urbanSTL

I would love more development in Grand Center, residential and otherwise, but there's a point at which its residential capacity will be maxed out...at least until something such as a large employer or a schoooooool becomes a new major anchor. Then all those employees or students will have a reason to be there, ergo, there will be more demand for housing. So, in short, the most logical fix for this would be for SLU to build something in Grand Center! You know, St. Louis has a major lack of a decent liberal arts college...I guess Webster U has good stuff but whatever...We need something major. In the City. Think along the lines of The Evergreen State College or The Art Institute. Oh wait, that's right - - the STL Art Institute is in St. Charles! Hmmm, guess that's why none of my friends went there (multiple people have told me they moved to other cities because their Art Institutes were in urban areas and ours is not).

Seriously, the Art Institute needs to move into a new building in Grand Center, built over one of those massive parking lots.

Midtown/Grand Center really seems to be building momentum faster than ever. It's great to see it getting so much attention and investment from developers and institutions. The major improvements and additions keep coming in bigger and bigger waves.

^There is already a more than fair share of employers and jobs within Grand Center itself (and SLU next door). Not every single city block needs an absolute mix of residential, retail, and commercial for it to be a vibrant and attractive area.

Grand Center would be an attractive location for people to live (if the opportunity were there) simply for the lifestyle of being near a burgeoning high-arts district. Dense, urban residential could do very well in the vacant land west of GC. I don't mean new high rises necessarily, but 3-8 stories with most on the 3-5 level.

No, not every block has to be mixed, but those parking lots need to be developed. As long as it remains a destination for people to drive in and out of, it will never have the life it deserves.

I agree, the area doesn't necessarily need high rises, but yes, around 8 stories infill in the center, with smaller buildings on the peripheral. To keep people coming in from the suburbs, obviously there needs to be parking, but that can easily be accommodated with garages within new developments and underground.

Locally, in Santa Monica, there are tons of garages in the downtown area, but one doesn't think about them or even know they are there really. It can be done.

We can pray any new garages won't be simply a garage fronting the street with hideous blank walls. At the very least, they should plan to incorporate ground level retail and attempt to dress up the walls with public art or such.

^ I searched and found this article, I'm sure you all know of it already.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... a164d.html

Looks like a good project. It will be interesting to see renderings soon. Any knowledge of this: http://www.tedwight.com/st_louis_real_e ... grand.html The Art House living spaces? This looks like a wonderful project with just the kind of modern design that should be pursued in the area IMO.

I don't like that it'll be greenspace, but maybe that's just the reality of the market right there right now. Hopefully that'll change soon though.

But in all likelihood, the building probably should come down. I don't usually say this, but temporary greenspace is probably better than a decaying highrise since said highrise is a former public housing tower. As the article mentioned, HUD never had much money or incentive to properly maintain their public housing towers, so this final remaining Blumeyer tower is probably in pretty bad shape at this point. And I don't know for sure, but it's likely that since this was a 1960s public housing tower, it was never high quality construction to begin with. At this point, I'm sure most potential buyers would've found it more profitable to tear the building down and start over as well. In my opinion, a greenspace that HUD will (hopefully) eventually be able to find a developer to turn into low-rise medium density housing is better for the area than the eyesore of a decaying, soon-to-be vacant former public housing tower.

DannyJ wrote:I don't like that it'll be greenspace, but maybe that's just the reality of the market right there right now. Hopefully that'll change soon though.

But in all likelihood, the building probably should come down. I don't usually say this, but temporary greenspace is probably better than a decaying highrise since said highrise is a former public housing tower. As the article mentioned, HUD never had much money or incentive to properly maintain their public housing towers, so this final remaining Blumeyer tower is probably in pretty bad shape at this point. And I don't know for sure, but it's likely that since this was a 1960s public housing tower, it was never high quality construction to begin with. At this point, I'm sure most potential buyers would've found it more profitable to tear the building down and start over as well. In my opinion, a greenspace that HUD will (hopefully) eventually be able to find a developer to turn into low-rise medium density housing is better for the area than the eyesore of a decaying, soon-to-be vacant former public housing tower.

Agree. Beside the Blumeyer tower being ugly and uninviting. Did the tower have a lot of crime that would scare developers away from grand center? So the tower coming down may be a boost for grand center property values?

here's the google street view link.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3501+ ... 2!3m1!1s0x

A non-descript tower that certainly could be developed if you have the right vision. Probably killer views of CWE and Downtown.

St. Louis already has more "green space" than it knows what to do with. If I hear another developer use that term I'm seriously going to freak out.

angophile, i totally agree with you. "green space" needs to die as a term in urban areas. Did STLHA even consider selling the building? i bet it could be repurposed for market rate housing or housing for veterans etc. i'd take a mediocre 60's highrise over "green space" in this city ANY DAY. again did HUD or the housing authority even consider selling it to see if there was interest?

It's the only thing making that immediate area look cool considering how grotesque those suburban homes are...

According to Grand Center, the City has planted 67 new or replacement trees. They've also got corporate sponsorship from Wells Fargo to plant and maintain many more flowers and plants this year.

Also, "Tilted Plane", on Grand just east of the Grandel Theater will soon be redesigned and repurposed primarily for use by Grand Center Arts Academy students. Many people don't realize it, but this is actually a commissioned piece of art by internationally acclaimed artist James Turrell. I wonder if Grand Center will run into any legal issues in making changes to it.

For more on "Tilted Plane", click here and scroll down:

http://www.grandcenter.org/directory/public-art/

Does anyone know what's going on with this office building in Grand Center?


According to the PD a $1,750,000 interior construction permit was issued. Maybe it's just being updated, but it makes me wonder if they have a specific tenant it's being updated for. Or is there already a tenant in there that anyone knows of? $1,750,000 seems like a pretty significant interior build out to not have a tenant lined up.

Are you talking about the building next to the Bistro? My understanding is that Jazz St. Louis is moving its offices and a new event/listening room into that building. During concerts, they'll pipe in music from the bistro, but actually people to talk. (Streng verboten under Mr. Gene D. Bradford's watch.)