urbanSTL

I know there have been dozens of posts on these ideas before, but I still have no clue why Brentwood, Richmond Heights, University City, and Clayton aren’t one single municipality.

I assume O is still a planned hotel.  What is P supposed to be...?  FWIW with the addition of all these units the total resident numbers associated with the land might not change much, and it might even increase.

Personally i think it could be worse...

There is a lot of surface parking and I would guess its probably near equivalent to the existing surface parking by square area.  There are enough neighboring storefronts for most of the viable businesses to relocate to in the adjacent and much more urban strip of storefronts 1 block east if they wanted to, which are thankfully at this point being preserved.  If you look at whats being sacrificed for this (a couple strip malls, a storage facility, and some industrial buildings)  I really don't see a major issue with the loss except for specific businesses (Pho Long, Bob Seafood, Nobu's, De Palm,...) which are admittedly neighborhood treasures and hopefully they find new homes rather than simply closing their doors.

I do think the south end of the project area needs re-thinking. Would like to see less retail and more low or mid-rise multifamily.  To my mind The multi family should extend all the way to and adjacent the green-way with strong pedestrian connection to the green way.  Would propose restoring the canal (drainage ditch) to some semblance of a meandering natural creek even if its just fakery. Then add a few architecturally appealing bridges across the creek.  I would reorient the hotel so that it kind of separates the multifamily from the worst of the parking ugliness.  I would like to see a more connected grid but i also recognize that is probably pipe dream for this site.

The worst part i think is the TIF give-away on the backs of the tax payer, but i suspect this will be a net positive for the immediately adjacent neighborhoods, even if it is far more car-centric than I generally prefer.

The rendering looks like Boone's Crossing, straight up. It sucks. Not the least bit imaginative or forward-thinking, and if gets built as shown it will be a squandered opportunity.   This will not transform U. City's fortunes or make the 3rd ward any more appealing as a place to live or visit. The proposal pictured here belongs on Zumbehl Rd, not at the entrance of the “Neighborhood to the World”. University City needs to muster up some dignity and self-respect and set some some minimum design standards. Raise the bar. Do better.

quincunx wrote: I thought P was senior living

I guess it might be, but if so it looks more like an 1980s era nursing home foot print than modern era assisted living apartments.  I don't know the southern part of the project area just strikes me as an after thought.  The "P" and the "R" buildings aren't really shown in the renderings so it is very hard to tell what they are.  The apartments seem kind of plopped in place rather than really being integrated into the development.  For some the CostCo is the payoff and who cares what those are.  To me these parcels are the big payoff for accepting a super box redevelopment like CostCo because they dictate how this development relates to the surrounding neighborhood.

The Woodson Olive intersection is a similarly critical transition but one that probably is not one they would consider adjusting.  Also its not particularly worse than the existing state of things, just not any better either...

Tim wrote:At least the revised site plan appears to provide a pedestrian connection between the Centennial Greenway and the Ruth Park Woods trail, running through the residential and food hall component of the project. That's a "nice" (no brainer) feature.

huh, for some reason i thought that line was the storm water trench, but now i think you are right and agree.  I would like to see a restored "creek" feature as well, I think it would help make the residential more appealing and soften the overall project.