Laclede's Landing

thewayofthearch · PostNov 02, 2005#262005-11-02T19:19+00:00

Even Soulard is becoming more picky about liqour license renewal. See Mollys, and hardshell had to clamp down on bikers burning out, because the neighborhood said "them or you." It just seems that in each of these areas there is a tendencey for people to have some sort of romanticized idea of what it would be like to live in these places, and then once there alter the very thing they moved for.

I also thought that liqour licenses were contingent on approval of a percentage of residents and neighboring businesses approving you. Something like 75% with five hundred feet. that can be tough, espcially going vertical in dense place like wash ave.

debaliviere · PostNov 02, 2005#272005-11-02T19:28+00:00

Maybe it would be workable if the drinking establishments were concentrated south of Morgan Street (for the most part), with the emphasis placed on housing, restaurants, retail in new development north of Morgan.

trent · PostNov 03, 2005#282005-11-03T02:00+00:00

I think we can build up the north Landing with residential. There's plenty of land, and it would further connect the area to the riverfront. Similar to the idea of what DeB was talking about.

MattnSTL · PostNov 03, 2005#292005-11-03T02:09+00:00

It also connects to the North Broadway area loft district. There is some nice buildings ripe for conversion up there, but they are very disconnected from anything right now.

matt drops the h · PostNov 03, 2005#302005-11-03T05:37+00:00

MattnSTL wrote:It also connects to the North Broadway area loft district. There is some nice buildings ripe for conversion up there, but they are very disconnected from anything right now.

I-70 must be buried.

southslider · PostNov 03, 2005#312005-11-03T15:01+00:00

Due to MetroLink in 100-plus year-old masonry tunnels, you cannot be underground with I-70 at Washington Avenue.

I always wondered if a compromise to completely removing the highways from the PSB to the new bridge would be still the lid over the depressed section, but an at-grade urban boulevard between Washington and Cass Avenues replacing only the elevated section of I-70. The depressed section then wouldn't be acting as an Interstate but an extended exit off I-44/55 to the Convention Center/Landing areas of Downtown.

jmedwick · PostNov 03, 2005#322005-11-03T16:35+00:00

If the city is gonna ever move for such a plan, now is the time to do it with the developments of the new casino and the bottle district. A well timed and well thought out reworking of the streets in the area could improve traffic flow and pedestrian access around the developments.

matt drops the h · PostNov 03, 2005#332005-11-03T16:58+00:00

southslider wrote:Due to MetroLink in 100-plus year-old masonry tunnels, you cannot be underground with I-70 at Washington Avenue.

I always wondered if a compromise to completely removing the highways from the PSB to the new bridge would be still the lid over the depressed section, but an at-grade urban boulevard between Washington and Cass Avenues replacing only the elevated section of I-70. The depressed section then wouldn't be acting as an Interstate but an extended exit off I-44/55 to the Convention Center/Landing areas of Downtown.

I meant bury I-70 in rubble.

But I like the sound of your idea.

jmedwick · PostNov 28, 2005#342005-11-28T00:22+00:00

New article in the RFT that looks at the scattered and poor development history of the landing. Very intersting

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/Issues/2 ... ature.html

matt drops the h · PostNov 28, 2005#352005-11-28T01:02+00:00

As with nearly all RFT articles, I wonder if this one is not merely another instance of the RFT's civic gadflying, albeit with the usual finely-tuned degree of wit.

I got very little out of the article, other than what should have been painfully obvious to any reader, urban-minded or not. Yes. Laclede's Landing is isolated. Yes. It has missed the mark as being a nightlife destination only.

Now what, though? The piece of the article where the RFT tries to restrain its sarcasm and look objectively at the other side is often brief and unresearched--not to mention sandwiched by the critical body above it and the re-rebuttal below it.

Hopefully, the article will not simply do further damage to the Landing and will inspire people to see that the area can adapt to better use.

framer · PostNov 28, 2005#362005-11-28T04:02+00:00

^ Well said, MD the H.

drdrew · PostJan 29, 2006#372006-01-29T07:01+00:00

Does anyone know anything about the big building next to the Eads bridge at 1st and lucas? Maybe something's going on with it now, I haven't been to the landing in a while, but it gives a pretty bad impression for someone entering the landing from the riverfront.

brickandmortar · PostJan 29, 2006#382006-01-29T16:52+00:00

^ If you're referring to the Switzer Building, there are plans to redevelop it. There is a discussion going on about it in this thread:

http://www.urbanstl.com/viewtopic.php?t=992&start=0

drdrew · PostJan 29, 2006#392006-01-29T18:02+00:00

Thanks! Just what I was looking for.

debaliviere · PostAug 18, 2006#402006-08-18T13:27+00:00

This was the most appropriate thread I could find for this article:

Is the Landing ready for a new crowd?

By Christopher Boyce

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/18/2006

After opening his third local restaurant on Laclede's Landing last month, Munsok So feels he has millions of reasons to expect success, or 400 million to be exact.

As construction continues on Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.'s $400 million high-end casino and hotel complex nearby, business owners on the Landing are excited about the changes that the project may bring.

Offering more than a casino, Pinnacle also plans to build high-end condominiums along with a luxury hotel that is expected to operate under the Four Seasons brand.

