urbanSTL

I have not been in that area in a while. Am I correct in rememebring that the area is pretty rough. I have always had the impression that Wellston (some areas) is even more rough than the worst areas in North St. Louis. I love the work Restoration St. Louis has been doing, but I don't think this single project would do much to change that.

Sometimes it takes pioneering residents to change a place. More non-activity affiliated residents demand less crime. I read in Steve Patterson's blog about Forest Park South East where he or a commentor said that he/she went to the umpteenth or many neighborhood meetings to complain about drug dealing at a spot or by teens only to have indifferent support by many people because their teens or they themselves abused substances. If these activity affiliated residents are the majority than some crime is kicked under the rug, but new residents not affiliated with substance abuse activity will demand better. Wellston as a result and surrounding neighborhood municipalities change too. From indifferent to the domino effect.

I agree with SMS. You have to start somewhere. Thanks to urban pioneers, we now often hear the refrain, "St. Louis is back."

Some construction photos of the Loop Lofts from today - 03/31/06.

^Thanks for the photos Urban. I saw this building when I was riding the MetroLink from the airport a few days back. Were there more floors on this building? It looked like they had been lopped off to me because there was no roof.

I don't think there were more floors originally. It's probably been a year since I checked out the property on my bike, and I remember it as being a pretty typical warehouse - unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died right before I could take any pictures of it!

I too have not seen this building since any work started. That is qute a project, and I thank God for any developer that would save a building like this.

What the...



I haven't been by to see this project in person, and I'm very confused. Are the newly posted photos an accurate picture of what they're doing? It looks like all they've saved of the old building is a few brick pilasters.



I'm sorry, but I just don't see the point. Am I missing something?

Ah, that makes more sense. Any pictures of the front?

I gave my deposit check this past friday. 1500 sq. feet, two story, two bedroom, two bathroom loft with new everything. also electric everything - no more gas!!!!! The floor plans on their website www.frontdoorstl.com/looplofts/ are a little different but the change is even better. Let me know if you want some pics or have a website for me to post them to. They say we'll be able to move in sometime early August.... Can't wait.

Wow! Very interesting layout. Hopefully will spur additional development. Congratulations grant240!

i am a college student currently in oregon but i am transfering to WashU and am interested in the loop lofts. does anyone have any recent pics of the outside/inside? i am looking for a one bedroom. if anyone has toured and can described the one bed room that would be great as the floorplan and "pics" at frontdootstl.com are not too great. also, just how skinny are these apartments, the floor plan says 15 feet wide, anybody been in there and felt really cramped by the small width??

any help would be greatly appreciated as i cannot come out to st louis to see it myself and would need to make my deposit very soon as the apartments are apparently going fast!



thanks

bilydu

bilydu wrote:does anyone have any recent pics of the outside/inside?

Here are a few more taken today, showing more of the building...

Wow - it's really looking good! This project is basically right across the street from Wash U.'s new mini-campus, right?

Doug wrote:The building appears to be mostly destroyed, and they are reusing the foundation; this is a great way to preserve what is remaining!

People should remember this example, and similar cases in ONSL, when building experts say a building cannot be saved and must be demolished. The Century Building downtown, and the buildings of the former Saint Aloysius Gonzaga parish in South City come to mind.



I realize not every building can be saved, but one of our city's greatest assets is its built environment, and in general we're still in too much of a hurry to destroy what's left. I commend the Gills for saving this building and bringing life to the area! I haven't checked out the specifics, but I would imagine those that will live there will get a lot for their money.

^The Gills obviously have a love of our wonderful city, its landmarks and architecture. (Some developers have a love of only money...they're the ones building those hideous "mullet" houses and destroy perfectly good reusable buildings and landmarks.)

Many structures in the city that could have been saved have been destroyed simply because some developer didn't care about our city's wonderful architectural legacy to save them.

In the case of the Century, the building was not structurally unsound. In fact, the Century was very solid, so much so it presented difficulties to bring it down. We were told lies that it was structurally unsound, and it was made of terra cotta, not Georgia marble...both blatant lies. So much for Desco's dedication to our city. Doggonit, I can go on and on about this, but I'm getting off topic.

So, yes, this project is wonderful and demonstrates what can be done when honest dedication and love of a city is put into action, just as all the other projects the Gills have performed and are performing their majic on have.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but according to The West End Word, Wash. U. has leased 85 of the 104 units in this building to house an overflow of students.

The finished product:

This is cool!