urbanSTL

I agree about the windows. One of the few things I liked about St. Louis Centre was that there were windows on the upper floors that made it feel a little less like you were shopping at Chesterfield Mall

The Count wrote:I really like the fact that Culinaria is teaming up with Macy on the events. The two big chains downtown working together will benefit both.

Especially once Macy's completes their revovation. Hopefully it will help start something of a retail corridor.

JMedwick wrote:No doubt that Olive has that potential. The street width plus the presence of two main anchors (Macy's and Schnucks), Olive has the makings of the primary retail street in downtown, particularly once something happens with the Arcade building.

I've been hoping to see Olive as the retail heart of downtown for about a decade now. It's always been my favorite street downtown, and if/when the Arcade and the old Chemical are rehabbed, it will be a very lively street.

JMedwick wrote:It is actually kinda sad that Left Bank Books is also along that Olive Corridor.

Do you mean NOT on that corridor? If so, I agree with you on one level, but on another, I think it's good that it's somewhat off that stretch. Between Olive, Washington, and the sports facilities, there isn't a whole lot to "connect" these areas yet, and the location of LBB helps in that regard.

I would love to see Olive regain its status as downtown's premier retail district. In particular, a renovated Arcade Building would be absolutely amazing to see - man, I hope that happens soon.



One thing holding Olive back is the various dead zones created by surface lots and certain buildings, like the LGL Building (employment offices on the first floor, curtains closed 24/7) and 1111 Olive (although there are plans to renovate that building, so maybe we'll see first floor retail there).



The worst parking lot has to be the one at 6th and Olive, where Boyd's used to be. I posted a few pics of what was lost on my blog yesterday: Link

DeBaliviere wrote:I would love to see Olive regain its status as downtown's premier retail district. In particular, a renovated Arcade Building would be absolutely amazing to see - man, I hope that happens soon.



One thing holding Olive back is the various dead zones created by surface lots and certain buildings, like the LGL Building (employment offices on the first floor, curtains closed 24/7) and 1111 Olive (although there are plans to renovate that building, so maybe we'll see first floor retail there).



The worst parking lot has to be the one at 6th and Olive, where Boyd's used to be. I posted a few pics of what was lost on my blog yesterday: Link

I agree about the potential for Olive Street to become the heart of downtown retail again. And BTW, nice find with the photos! I've been searching for a long time for photos of Boyd's and its neighboring structures. The absence of those buildings really ruins the streetscape across from Macy's, and if they could be filled with tenants, that would only help the store now.



The buildings demolished to make way for St. Louis Centre were not as distinctive as those lost on Olive Street, but they provided a dense link of businesses between Macy's (then Famous-Barr) and Dillard's (formerly Stix Baer & Fuller). So it would be nice to see the retail focused on Olive Street, but also extending north to The Laurel along Sixth and Seventh streets just as it once did to take advantage of pedestrian traffic in and out of America's Center.



That's why I'm so disappointed in the rumors swirling around about St. Louis Centre. Using the upper floors of the entire complex exclusively for parking would be a waste, even if there is retail space on the main level, as that area is crying out for density to support the amount of retail that the area once had. I really hope the finished product will include at least some residential or commercial space on the upper floors, to maximize the potential for retail here, and most importantly, to ensure that Macy's maintains a long-term presence in the area.

TGE-ATW wrote:I think something that would make a huge difference in the shopping experience at the downtown Macy's would be if they opened up some of the windows on the upper floors and allowed some natural light into the shopping spaces. The place is such a cave, which is strange because their are literally hundreds of windows that could shine in to the shopping floors. I have always found the atmosphere oppressive there and I think this would really help. Think about doing Christmas shopping and watching it snow on downtown. Or watching the Salvation Army kettle get stolen by some punks.

