urbanSTL

<A HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/busine ... 113CC">Pet Building gives a glimpse of river and future</A>

By Martin Van Der Werf

Of the Post-Dispatch

03/10/2005



The former Pet Building tends to draw strong reactions. The concrete forms that zigzag across one another in a style fetchingly called "New Brutalist" reminds some people of a prison. The building?s relative isolation on South Fourth Street ? and the fact that it has been vacant for years ? make it seem even more forbidding.



Life, however, is about to return to the pile.



Balke Brown Associates closed a deal Wednesday to acquire the building, which it plans to convert to 118 apartments. Construction should begin over the summer, with completion in July 2006 or so, said Steve Brown, president and chief executive.



"It is an interesting building," he said. "Some would say ugly."



Brown is not of that opinion. Several large windows and multiple balconies practically screamed that it would be better remade as a residential building than trying to keep it as office space.



"You won?t believe the views when you get up there," Brown said. "Out of one side, you?ll see the (Mississippi) River, and out of the other, the new (Cardinals) ballpark. There?s no other building like it."

Sale of the former Pet Building to Balke Brown closed this week. Plans are for 118 luxury apartments in the high-rise overlooking the River and the new Busch Stadium. Remediation/demo starts Monday and construction starts in September. Units will come on line October ?06.



Source

And why September 2005 instead of June?

They might still be waiting on the tax credits as well.

More info on the Pet Building Rehab. One comment do we need more fine dining, I like places like Flannery's and Tap Room more.



LATEST NEWS

March 21, 2005



<A HREF="http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... tml">Balke Brown-led group plans $25 mln renovation of Pet Building</A>



Balke Brown Associates and other investors plan to spend $25 million to turn the former Pet Milk Building into apartments, it said Monday.



<A HREF="http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... ily13.html">>>> read more</A>

There was some talk in this thread about the redevelopment of the parking lot in between the Pet Building and new stadium. Unfortunately, it seems MoDOT has its eyes on this property for future ramps from the Poplar St. Bridge to replace Memorial Dr. access, if I-70 is relocated to the new Mississippi River bridge and two lanes to/from the PSB then going to I-44/55. Even if these ramps were built better than the those off 40 among the Cupples warehouses, it would still be an obvious waste to use this land for highway ramp touchdowns.

where did you hear this. It would indeed be a huge waste of very valuable land. I doubt ramps would get approved to be built there now.

I love the Pet Building! My dad worked in that building for more than 13 years. Every year they would have a huge party for Fair St. Louis on the deck facing the Archgrounds. My family would go up there and watch the fireworks from there. In fact, because he was working security one year, he took us up to the balcony level. I'll tell ya, watching the fireworks from there was an amazing experience. Another year, it snowed really hard in St. Louis and it was my dad's duty to plow the sidewalks around the building. He took me with him on an early Saturday morning. We both rode the tractor as he plowed the sidewalks. When I was just a little kid, he took me to the roof one night, and he views of the city are breath taking! One of the main things I will always remember about the Pet Building was the building's smell. That's right, this is a building that has its own smell. From the moment you walk into the lobby, the smell overwhelms you. It was not a bad smell by any means, but my dad would come home every night with that smell on his clothes. To this day I can still smell it. To give you some sort of idea what it smelled like...think of cigars. I have some fond memories of the Pet Building. I'm glad it is staying around and will be put to good use!



Scott

MattnSTL wrote:Sale of the former Pet Building to Balke Brown closed this week. Plans are for 118 luxury apartments in the high-rise overlooking the River and the new Busch Stadium. Remediation/demo starts Monday and construction starts in September. Units will come on line October ?06.

Construction work is already underway, and the apartments are scheduled to be finished in September 2006. Brinkmann Constructors is serving as the contractor and The Lawrence Group Colors is the architect.



Source: August 2005 issue of <A HREF="http://www.stlcommercemagazine.com/arch ... f.html">St. Louis Commerce Magazine</A>

I was driving by the Pet Building yesterday, and it almost looks like there is enough room to the south of it to build a new building. It would be close to the highway, but it could be done.



I look forward to seeing more development on the southern edge of downtown.

400 South 4th Street Apartments, Pet Building

St. Louis, MO



This project consists of converting the former Pet Company building into 118 apartment units with parking. Infrastructure updates include new windows, roof and plaza level decks, modernized elevators, added exterior parking, two levels of interior parking, and new mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems.



Features: Just a few of the features are granite kitchen countertops and a insulate glass window system.



Size: 270,000 SF

Value: $36 Million

Architect: The Lawrence Group

Developer: Balke Brown Associates

Contract Amount: $23.5 Million

Completion Date: November 2006

Owner: 400 South 4th Steet, LLC



>>>Source-Brinkmann Assoc.

Took some pics Tuesday while at the Ballpark. Interior demo seems to be progressing well, and a fence is now up. Like Debaliviere said, there is room for a buildiing between the Pet Building and the Highway. Not a huge one, but something there to fill it out would be nice.

Thanks for the pics. Seeing the pics make it apparent that this is going to be an interesting project.

Yes, it probably is one of the most interesting buildings downtown. Not really any other like it. That's what I like about it.

At least there will be something on the site. Build the garage large, so that a developer can have parking when the empty lot across the street is built on, because that lot has to be one of the best peices of real estate in downtown, across the street from the condos and the new ball park.

IIRC the parking garage is already within the building. I saw crews clearing the area to the south of the Pet Building, my guess that will be the exterior lot that was mentioned on the Brinkmann website.



That empty lot across the street is planned to become new ramps into downtown wayyyy in the future, although I hope something gets built on it.

Actually, the highway ramps on the block are dead due to new ramps going in south of I-64, a change that occurred with the new ballpark.



The concept for the ramps west of Pet came out of the New Mississippi River Bridge studies and its related reconfiguration of the Poplar Street Bridge. Essentially, current PSB ramps to I-70 and Memorial Drive will be lost in order to double the ramps (to 2 lanes) from I-44/55, thus alternate downtown access was recommended west of Pet. But then, with the new ballpark, the 8th street on-ramp had to be removed. Thus, a new study produced newer options shared below:



New ramp alternatives



The yellow ramps to Gratiot were the preferred alternative. But you might notice that such configuration still doesn't provide for an off-ramp from Illinois to replace that to Memorial Drive. The on-ramp to Illinois will serve double duty for replacing the lost 8th Street ramp and future loss of Memorial Drive on-ramp to the PSB.



Also, the yellow alternative on the above linked image shows a new street and roundabout just north of the rail tressel, or just south of the existing intersection of 6th and Cerre, where the current "Last Missouri" or Broadway exit connects to the street grid.



What is now actually preferred is an intersection of Gratiot and 6th south of the rail tressel, with new signalized interchanges on Gratiot at 7th, 6th, Broadway and 4th, while removing signals from Cerre intersections.

I had taken a few photos of the old Pet Milk Building this week as well...

I like that name - Pointe 400.

Glad to see this one being reused. Although I am not a huge fan of that brutalist/modernistic style of architecture that doesnt make it any less significant. It really has a great location and could serve as a great anchor near the stadium. i remember going to that building years ago for a Southeast Missouri State orientation for St. Louis students. Looking up at it from ground level really shows off that wacky scale and massing of the building. I just hope they can fill it!