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

roger wyoming II · PostMay 22, 2015#6512015-05-22T17:58+00:00

^ one article mentioned lack of foot traffic for the closing.

elsewhere in Downtown West, the Boom Boom Room will be opening in the old Lola space. It looks like this may be connected to the closed Jumpin' Juniper venue in Maplewood and could be a bit of fun.

http://www.saucemagazine.com/blog/?p=40797

708 will have burlesque soon down in the Landing as well.

robertn42 · PostMay 22, 2015#6522015-05-22T19:19+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:^ one article mentioned lack of foot traffic for the closing.

elsewhere in Downtown West, the Boom Boom Room will be opening in the old Lola space. It looks like this may be connected to the closed Jumpin' Juniper venue in Maplewood and could be a bit of fun.

http://www.saucemagazine.com/blog/?p=40797

708 will have burlesque soon down in the Landing as well.

Edmond's place (whether it was 15, a steakhouse, a club, a bar, whatever) had a much better chance when that little pocket of DT West was nearing a critical mass with the Tin Can, the bar next to the Tin Can, Pepper Lounge, and Nectar all open. The surrounding closures hurt (especially Tin Can) and Edmond's location was left on a island out there.

It is also a strange walk from some of the denser areas of the loft district. My place was on 15th and Locust and that walk was pretty sketchy late at night with all the dead space.

pat · PostMay 22, 2015#6532015-05-22T19:55+00:00

He should've put it by the ballpark. On 7th St or 4th street. I don't get why more players haven't done that. Pujols, Edmonds, Ozzie all should have put their restaurants close to the ballpark. That's their market.

south compton · PostMay 26, 2015#6542015-05-26T19:33+00:00

pat wrote:He should've put it by the ballpark. On 7th St or 4th street. I don't get why more players haven't done that. Pujols, Edmonds, Ozzie all should have put their restaurants close to the ballpark. That's their market.

J. Bucks is close to the ballpark and has sustained, but I don't think they do that great of business. Mike Shannon's has some history/tradition on its side, but its not too hard to get a table on a non-gameday. Budweiser Brewhouse and Cardinals Nation are already serving up over-priced mediocre bar food next to the stadium. Unfortunately, I don't think an Ozzies or Pujols 5 would last too long in this market.

wabash · PostMay 26, 2015#6552015-05-26T20:28+00:00

Lumiere is now using the Ozzie's name for their sports bar, which in my opinion seems like a logical partnership.

roger wyoming II · PostMay 26, 2015#6562015-05-26T22:33+00:00

With the impressive number of restaurant openings coming over the summer, I assume we'll reach a bit of a new, post-BPV normal. So what's next? With the Arcade-Wright and a couple other projects bringing more residents and activity, hopefully we can get something serving residents needs... a drugstore, modest-sized clothing store, etc. Are we getting close to being able to land those?

I wouldn't be surprised to see M/X land something nice for the rear before too long. And it would be great to have quality ground floor retail as part of a Chemical rehab.

Presbyterian · PostMay 28, 2015#6572015-05-28T03:03+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:I wouldn't be surprised to see M/X land something nice for the rear before too long.

Umm...

zink · PostMay 28, 2015#6582015-05-28T13:30+00:00

NYC is facing similar "doom and gloom" problems with business store fronts:
http://www.newyorker.com/business/curre ... st-village

Its closing leaves four shuttered storefronts on just one block. With their papered-up windows and fading paint, the failed businesses are a depressing sight in an otherwise vibrant neighborhood. Each represents a broken dream of one kind or another.

Abandoned storefronts have long been a hallmark of economic depression and high crime rates, but the West Village doesn’t have either of those. Instead, what it has are extremely high commercial rents, which cause an effect that is not dissimilar. “High-rent blight” happens when rising property values, usually understood as a sign of prosperity, start to inflict damage on the city economics that Jane Jacobs wrote about.

This reminds me of some empty store fronts downtown like on the Nortwest side of tucker and washington. NEVER had a tenant. Why do they keep the rents so high still?

roger wyoming II · PostMay 28, 2015#6592015-05-28T13:54+00:00

^^ I owe you a whoopee-cushion!

^ Heller gave Left Bank Books reduced rent but with his financial problems forced an attempt to try to get market rate but of course he lost the building anyway.... I'm sure there are others that offer lower reduced rent as well. But I agree with you and really wish we had a program offering low rents for local retailers to set up shop downtown to help fill up storefronts and boost foot traffic... Cleveland has a grant program funded by a local bank and downtown stakeholders and things like the smallbox container project offers cheap entry into the downtown market.

I believe the downtown partnership is forming a retail committee so hopefully they come up with and execute some creative ideas.

PostMay 28, 2015#6602015-05-28T15:08+00:00

A couple items from our peer rust-belters....

A local clothing/outdoor gear retailer is opening up a downtown Cleveland location:

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index ... _index.ssf

A similar local outfit in Detroit opened up shop in their downtown a couple years ago and is doing well.... although it would only taken up a small portion of the buildings street level retail, something like this would be nice as part of a RR/X restoration.

