Retail Rally: What's Next For Downtown St. Louis?

roger wyoming II · PostJan 30, 2015#5512015-01-30T19:35+00:00

^ The 4643 Lindell tower by OPUS

moorlander wrote:What about here? This building is vacant right?

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.626702, ... PCRu9Q!2e0

Thanks for the heads up.... I knew that ad firm had down-sized a couple years ago but I didn't know until looking it up that they just merged with a CWE firm and will be moving there. I think there was talk of maybe getting a restaurant in the space when they were down-sizing. Beautiful spot.

PostFeb 01, 2015#5522015-02-01T16:51+00:00

Looks like Lion's Choice will be expanding again and attempting to appeal to young adults....

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... e28f4.html

Perhaps they'll re-open downtown.

wabash · PostFeb 01, 2015#5532015-02-01T17:41+00:00

They were a Downtown mainstay for so long. Would be good to get them back Downtown.

jstriebel · PostFeb 02, 2015#5542015-02-02T05:12+00:00

Where did Lion's Choice used to be downtown, and how long ago was it that they left?

JNOnSTL · PostFeb 02, 2015#5552015-02-02T13:52+00:00

Lion's Choice was at the SW corner of 6th & Pine, where the windows are always covered by Muny ads.

They closed at some point around 2007-2008, I believe. I can't understand why they closed, during lunch the place would be packed.

debaliviere · PostFeb 02, 2015#5562015-02-02T14:10+00:00

I had always heard there was a dispute with the landlord. It would be great to have them back.

roger wyoming II · PostFeb 02, 2015#5572015-02-02T19:50+00:00

Looks like this Denver-based Punchbowl Social is expanding into several cites... it opened last month in Detroit and will be part of a mixed-use project on the Cleveland Waterfront opening later this year:

Tucked into the northeast corner of a 242-unit apartment building, Punch Bowl will feature a rooftop deck, eight bowling lanes, three private karaoke rooms and activities ranging from vintage video games to pingpong and marbles. The restaurant will help anchor a new entertainment district that includes a Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, a dueling-piano bar called The Big Bang and a seasonal nightclub near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River....

In December, Punch Bowl opened a 24,000-square-foot restaurant in downtown Detroit, on the first floor of a parking structure built by Cleveland Cavaliers owner and Rust Belt real estate investor Dan Gilbert. So far, that venue is breaking company records. Now Thompson has two Chicago-area projects in the works, plus aspirations to expand into Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Seattle and San Francisco.

I think something like this located on or near Wash Ave. could be a bit of a hipster counter-point to BPV and help gain some momentum back; of course, we have that mystery joint coming to the M/X which some people here say will blow our minds

STL_w_STYLE · PostFeb 02, 2015#5582015-02-02T20:27+00:00

An inside source says it (Lions Choice) will be within the cortex development...

sirshankalot · PostFeb 02, 2015#5592015-02-02T20:30+00:00

Punchbowl Social will be?

south compton · PostFeb 02, 2015#5602015-02-02T21:47+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:Looks like this Denver-based Punchbowl Social is expanding into several cites... it opened last month in Detroit and will be part of a mixed-use project on the Cleveland Waterfront opening later this year:

Tucked into the northeast corner of a 242-unit apartment building, Punch Bowl will feature a rooftop deck, eight bowling lanes, three private karaoke rooms and activities ranging from vintage video games to pingpong and marbles. The restaurant will help anchor a new entertainment district that includes a Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, a dueling-piano bar called The Big Bang and a seasonal nightclub near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River....

In December, Punch Bowl opened a 24,000-square-foot restaurant in downtown Detroit, on the first floor of a parking structure built by Cleveland Cavaliers owner and Rust Belt real estate investor Dan Gilbert. So far, that venue is breaking company records. Now Thompson has two Chicago-area projects in the works, plus aspirations to expand into Dallas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Seattle and San Francisco.

I think something like this located on or near Wash Ave. could be a bit of a hipster counter-point to BPV and help gain some momentum back; of course, we have that mystery joint coming to the M/X which some people here say will blow our minds

Wash Ave already has Flamingo Bowl. This sounds somewhat different, but not different enough for both to survive. Plus, hipsters bowl at Saratoga Lanes.

dweebe · PostFeb 02, 2015#5612015-02-02T21:51+00:00

debaliviere wrote:I had always heard there was a dispute with the landlord. It would be great to have them back.

Good. That place was stupid busy at times: like lines out the door and nowhere to sit.

Ebsy · PostFeb 03, 2015#5622015-02-03T05:51+00:00

I don't particularly like Lion's Choice roast beef, but I'm glad they are returning.

framer · PostFeb 03, 2015#5632015-02-03T06:04+00:00

Call me a cretin, but I actually prefer Arby's.

moorlander · PostFeb 03, 2015#5642015-02-03T12:47+00:00

Cretin!

Luscombe · PostFeb 03, 2015#5652015-02-03T14:01+00:00

I went to Lion's choice shortly after I moved to St. Louis and couldn't believe someplace was actually still using styrofoam. Do they still do that?

moorlander · PostFeb 04, 2015#5662015-02-04T17:01+00:00

Yes Lion's Chioce, like many other fast food chains and gas stations use styrofoam cups for cold and hot drinks.

Anglophile · PostFeb 05, 2015#5672015-02-05T20:39+00:00

I'm seeing quite a bit of renovation work going on inside the old Mosaic space. I was under the impression that the Michon's steakhouse plan had fallen through. Does anyone know anything about this?

kinger · PostFeb 05, 2015#5682015-02-05T21:30+00:00

Mango relocating to former Mosaic.

Anglophile · PostFeb 05, 2015#5692015-02-05T22:36+00:00

kinger wrote:Mango relocating to former Mosaic.

Ugh. Starting to get really tired of downtown's deck-shuffling without actually adding anything new.

robertn42 · PostFeb 05, 2015#5702015-02-05T22:41+00:00

^Funny, they are jumping from one former Mosaic spot to another, but they will have much more visibility here and I hope the reactivate the "lounge" area. It's also good for Wash Ave. to have that entire corner active.

Sidenote, I had dinner at Mango 4 weeks ago and it was excellent. If you haven't been its worth putting on your list.

bprop · PostFeb 05, 2015#5712015-02-05T23:39+00:00

^ That area up by 11th and Lucas is really hurting. Mango, McMurphy's, the soup place, the popcorn store, the "all things Italian" store. (Maybe something moved into the popcorn store since?)

downtown2007 · PostFeb 05, 2015#5722015-02-05T23:53+00:00

Yeah. Bellas Frozen Yogurt has been in the spot for a year and a half.

roger wyoming II · PostFeb 06, 2015#5732015-02-06T00:02+00:00

^^ Infilling those surface lots on Lucas with mixed-use would be a huge help for that area. I also think the lot b/w Washington and Lucas in front of Mango would make for a great beer garden or even public green with active programming.... maybe like the container pop-up retail spots some cities feature.

bprop · PostFeb 06, 2015#5742015-02-06T00:54+00:00

downtown2007 wrote:Yeah. Bellas Frozen Yogurt has been in the spot for a year and a half.

Ah, that's right. It's usually closed when I pass (early lunch).

kbshapiro · PostFeb 06, 2015#5752015-02-06T17:23+00:00

kinger wrote:Mango relocating to former Mosaic.

Net zero for WashAve but very smart move on their part IMO.

Retail Rally: What's Next For Downtown St. Louis?

Choose Display Mode