Business owners are hoping the project will help the area draw a clientele that is more local, mature and affluent than the current set of tourists, bachelor parties and late-night party seekers -- often younger than 25 -- who are currently the Landing's bread and butter. Advertisement

"Everybody in St. Louis has the same preconceived notion of the Landing and I think it's time the Landing sort of grows up a little bit," said Tommy Gray, who owns bars in other parts of the city. In June, he opened up a restaurant, the Feisty Bulldog Bucket Shoppe and Billiards, and a nightclub called Throttle, both located at 720 North First Street.

Article

southslider · PostAug 18, 2006#412006-08-18T13:58+00:00

Evidently, interest in the Landing has picked up. Over in the Transportation sub-forum, busdad shared that Metro has seen interest in selling their North First Street mixed-use building, which is immediately northwest of the Switzer building being redeveloped (even after losing its eastern wall to a storm) and west of the proposed Port St. Louis new construction.

dweebe · PostAug 18, 2006#422006-08-18T14:59+00:00

Yes, the Landing needs to grow up. But I just don't think the new casino is going to do much good for other Landing businesses. Casino gamblers will come zooming into the garage, park their cars, loose their money and then "get out of dodge'.

It's not like downtown St. Charles has kicked things to another level with Ameristar. The Maryland Yards was good for a couple of years and then closed. Trailhead et al don't seem to have really changed their levels of business.

The only help to the Landing will be a perception change because the casino will help clean things up and make it a little less scary to some people. Plus it could help bring some new blood down there. That RFT article last year about the Landing show how really close minded they are.

I dunno, I'm on the fence right now.

moorlander · PostAug 18, 2006#432006-08-18T15:45+00:00

Pinnacle will be adding more to the landing than just the casino...Port St. Louis, the $25 mill condo structure is only half of the $50 mill they have pledged for the area around the casino. I know they have been actively purchasing surrounding parcels so i'm excited to see what else they have up their sleeves.

southslider · PostAug 18, 2006#442006-08-18T15:48+00:00

Have you ever tried walking from Ameristar to South Main? First you have to walk over a long bridge from the casino, then when you reach the stop light, you're still several blocks south of where the shops actually begin. In comparison, Pinnacle will be immediately adjacent to the Landing, with a quick one-block walk under the up-in-the-air MLK bridge, which underneath is open and airy, a nicer feeling than crossing in the shadows under nearby elevated I-70 between Downtown and the Landing.

dweebe · PostAug 18, 2006#452006-08-18T16:10+00:00

southslider wrote:Have you ever tried walking from Ameristar to South Main? First you have to walk over a long bridge from the casino, then when you reach the stop light, you're still several blocks south of where the shops actually begin. In comparison, Pinnacle will be immediately adjacent to the Landing, with a quick one-block walk under the up-in-the-air MLK bridge, which underneath is open and airy, a nicer feeling than crossing in the shadows under nearby elevated I-70 between Downtown and the Landing.

True.

For the first time in a long while there are positive signs on the Landing. From small things like "Sundeckers" renovating their bathrooms (thank God) and Morgan Street expanding, to the hundreds of millions being spent on the Pinnacle Casino.

I'm hopeful that the Landing becomes the attraction for locals and tourists it should be.

Hopefully someone will do something with empty spaces where "Rum Jungle" and "Planet Hollywood" used to be.

BTW: I was in "Fat Tuesday" last weekend ( my girlfriend likes their foo-foo drinks

) and they had taken out all the video games in the back area. That's never a good sign.

debaliviere · PostAug 18, 2006#462006-08-18T16:35+00:00

I'm skeptical about the incremental business that the Landing's restaurants/bars/shops will receive as a result of the construction of the casino, but I do think that good things could be in store for the Landing, especially if more housing is added beyond the two projects that we already know about.

There is an awful lot of vacant land on the Landing and lots of potential for new development:

moorlander · PostAug 18, 2006#472006-08-18T16:48+00:00

dweebe wrote:

BTW: I was in "Fat Tuesday" last weekend ( my girlfriend likes their foo-foo drinks ) and they had taken out all the video games in the back area. That's never a good sign.

Sounds like an improvement to me...who actualy plays videogames(other than golden too) at a bar anyway...what are we 8 yrs old?

appraisalman · PostAug 18, 2006#482006-08-18T16:51+00:00

Are you kidding me, I used to play bubble hockey at that place all the time!!! To bad.

moorlander · PostAug 18, 2006#492006-08-18T16:52+00:00

appraisalman wrote:Are you kidding me, I used to play bubble hockey at that place all the time!!! To bad.

They make a bubble hockey video game?

dweebe · PostAug 18, 2006#502006-08-18T16:54+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:I'm skeptical about the incremental business that the Landing's restaurants/bars/shops will receive as a result of the construction of the casino, but I do think that good things could be in store for the Landing, especially if more housing is added beyond the two projects that we already know about.

There is an awful lot of vacant land on the Landing and lots of potential for new development:

But do you think people will want to live down there with a casino going 24/7 and all the bars and their 3am closing times?

I think one of the reasons that Washington Ave. is a couple of years behind the expected growth curve was the time it took to get rid of the "rowdy" 3am bars. It wasn't until places like Lo, Tangerine, Galaxy and Europe were shut down that things really got rolling down here.

If there is any residential growth on the Landing, it will be a very niche crowd. They'll have to go in knowing the bars close at 3am and that's they way it will be. Kind of like residents of the French Quarter in New Orleans or Wrigleyville in Chicago.

Laclede's Landing

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