The spaces between the shopping floor and the windows used to be the old Famous-Barr corporate offices. That's pretty much the case in any old, downtown department store. Back in the May Company days, that was the case for the Kaufmann's store in Pittsburgh, Filene's in Boston, Meier & Frank in Portland, Foley's in Houston, and Lord & Taylor in NY. Same went for Macy's in SF, Miami and NY.

stlterp wrote:The spaces between the shopping floor and the windows used to be the old Famous-Barr corporate offices. That's pretty much the case in any old, downtown department store. Back in the May Company days, that was the case for the Kaufmann's store in Pittsburgh, Filene's in Boston, Meier & Frank in Portland, Foley's in Houston, and Lord & Taylor in NY. Same went for Macy's in SF, Miami and NY.

You are correct. And if I'm not mistaken, I think Macy's local offices still occupy the space between the retail areas and the windows, at least on some levels. (That arrangement only makes sense IMHO since Macy's Inc. eliminated the Macy's Midwest division, which essentially wiped out any trace of May Company in the upper levels of the Railway Exchange Building.)



I want to give Macy's a little credit, though, as they have placed merchandise displays in some of the windows that previously had no displays at all. Granted, they are pretty simple compared to the displays on the corners, as most have one mannequin highlighting a particular brand (I noticed a Levi's window on Seventh Street, a Ralph Lauren suit on Sixth Street, etc.). But these windows are still an improvement over the blanks, which are now mostly confined to the dead zone along Locust Street where the employees' entrance was located under the south St. Louis Centre skybridge. (If and when that is demolished, I expect Macy's will lavish a bit more attention on the north side of the building.)



Now I just wish Macy's would go one step further with the main level and reopen the Seventh Street entrance. For years the darkened windows that replaced the revolving doors, combined with the dark shutters Famous-Barr had in place over all of the Seventh Street windows for several years, made the store look like it was closed for good. Reopening that entrance could only help the overall look of the Seventh Street (west) side of the building IMHO.

The WSJ has reported that an unidentified U.S. investment group has the building under contract for $35 million. Macy's will lease back space for the department store.

I suppose it's too early to tell since we don't know exactly who bought the building and what their intentions are, but I think this could be good news. For one thing, the $35 million sale price is exactly what the value was estimated at in a previous St. Louis Business Journal article about the sale of the Railway Exchange Building and Macy's plans to downsize and reposition the downtown store. So whether these investors plan to redevelop the upper floors or sell the building to someone who will, I think the transfer of ownership away from Macy's, Inc. is probably a good thing.



Hopefully Macy's went a step further to secure a sweet lease for themselves to ensure the downtown store's long-term future. The Wall Street Journal article noted that St. Louis has bucked the trend that many cities have had to deal with in the last 20 or 30 years- the loss of a downtown department store. Hopefully with a new building owner, eventual redevelopment of the upper floors, and a smaller but smarter store, Macy's will be around downtown for a long time to come.

They didnt do their research. We lost Dillards.

Downtown2007 wrote:They didnt do their research. We lost Dillards.

True enough, and we also lost Scruggs Vandervoort & Barney in 1967. But I think they were simply pointing out that St. Louis is still among a small and select group of cities that has at least one traditional department store left in its downtown. Even vibrant cities like San Francisco and smaller metro areas like Minneapolis and Indianapolis that have multiple downtown department stores have lost major retailers amid all of the consolidations that have taken place in retail over the last 20 or 30 years. So it's significant that St. Louis still has one store remaining, especially when you consider the many major cities like Atlanta, Kansas City, Cleveland, and Detroit that no longer have a traditional downtown department store.



Oh, and JMedwick, I like the way you think about the block immediately south of Macy's. I'd love to see a Class A office tower there eventually.

Developers are now doing due diligence for a sale of the Railway Exchange Building. More from the Building Blocks Blog at the PD.

The planned sale of the Macy’s building in downtown St. Louis means the department store will remain, a company spokeswoman said this morning.



Although the store will shrink to three from seven floors, what remains will be remodeled after the sale closes in January, said Macy’s spokeswoman Sharon Bateman.



The city’s tax-increment financing commission reviewed the project this morning.