Also in Detroit, the recently opened Vavartos upscale menswear shop is doing quite well so far and it looks like there are going to be some major openings in Gilbert-owned storefronts in the next few months:
http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/i ... g_dan.html

That article has some interesting comments from Gilbert's real estate head on things such as the need to be strategic about placing the right retailer at the right location instead of just focusing on rents and also on how convenient parking is important for downtown workers. etc. but you don't want it to be so convenient that they are not walking on streets and creating retail demand.

moorlander · PostJun 04, 2015#6612015-06-04T18:56+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:Sauce on Side is moving to the Tower @OPOP space.... excellent news! Their old, cramped spot should be able to find a new retailer without too much trouble with the Arcade/Wright opening up and the move will allow for a successful restaurant to grow.

roger wyoming II · PostJun 04, 2015#6622015-06-04T19:14+00:00

The Gyro Compay will also be opening soon caddy corner of Sauce.

Once things are settled in later this month I think I'll have to eat my way through Taze, The Gyro Company & Medina and finish everything off with a dessert calzone topped with Serendpity ice cream. Anyone in?

wabash · PostJun 04, 2015#6632015-06-04T20:10+00:00

8th Street is on a ridiculous tear right now. In chronological order:
OPOP Tower
Death in the Afternoon
Magnolia Hotel
GenAm/New Laclede Gas Building
Sauce on the Side
Gyro Company
Arcade Apartments/Webster U.
720 Olive Apartments

Now if only the Chemical could join in on the fun.

debaliviere · PostJun 04, 2015#6642015-06-04T20:35+00:00

Taze appears to be really close to opening. They installed some cool outdoor picnic tables today, presumably made by Space.

roger wyoming II · PostJun 04, 2015#6652015-06-04T20:53+00:00

wabash wrote:8th Street is on a ridiculous tear right now. In chronological order:
OPOP Tower
Death in the Afternoon
Magnolia Hotel
GenAm/New Laclede Gas Building
Sauce on the Side
Gyro Company
Arcade Apartments/Webster U.
720 Olive Apartments

Now if only the Chemical could join in on the fun.

Interesting observation. And with 8th Street Metrolink Station, it also suggests that this street should be a priority on streetscaping. (I also understand the station itself is in for some kind of renovation but I don't know any details and it might enhance street level entrance and surrounding.) EDIT... almost forgot the entrance of the Convention Center as another important 8th St. node.)

Amos Harris also envisions 7th St. (I think, but maybe its 6th) as sort of a vibrant connector b/w BPV and M/X.

PostJun 08, 2015#6662015-06-08T01:39+00:00

Looks like Keiner East parking garage street level may be in for an upgrade...

http://www.paceproperties.com/Files/Kie ... ochure.pdf

And it looks like Caleco's is out and maybe TGIFriday's. We'll have to see how it turns out but it looks a lot better with the additional glass, etc. and an upgrade around the public improvements makes sense. Not as ambitious as I'd like (i.e. teardown!) but this looks like it might have some promise.

wabash · PostJun 08, 2015#6672015-06-08T03:18+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:Not as ambitious as I'd like (i.e. teardown!)

Seriously. What a complete lack of imagination. The added glass and higher corner retail facades are improvements. But there's not whole lot here beyond painting concrete differing shades of grey on one side and black and white on another. The various grey tones might even make it look even more drab, sterile and oppressive than it currently is:

St.Louis1764 · PostJun 08, 2015#6682015-06-08T05:33+00:00

This would look much better if they made it more of a top notch green garage with all sorts of assorted plants that just looks way too bland or tear it down replace it with a more modern garage. The city really needs to up its game on downtown projects & renovations.

debaliviere · PostJun 08, 2015#6692015-06-08T15:29+00:00

On Pace's website, TGI Friday's is listed as an anchor tenant, along with Jimmy John's and Panera. Hardee's is also listed, although it's in the adjacent garage. Hooters and Calico's are not mentioned. Not sure if that's an oversight or an indication of something else.

roger wyoming II · PostJun 08, 2015#6702015-06-08T15:54+00:00

^ The flyer shows the Caleco's space as available for lease and the TGIF's space as potenitally available for lease. The PNC Bank space on the Broadway and Pine corner is also shown as available for lease.

arch city · PostJun 08, 2015#6712015-06-08T16:19+00:00

St.Louis1764 wrote:This would look much better if they made it more of a top notch green garage with all sorts of assorted plants that just looks way too bland or tear it down replace it with a more modern garage. The city really needs to up its game on downtown projects & renovations.

Although it looks better than the existing garage, I agree totally.

Considering Keiner Plaza and the Arch grounds are undergoing a major "green" and connectivity transformation, it would be great if both garages went green. I like the sort of retro look with the planters, but a green garage would set the area off even more so.

A green garage (or garages) could give St. Louis the opportunity to have one of the greenest downtowns with the Arch grounds, Citygarden and Gateway Mall.

Green Parking Garage - Avignon, France

urban_dilettante · PostJun 08, 2015#6722015-06-08T17:07+00:00

^ actually i think just adding a green roof to the planned upgrade would do wonders.

arch city · PostJun 08, 2015#6732015-06-08T17:11+00:00

urban_dilettante wrote:^ actually i think just adding a green roof to the planned upgrade would do wonders.

That too. Anything that makes it greener.

debaliviere · PostJun 08, 2015#6742015-06-08T18:26+00:00

The "green garage" concept doesn't seem like it would be particularly expensive to implement.

I'd prefer something like LCD lighting, but greening the garages up could be pretty cool.

roger wyoming II · PostJun 08, 2015#6752015-06-08T19:55+00:00

My apologies for posting the wrong pic on what the owners plan to do with the Keiner garages.... here is the correct one!

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