urbanSTL

Apparently Kevin McGowan was profiled in the St. Louis Magazine and spoke about this tower. He said he pulled the plug on it about 1 1/2 years ago but once the market recovers fully plans to make it a reality.



McGowan was quoted as saying

"We built something that the world knows, but the Arch is a glass ceiling in development in St. Louis, in that we don't build anything higher," he says. "The shadow of the tower I propose will extend to Chicago, Dallas and beyond."

Not sure if this is the best thing for St. Louis particularly if he doesn't bring in outside companies to fill much of the space. Regardless, it's all talk now until someday he puts money where his mouth is.

Hey, he's got vision and cojones. I respect that. Perhaps a building taller than the arch would help break down the St. Louis inferiority complex.

is there a link to that article?

It was the downtown business blog

http://downtownstlbiz.blogspot.com/2009 ... tower.html

but I was wondering about the actually link to an actually document.

realclear, St. Louis Magazine's article on KM is here: http://www.stlmag.com/media/St-Louis-Ma ... k-Builder/.



Not all our content goes online when it's published in print, but we're in the process of building up some of the fall 08 archives.



Stephen Schenkenberg (w/ SLM)

schenkenberg wrote:realclear, St. Louis Magazine's article on KM is here: http://www.stlmag.com/media/St-Louis-Ma ... k-Builder/.



Not all our content goes online when it's published in print, but we're in the process of building up some of the fall 08 archives.



Stephen Schenkenberg (w/ SLM)

Thanks for the link.



Now, when are you going to move STLMag downtown?

Our office location's not up to me. I like downtown a lot -- owned a loft there from 03-05, before moving to S. City.

schenkenberg wrote:Our office location's not up to me. I like downtown a lot -- owned a loft there from 03-05, before moving to S. City.

Well, just let your publisher know that you guys can save some serious coin - and have a much better work environment - by making the move downtown.

Hmm... that McGowen guy sounds like he's got a vision... maybe someone else should let everyone else in StL know that he could be onto something.

From the article:

McGowan will no doubt butt heads again with the powers that be, in part because he’s not afraid of pushing for what he wants. He’s even passionate about building a new skyscraper that symbolizes St. Louis to the world. McGowan was ready to announce the project a year and a half ago, but he’s put it on hold until the economy rebounds. Still, he’s adamant that it will come to fruition.



“We built something that the world knows, but the Arch is a glass ceiling in development in St. Louis, in that we don’t build anything higher,” he says. “The shadow of the tower I propose will extend to Chicago, Dallas and beyond.”

This is great news! STL is going taller soon - thanks to developers like McGowan!!!

That's ok. It's going to be sucky for a while. So conduct the necessary planning and be ready to move when the timing is right. If you have chipmunk cheeks, you can last through the winter and be the predator when others are only on the sidelines.

You just need to know when to jump before someone else beats you to the rebound. That's the tough part.

innov8ion wrote:That's ok. It's going to be sucky for a while. So conduct the necessary planning and be ready to move when the timing is right. If you have chipmunk cheeks, you can last through the winter and be the predator when others are only on the sidelines.

One more reason to avoid the city: predator chipmunks



Thanks for posting a link to the story; that was a great read.



-RBB

So while we wait for McGowan to build his 80-story tower and Cordish to build whatever it is they're going to build, tenants like Husch Blackwell will continue to choose Clayton because there aren't any large blocks of contiguous Class A space downtown.



Downtown needs space NOW to attract and retain companies. It doesn't have to be in a skyscraper or part of some bogus entertainment district. I just wish someone would step up and build a smaller building ASAP instead of waiting on larger projects that may never come to fruition.

DeBaliviere wrote:So while we wait for McGowan to build his 80-story tower and Cordish to build whatever it is they're going to build, tenants like Husch Blackwell will continue to choose Clayton because there aren't any large blocks of contiguous Class A space downtown.



Downtown needs space NOW to attract and retain companies. It doesn't have to be in a skyscraper or part of some bogus entertainment district. I just wish someone would step up and build a smaller building ASAP instead of waiting on larger projects that may never come to fruition.

Exactly. As much as I appreciate McGowan's vision for his proposals and downtown in general, I'd just as soon have two 40-story buildings or even eight 10-story buildings for that matter. Aside from the horizontial vs. vertical density argument, as you pointed out, downtown is in dire need of Class A office space. As ecstatic as I am about the progress that's been made in downtown over the last decade, I wish this had been a priority a few years ago as well since it's not exactly feasible right now given current economic conditions.

ThreeOneFour wrote:

DeBaliviere wrote:So while we wait for McGowan to build his 80-story tower and Cordish to build whatever it is they're going to build, tenants like Husch Blackwell will continue to choose Clayton because there aren't any large blocks of contiguous Class A space downtown.



Downtown needs space NOW to attract and retain companies. It doesn't have to be in a skyscraper or part of some bogus entertainment district. I just wish someone would step up and build a smaller building ASAP instead of waiting on larger projects that may never come to fruition.

Exactly. As much as I appreciate McGowan's vision for his proposals and downtown in general, I'd just as soon have two 40-story buildings or even eight 10-story buildings for that matter. Aside from the horizontial vs. vertical density argument, as you pointed out, downtown is in dire need of Class A office space. As ecstatic as I am about the progress that's been made in downtown over the last decade, I wish this had been a priority a few years ago as well since it's not exactly feasible right now given current economic conditions.

I've echo'd these sentiments as well in a number of threads. As much as i'd love to see a new signature tower ( I think it would be a moral boost for the region) the resulting revolving door that occured after Met Square opened makes me think otherwise.

I agree with Doug.

But it's not gonna happen. Time to move on.