Local developers Rick Yackey and Bill and Brian Bruce plan to buy the building and reconfigure Macy’s to occupy 125,000 square feet on the building’s first three floors. Two floors of Macy’s office space on the upper floors will also be preserved. The new owners plan to lease the remainder of the building for office and other non-residential uses.

JMedwick wrote:Not sure whether I like the idea of using the building largely for non-residential. I wonder whether that is the short term plan, with the long term plan being a transition to residential.



No mention in the article of whether the garage and parking lot on the south side of Olive are included in the transaction.

In the Biz Journal, it mentions that the garage would be receiving renovations as well. I wouldn't worry about the "non-residential" aspect - if they bring in some office tenants, it would be great for that part of downtown.

JMedwick wrote:Not sure whether I like the idea of using the building largely for non-residential. I wonder whether that is the short term plan, with the long term plan being a transition to residential.

Like DeBaliviere, I'm not concerned about the Railway Exchange Building being re-purposed for non-residential tenants. Like you, however, I really would have liked for the developer to make the upper floors residential.



Once again, there is a missed opportunity to create residential density in this part of downtown that desperately needs it. First, we learn that Pyramid's original plans to convert St. Louis Centre into The Concord, which would have been mostly residential, have been stripped down to a parking garage serving 600 Washington (and presumably, Thompson Coburn in the US Bank Building). Now the vast space above what will become a shrunken Macy's store won't be residential after all. Like DeBaliviere, I think that's okay and still quite good for downtown, but I think that part of downtown really needs more residential to maximize its potential.



Finally, I really hope Macy's will include some sort of restaurant and/or auditorium space in the downsized store so they can continue to host Breakfast with Santa and other holiday special events. We've taken our son each year Macy's has offered it, and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It ain't no Santaland, but it recaptures some of the magic and turns on a new generation of kids to what has become an extremely rare (and sadly, still endangered) asset- the traditional downtown department store.

ThreefourOne, I don't thinkg this is a loss opportunity for more residential development when downtown has a stalled Park Pacific, next Cupples Warehouse and Dillard/Laural still waiting in the wings plus plenty of infill space available. Instead, getting 850 lost jobs back downtown into the building should be the priority. It might also convince a person or two to move downtown if they have a job downtown.

^ You may be right, and certainly, bringing more jobs downtown would certainly help the area (and the downsized Macy's underneath).



I'm not quite sure where the developers will find tenants that will make up for the jobs lost when Macy's eliminated the Macy's Midwest division (850 jobs were cut then, and that figure goes well over 1,000 when May Company jobs before the initial round of cuts are taken into account). I trust that they will eventually find tenants, and I'm glad the sale is moving forward as planned, but I'm cautiously optimistic about the opportunity to find new tenants given current economic conditions regionally and nationally.



And while I suppose it might be just as difficult, or maybe even harder, to market residential space there in this economy, I was just under the assumption that the office space above Macy's wasn't the most attractive option for many businesses. I was a kindergartner when I was last on the upper floors of the Railway Exchange, and that was 30 years ago, but I remember the offices had very low ceilings, and on the highest levels, the floorplates are significantly smaller if I recall correctly. That's no deal breaker, especially if the renovation of the space turns out well and the price is right, but I just assumed it might make a better space for residential based on my foggy memory of the upper levels of the building.



Finally, downtown could use more residential east of the Old Post Office. For now, besides The Marquette and whatever the Mansion House complex is now called, there's a void between the OPO and Memorial Drive, Market Street and Washington Avenue. When The Alexa, The Laurel, (and hopefully, the Arcade) are renovated, that should bring at least 1,000 new residents into the area which will help fill the void.



That said, if the Railway Exchange can be successfully converted into an attractive commercial property again, that will still be quite good for Macy's and for downtown.

^

You're right - I remember interviewing with May right out of college and thinking the same thing about the low ceilings. I wonder if that's just the way the building is, or if it had more to do with the way May finished their office space. Maybe a good design firm could reconfigure things and make the space feel more open.