Group, said Thursday he's in the planning stages for a four-story, mixed-use building on the southwest corner of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard.



That property now is a parking lot, which Thompson has under contract. The new structure would be next door to a building he already owns at 1204 Washington, where his offices are located.



The first two floors of the new building would have about 7,400 square feet of commercial and retail space; the third and fourth floors would have six loft condominiums....



<A HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/busine ... 0000142677">>>> read more</A>

Sounds good!!

I thought I recalled someone else on this board posting the same type of comment.

That was probably me - I've been complaining about that ever since the lofts were built, but this is great news!



I love how the building will be designed to light up "like a glowing lantern" at night!

The best part of this article follows:



Barb Geisman,deputy mayor of development for St. Louis, said other downtown surface parking lots could soon have similar plans for new construction.



"With a combination of new construction of buildings downtown and structured parking, we can fill up surface parking lots and create the urban density that downtown once had," she said.



Let's hold the City to the Development Czarina's words. No more Century building battles, for we have plenty of surface parking lots upon which to build.

Great news, but why not build a little taller than just 4 stories?



Barb Geisman's comments about increasing density are funny considering she was instrumental in the demolition of the Century building, which could have contributed to the density she talks about creating.

Because then it would block the windows that they put in when they built the lofts.

It's finally happening! New urban in-fill construction. I saw this last night and I almost did a little dance (almost)

Personally, I hope that state historic tax credits are here to stay for years to come. But in the event they are capped, it's nice to know that parts of downtown are nearing critical mass, such that new construction infill is being increasingly explored.



Worst case scenario, enough older buildings have been rehabbed to spur new construction; new construction will cherry-pick choice surface lots; and as surface lots become fewer, remaining older buildings become competitive to rehab even without state credits.



Parts of downtown may have reached that hopeful critical-mass point, but other areas, especially Grand Center and points between there and the Loft District have not. So again, keep the credits uncapped, but luckily, new construction infill looks to pick up slack in either scenario.

If you think about it, there are very few buildings in the core of the CBD (east of Tucker) that don't have renovation plans, so new construction would be the next logical step.



One good site would be the vacant lot on Washington between the Bee Hat Building and the Cheerful House (just south of Mosaic). Hopefully the developer of the Cheerful House won't put windows in the east-facing wall of his property so that the vacant lot could be redeveloped. It's already too late for the lot next to the Vanguard Lofts.

markofucity wrote:It's finally happening! New urban in-fill construction. I saw this last night and I almost did a little dance (almost)

If I wouldn't have seen it at 2:00 AM, I would have done a dance. Get your pics of the lot now, because that will be one memory that you will want. The first lot to get built on.

Well the in-fill news coupled with the release of the new X-box specs had me almost dancing .....



I'm a true dork

The next Minneapolis is in the works, but we need more French details in our architecture or German. No, we need our own version of architecture!

It will be truly amazing if he can make this work. New mid-rise construction requires retail sales at $220+ per s.f. That's almost $200,000 for a 900 s.f. loft.



Then again, nothing in downtown surprises me anymore.

Another new bldg..it seems like ages since we've seen that in downtown...I'd love to see more new construction to complement the redevelopment and loft boom.

I stumbled across this on loftsinthelou It appears the new construction from the Kwame Group (I think) on the southwest corner of Tucker/Washington is starting to presell. The author from lofts in the lou states that there will be 17 lofts starting at base price of $198/sqft. Seems pretty high but maybe they have some major amenities they are going to offer. Anyway I'm not sure what I think of the rendering. I think it would be cooler if it was all glass as opposed to the hybrid brick/glass building. New construction anyway you spell is good news for wash ave corridor! What do you guys think?

I really dig it. I love the blend of brick and glass, it seems to be a great hybrid of looking to the future while still respecting the past. Plus, it's uniqueness is a great entry way for Wash Ave west of Tucker.

I generally like it. Should make for an interesting contrast. Now we need to get all of the other lot's along Tucker built up.

Hmm...Not sure how I feel about it...I'll have to think about this one for a while...

There was a mention of this development in a December 23rd article in the St. Louis Daily Record, but they didn't give many details...

Kwame also is a leader in downtown and regional development. Plans are under way for the development of the Gateway Lofts, the first new residential construction in downtown St. Louis since the 1970s. The Gateway Lofts will be located next to Kwame's corporate headquarters at Tucker and Washington, a recent historical redevelopment by the company. Kwame is a key member of the team leading construction management for the new St. Louis Cardinals stadium and the expansion of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, key components in the ongoing economic growth of the region.

Put me in the "dig it" column. Its modern, it fits in, there is nothing like it downtown. Does anyone know what will be on the first floor?



With everyone claiming to build the first new residential building downtown in umpteen years, we should give an award to the people that actually do it.

From the rendering, it looks great. I love the brick/glass look. I also think Kwame did a great job with their loft building right next to it. Cant wait to see this one!