urbanSTL

Rev Rice does NOT help the homeless. His tactics are actually harmful to them. I dealt with his crap for 6 years living next door. Don't tell a self-righteous bible beater from the suburbs that though. After they come down to drop off some meals and toiletries while trashing your parks, they will chastise you for being heartless. Then they can go back to their burb and feel good about themselves for helping with the "city's homeless problem". All the while blissfully unaware that most of the city's homeless are actually from a burb just like theirs. The difference being the city has services and their burb doesn't so not their problem, they don't have homeless. Aaarrrgghhhh

Their is a reason other communities have sent Mr. Rice packing. It's time we do too.

Rant over.

Yeah, at my old place in Fenton, there were swarms of homeless people everywhere. It was like Keiner Plaza...But everywhere.

It was kind of like Seattle, actually! So suburban areas aren't immune to homelessness.

So I was sitting outdoors at the BP Village Beer Garden on the East End last evening, and I started wondering about making an offer on a unique loft condo currently unoccupied -- the penthouse loft atop the empty Millennium Hotel. Two-bath, open concept, large professional style kitchen, stunning views, and it goes around and around in circles. How awesome would it be to live in the old Top of the Riverfront restaurant?

Just think, if you are wondering what time it is while you are dressing for work, you just look out the window and think, if I'm seeing the Arch, it must be 7:20 am. You could watch a baseball game and get your walking exercise in at the same time. If they can crank that thing up to around 2 RPM, "stationary" bicycling with a constant view wouldn't be out of the question.

At night, if you arrange your bed with the footboards toward the center, centrifugal force could undo the effects of gravity while you sleep gradually pushing your skin back up to where it used to be. Privacy might be a concern, but you could flash the whole city every 60 minutes if so inclined, from the comfort of your home.

I'm not sure if a bowling alley or a pool table would work while going around in circles, but if you get drunk, the room might STOP spinning in your head. And cleaning would be a breeze. To wash the inside of the windows, just stand at the window with a rag and a bottle of Windex.

I'm thinking I could get it for a cool $300k, since it has no basement and it is in foreclosure.

^ I'm thinking it was no coincidence you came up with these ideas while sitting in a beer garden

Gary, maybe the rest of the building could become storage for self-driving cars.

I do wonder what is most likely future for the complex... I'd also love to see the tower and Brutalist .400 building complimented by some cool infill towers on 4th south of Spruce. I think there is room for a slender one sough of .400 and a couple on the parking lot across from Busch. It could be a pretty striking row of towers.

Millenium is listed as a nomination to the register of historic places at the July 28th meeting.

roger wyoming II wrote:Gary, maybe the rest of the building could become storage for self-driving cars.

I do wonder what is most likely future for the complex... I'd also love to see the tower and Brutalist .400 building complimented by some cool infill towers on 4th south of Spruce. I think there is room for a slender one sough of .400 and a couple on the parking lot across from Busch. It could be a pretty striking row of towers.

Ha ha on the car comment. Actually, when they get auto-valet, and cars will be able park cheap on the outskirts of downtown on their own, you have to wonder what will become of all the downtown parking garages and lots. The bottom will fall out of parking rates.

The hotel is in such a prominent visible location. How about a slender condo tower? Would there be a way to convert room groupings into apartments?

The interaction of this building with the street is absolutely brutal:


I'd love to see that come down, and replaced with some low-rise (5-7 story) residential in the entire area between Spruce & Clark. 1 block from Busch, 4 blocks from Metrolink, and Arch/River views along one side, seems like it would have a lot going for it. But alas, it sounds like they might be doing this one pretty quick and pretty cheap, and maybe just getting it back up to speed as a hotel. Which is still a big step forward from abandonment. It'll be interesting to see what details emerge.

I absolutely hate that smaller building.

Do you work for the SLU Dept. of Urban Planning?

JK. It's just that, despite its proximity to the sidewalk, there is absolutely no interaction with the street. No storefronts or even doors. It doesn't add any life it actually drains it. If it opened on to the street that might help a bit, but instead it's just a monolithic silo that would feel desolate even if people were staying inside.

As for the replacement idea, because it's circular the exterior exposure is actually kind of limited. How many windowed apartments could actually fit in there? A large U or box-shaped low-rise (i.e. 3949 Lindell or Cortona) could have 300+ apartments without going more than 6-7 stories. Straight up height doesn't necessarily translate to increased density.

What is going on with the Millennium hotel? Can I rent the rotating restaurant to live in while they figure out what they are doing?


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^ Ha! I was thinking the same thing. That would be one helluva view of the city! I was daydreaming of winning the lottery and buying the building myself, solely for that purpose.
I agree, though. If St. Louis is having such a hotel boom, granted most are boutique hotels, why is one of the most iconic buildings in the St. Louis skyline sitting vacant with no plan to move forward on anything?

My wife works in event planning for a large company and they are running into problems planning for next year since there are not enough rooms downtown. It's forcing them to look at other cities since the firm has a few different locations.


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^ Another "Save our Saucer" - like campaign might be needed!

^ "Save Our Circular"?

DogtownBnR wrote:^ Another "Save our Saucer" - like campaign might be needed!

maybe we can get starbucks and chipotle to move their respective headquarters into the millennium?

thedude wrote:My wife works in event planning for a large company and they are running into problems planning for next year since there are not enough rooms downtown. It's forcing them to look at other cities since the firm has a few different locations.


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Another good example why DeWitt/Cordish is completely missing the mark. You got +3 million site visits across the street for a new hotel tower to tap into. I take it that a lot of those Cardinal tickets are being bought by the locals but none the less. Would be at competitive advantage downtown hotel market

While I like the building itself, the complex is a huge waste of prime property and doesn't interact with its surroundings at all - it's basically a walled-off fortress. I'd have no problem knocking it down if we could get something like the J.W. Marriott in Indianapolis to replace it.