Pulitzer Development 3700 - 3800 Olive

chriss752 · PostAug 31, 2020#1012020-08-31T02:40+00:00

Went by the project today. A few more houses have gone up and the basement for another is coming together. Now that the brick is going on one, these will look a unique compared to other new homes in the City limits.

Once it is completed, this block of Olive will have a nice new housing development on both sides of the street, a renovated Wolfner Building, a new apartment building at the corner of Olive and Vandeventer, and new sidewalks. Truly transformative to the area in my opinion.

I made the security alarm go off when taking this picture because I was partially on the other side of the caution tape.

PostAug 31, 2020#1022020-08-31T21:03+00:00

We now have basic massing for the Michael Maltzan designed apartment building at Olive and Vandeventer. His firm is calling it "On Olive". 4.5-stories in height. Pretty sharp if you ask me.
Link to his website: http://www.mmaltzan.com/projects/on-olive/

Massing...

You can get a feel for the architecture we can expect here from these projects;

quincunx · PostAug 31, 2020#1032020-08-31T21:06+00:00

Interesting!

chriss752 · PostAug 31, 2020#1042020-08-31T21:19+00:00

There's also some renderings of the Wolfner Building rehab. These come from Axi One architects. So I'm not sure if these are current plans or previous.

framer · PostAug 31, 2020#1052020-08-31T21:48+00:00

I'm thrilled to see more contemporary architecture in STL, but I've spent a good amount of time on Maltzan's website, and I have yet to see anything he's done that appeals to me. His stuff looks cheap, and probably won't age well.

sc4mayor · PostAug 31, 2020#1062020-08-31T22:30+00:00

chriss752 wrote: ↑
Aug 31, 2020
We now have basic massing for the Michael Maltzan designed apartment building at Olive and Vandeventer. His firm is calling it "On Olive". 4.5-stories in height. Pretty sharp if you ask me.
Link to his website: http://www.mmaltzan.com/projects/on-olive/

Massing...

I like it so far!

imran · PostAug 31, 2020#1072020-08-31T23:37+00:00

The seemingly sparse windows facing the sidewalks kinda fails the Jane Jacobs ‘eyes on the street’ criterion for me. A little better on the Vandeventer facade but honestly if the street level treatment on vandeventer is simply tiers of landscaping, that to me is almost criminal.
Interesting, convoluting angles otherwise etc etc

I do have to admit pleased that I don’t see a curb cut anywhere. The garage entrance is from the alley hopefully

chriss752 · PostAug 31, 2020#1082020-08-31T23:53+00:00

Supposedly, the building is pushed 6FT above the sidewalk to be level with some floor in Wolfner. It’s also 6FT above to push units above the busy street of Vandeventer.

imran · PostSep 01, 2020#1092020-09-01T00:06+00:00

If they say so

but it seems to betray a certain disdain for the pedestrians walking up and down vandeventer. Residents living in luxury need to be insulated from the riff raff after all. Amiright?

chriss752 · PostSep 01, 2020#1102020-09-01T00:07+00:00

imran wrote:If they say so but it seems to betray a certain disdain for the pedestrians walking up and down vandeventer. Residents living in luxury need to be insulated from the riff raff after all. Amiright?

Completely understand. I would like it a bit more if they could squeeze in a small retail space or something to break up the blank wall. This also has something to do with the parking garage since the garage is only about 4ft under ground.

imran · PostSep 01, 2020#1112020-09-01T00:10+00:00

Chris I know you are correct on all accounts. I just wish developers prioritized ( or were required to prioritize) the urban environment more when building in the City.

symphonicpoet · PostSep 02, 2020#1122020-09-02T05:43+00:00

^I personally love it. I bet the courtyard will be one of the most lovely escapes in town. The whole thin reminds me a bit of Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. It's a sort of fancy-formal Brutalism of which we don't have terribly much, if any. (None quite so daring that I can recall.) A lot will depend on treatment and materials, of course. But the finished products in the pictures and the general budget of the project leave me a great deal of hope. The Vandeventer streetscape is less approachable than the Olive elevation, but the landscape boxes sand shade should soften its impact.

GoHarvOrGoHome · PostSep 02, 2020#1132020-09-02T14:17+00:00

I can't complain too much about a unique and relatively dense building like this, but there is a missed opportunity here for some kind of retail element on Vandeventer. The immediate area is desperate for some street activity, and this building as is won't contribute much.

Laife Fulk · PostSep 02, 2020#1142020-09-02T15:16+00:00

At the same time, is there really any demand for more retail along this stretch of Vandeventer? Yes SLU is right next door, but there's plenty of retail opportunities already available nearby for any business that wanted to be near campus.

dredger · PostSep 02, 2020#1152020-09-02T17:57+00:00

The reality is there will be less demand for retail space going forward and a little more demand for curbside short term drop off parking everywhere. In addition, covid showed how fragile businesses can be when it comes to food and drink.

imran · PostSep 02, 2020#1162020-09-02T21:23+00:00

I guess it doesn’t even have to be retail. Any sidewalk-facing function can work to activate the streetscape. Like a leasing office ,mail room ,lounge area, gym space etc

GoHarvOrGoHome · PostSep 03, 2020#1172020-09-03T18:01+00:00

Any of those uses would have the flexibility to be converted to retail later if needed. A blank parking garage wall doesn't offer that.

chriss752 · PostNov 01, 2020#1182020-11-01T23:51+00:00

Olive has been closed between Vadeventer and Spring for a while now for major infrastructure improvements. I walked down there today to get some pictures of the homes. The "model" houses next to Wolfner are looking good. Pool has bene in for some time too. There are also three homes under construction on the East end of the site. As more homes are built, I can imagine that the "community" will feel dense and close-knit inside.

quincunx · PostDec 12, 2020#1192020-12-12T15:53+00:00

7 $250k building apps submitted

framer · PostDec 12, 2020#1202020-12-12T18:12+00:00

As far as I can tell, they haven't even started marketing this project yet.

symphonicpoet · PostDec 13, 2020#1212020-12-13T01:00+00:00

^Given everything else going on in the housing market I doubt they'll need to market it. It'll probably about sell itself.

urbanitas · PostDec 13, 2020#1222020-12-13T03:47+00:00

I really feel like this development screams out for a bird's-eye drone shot or two...*coughs*

chriss752 · PostDec 13, 2020#1232020-12-13T03:51+00:00

urbanitas wrote:I really feel like this development screams out for a bird's-eye drone shot or two...*coughs*

Monday I could take the drone up. Depends on the wind. Temperature, according to the drone manual, must be above 32 degrees to function properly.

PostDec 13, 2020#1242020-12-13T03:55+00:00

If anyone has any recommendations or requests of where I could take my drone to fly it for pictures, just put it in the thread you want or message me.

sc4mayor · PostDec 14, 2020#1252020-12-14T16:01+00:00

I would definitely love to see a drone view of this project.

Pulitzer Development 3700 - 3800 Olive

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