urbanSTL

City in the Spotlight by Rick Messey CTMT

DT had great exposure during September and October thanks to the every popular and now World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. DT SL also shined in the national spotlight with recent revitalization of several new developments of residential condos. apartments and entertainment venues and restaurants.

This development and positive momentum should continue for many years due to the recent BPV deal with the city of SL. BPV co-developer, Cordish company, and the city recently finalized negotiations that will provide financing for 100mill of public funds to assist with the development of the 60 mill dollar project.

Since 2000 the city has slowly been experiencing a transformation and as of today 3.5billion dollars has been invested DT. Several major developments have been completed, such as the OPO, Wash Ave lofts, Syndicate Trust, PB and more than 180,000 square ft of new restaurants, retailers and more than 2300 new residential apartments and condos.

Class B buildings have a 24.1 percent vacantcy rate but should continue to decrease as older class B inventory is converted into apartments and condos.

Downtown's overall perception is improving and so is the class A office market. Class A Buildings recently recorded 204,000 square feet of positive absorption, lowering the vacantcy rates from 18.3 percent to 16.3 percent. If you are in one of the five nicest Class A buildings DT, then the vacancy rate is less than 5 percent. DT tenants seeking quality class A space are having a more difficult time finding options or expasion space. Large expanding tenants like Lewis Rice and Armstrong Teasdale, who are seeking in excess of 100,000 square feet, will need to consider new office developments or rehabbing existing buildings due to lack of quality alternatives.

Major transactions that have closed or that are currently under construction include Pyramid's conversion of SLCenter/Dillard's building. MW's cupples project and Pinnacle casino on the landing.

Doug wrote:We need a massive tower reaching for the sky like the Combine Citadel in Half Life 2 only more attractive.

Xing wrote:

bonwich wrote:Um, kids....



Certainly KMOX no longer has the 1 out of 4 of all area listeners that it had in its heyday. And certainly fewer people, especially under 30, listen to radio than they did even 10-20 years ago.



However, here's the second-half overall fall ratings for St. Louis:



KMOX-AM 8.5

KEZK-FM 6.3

WARH-FM 6.0

KLOU-FM 5.1

KTRS-AM 4.8

KSHE-FM 4.7

WIL-FM 4.7

KSLZ-FM 4.5

KMJM-FM 3.8

KSD-FM 3.8

KATZ-FM 3.4

KIHT-FM 3.4

WFUN-FM 3.3

KYKY-FM 3.2

WHHL-FM 2.9

KFTK-FM 2.8

KPNT-FM 2.6



Somebody apparently still listens to KMOX. And it really does remain the only local station with any semblance of a local-news operation.



And maybe the folks at rBar aren't real concerned that the "older crowd"

has never heard of the Grove, but I can guarantee you that the folks at Five would have been mighty ticked off if they heard that exchange yesterday afternoon. (As should have been the VP and programming and news directors at KMOX, not to mention the folks who try to sell advertising.)

That still isn't saying much. Most young people don't listen to radio anymore, with the help of Clear Channel. Even stations geared toward young people have gone down the tubes. We now use the internet.

trent wrote:I think it's that button on your cd player in your car that says FM/AM. At least, that's what somebody told me when I bought the car.

southcitygent wrote:Boy you guys are a bunch of new media elitists, perhaps you should be more tolerant of those who are not so techno savvy or cannot afford the cost of technology.