This thread pertains to the highrise condo building proposed for the corner of Euclid & Lindell in the CWE. Please respond to this if you're interested.





NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT, URBANITES!!! Here is what I e-mailed that clueless organization:



I appreciate your point of view regarding the new tower, but I disagree with you on virtually every level of your opposition. I believe this tower is EXACTLY what that corner needs. It's the corner of Lindell & Euclid, for god's sakes! Right now it IS blighted, with a parking garage on one side, a puny dental office another, a SURFACE PARKING LOT on another, and an unsightly vacant lowrise on the other (where the building is proposed). A classy landmark residential tower with streetfront retail will be a lovely entrance to the northern stretch of Euclid Avenue. I live on the same block of Lindell as the proposed development and fully, 110% support the project at its current height of 28 stories. I think density will bring more vitality and more safety to the neighborhood I call home. I look forward to getting hundreds of more neighbors as a result of this sensible development. Your organization has inspired me to rally a coalition in favor of this highrise building (and more like it) so that we can fill in the dead gaps that still dot the CWE's landscape. I know there are many, many people in this neighborhood who would love to see St. Louis live up to its potential of being an exciting, dynamic city again. Building great buildings in high-profile locations is an excellent start. I love city living! Good luck to you in your endeavors.



Don't make me a liar! I want to get a group together who is willing to devote a few Saturdays to canvassing the CWE for signatures IN FAVOR of this development. I spoke with the folks at Opus and they are behind me 100%. We, as the future of St. Louis City, need to get together for a strategic planning meeting. Who's in?

Count me in!

Thanks Jive. Excellent email. You hit it just right. Wish I could be there to support your efforts.

I'll join with you. Let me know when you are ready to hit the streets. I think Opus should give us a tour of their projects for the effort we will put in to support them.

Thanks, Jive - I'm on board.



My problem with this group is that I feel like they've formed this organization for the wrong reasons. I'm in favor of adhering to historic guidelines (under most circumstances), however, these people are more against having shadows cast in their backyards than anything else.

^I agree. When the proposal first came out, they were opposed based on shadows. They conveniently changed it their opposition to the historic district guidelines because they have a little force.

To the historic district argument, I say shove it! What, are we just going to have a perpetually old city? Does everything new have to look old? Don't dynamic cities have an interesting mix of old and new? What a bogus argument. I couldn't resist. Here's my email to them...



Boo! to your intent to block a project that is destined to add vitality, modern design, and NEW RESIDENTS to the CWE! And we wonder why other cities have left St. Louis in the dust? This proposed tower will be a positive addition to the neighborhood, adding a new landmark to our skyline on what is currently a WASTED use of space.



What I find harmful is the pervading NIMBYism that continues to hold St. Louis back when opportunities for improvement are glaring us in the face.



I applaud your commitment to the neighborhood, but I feel your opposition is misguided. I intend to do everything in my power to support this development.





Your equally concerned neighbor,

JV

OOHHHHHHH WHY CAN I NOT BE LIKE 15 YEARS OLDER AND IN ST. LOUIS??????? I WANNA JOIN BUT I CAN'T.

ComandanteCero wrote:not to pee in your guys' cheerios. But aren't there more serious and pressing issues affecting the city you could put your energies towards? Not to act all high and might or anything, but helping a developer get a project done seems kind of low on the "save the world" list of priorities.



just my 2 cents.

As someone who is deeply passionate about the city, I think this is VERY worthy of our energy. St. Louis has been slow to attract developers, and now that it's finally beginning to happen, our residents organize a movement to prevent it on the grounds that "its not within the guidelines of the historic district"??? I think this represents far more than a single development... it's about embracing CHANGE and GROWTH and looking FORWARD. There are lots of issues that face this city, but I think progressive urban development is worth fighting for.



Besides that, as a resident of the city, I am entitled to speak up about issues that I feel are important to the future well-being of the city and neighborhood. I fail to see how our support of this project detracts from any other important issues, so I'm not sure what your point is.

So we need to make a time to meet. Sunday afternoon is good for me. Somewhere in the CWE perhaps?

Okay, how about Sunday, 1:00pm at the Grind in Maryland Plaza. We'll decide how to write the petition and choose a course of action. Can we do this?

We might want to set up an online petition like the one for the Century Building. Hopefully this one will have better results.



Sunday should work for me. I'll be a little hungover (post-Mardi Gras), but I should be able to make it.

STLgasm wrote:As someone who is deeply passionate about the city, I think this is VERY worthy of our energy. St. Louis has been slow to attract developers, and now that it's finally beginning to happen, our residents organize a movement to prevent it on the grounds that "its not within the guidelines of the historic district"??? I think this represents far more than a single development... it's about embracing CHANGE and GROWTH and looking FORWARD. There are lots of issues that face this city, but I think progressive urban development is worth fighting for.



Besides that, as a resident of the city, I am entitled to speak up about issues that I feel are important to the future well-being of the city and neighborhood. I fail to see how our support of this project detracts from any other important issues, so I'm not sure what your point is.

not being on the ground, it's hard for me to gauge how much of a threat this group actually represents to the project. Having sat in on many planning commission meetings and the sort, it seems that unless neighbors raise a fatal objection (i.e "you mr. politician will be known as the person who brought in section 8 housing into our pristine subdivision" (or some such hogwash)), projects usually go through without much of a hitch (even when at times their complaints have seemed valid, and they have nice fat signature filled petitions). From the way the different politicians have acted and spoken on this issue, it sounds like the project will probably go through....



In other words is this group making enough headway to warrant a counter-weight (beyond the developer, and favorable attitudes from the city officials towards upper class development)?

The project will go through, almost without question. It has all the funding, political support and market demand that is necessary to make it a go. I just want to show Opus that there are many people in the community who appreciate their efforts here. I have a feeling this isn't their last project in STL. But the reception they get from CWE'ers is going to be key.



I think DeBaliviere is right about the online petition. There is always http://www.petitiononline.com that is a great resource. I think our brief Sunday meeting should focus on how to introduce and word the petition so as to encompass all the elements we are promoting. I'd rather not discuss it on this forum, as there could be haters lurking in our midst!

Here's a link to the site that hosted the Century petition. We should agree upon the language of how we want it to read:



http://www.petitiononline.com/

^Exactly. I just found that. I really would like to meet in person to nail down the language of the petition. I do know for a fact that Pete Rothschild is a supporter of this project. If we could somehow guage the attitudes of other business owners, that could be helpful. I would imagine most commercial tenants would favor having more customers nearby.

Sunday works for me. I'll be there.

I like theses names:



Urbanists for Logical Progress

Urban Growth Coalition

City Lovers United for Progress

Preservationists for Logical Progress



any other ideas?

Citizens for Rational Development

Responsible Citizens for Development

^Great. I love Responsible Citizens for Development. Keep 'em coming. Let's get a sense of who's coming on Sunday. Sound off!