urbanSTL

Positive investment, true. It's sad, but this is a terrible design. Except for manufacturing and research, the single campus model appears to be on its way to becoming a relic all across this country.

RGA is a prominent F500 financial firm. If it insists on building a suburban campus, shouldn't RGA want signature buildings on its campus? These are not "signature". Awful. They look like Maryville Centre buildings. The base of the building looks like a ripoff from the base of H&R Block's HQ's in downtown Kansas City.

I could be wrong, but my hunch is that RGA used local and older architects, who are more likely to be conservative in design in my opinion, and the design is likely limited by Chesterfield's strict height restrictions.

It's great that jobs are going to be created by RGA; and RGA, no doubt, is showing its commitment to STL, however, this design appears not to be too distinguished from any of those late 90's - early 2000's era buildings in Chesterfield.

They are terrible. Step it up, St. Louis!

^Agreed.

The issue is not the design. The issue is RGA leadership either not seeing or not caring about the relationship between St. Louis' lackluster growth and their locational decision. St. Louis will never reach its world class potential as long as reginal business leaders make such choices.

The problem is the design.

All across this country cutting edge designs are going up - even in places such as Oklahoma City, Austin, Pittsburgh and Nashville - smaller regions than St. Louis. And I won't mention Charlotte and yes.........Kansas City. Cutting-edge designs get national and international press. Cutting-edge designs help people to view your city as hip and modern.

While people are certainly entitled to their own opinions and perspectives, I personally think anyone who doesn't see a problem with this simple shoe box design only helps to underscore why St. Louis tends to be a laggard in almost everything.

While other cities are pushing world-class designs and architecture, St. Louis is designing your standard shoe boxes and "traditional" designs. It drives me crazy.

It's just my opinion and observation.

I work at an office in Creve Coeur with about 250 people. I know probably 150 of them on a first name basis. I can almost guarantee you that if you asked all 150 of them, 130 of them would not care in the least if we moved to the city, and those same 130 would probably prefer we stay in the county because that's where they live. I would rather work in the city in an office tower, myself. But you guys acting like the company is being inconsiderate of their employees is a tad laughable.

stlien wrote:

juiceinkirkwood wrote:But you guys acting like the company is being inconsiderate of their employees is a tad laughable.

I dont think thats the case. I think it was more or less about attracting new talent, not about being considerate to current employees.

Right. I think the consensus is that current employees live in the county and want to stay there.

^Bingo. St. Louis companies do not understand that the region does not grow in population because it does not grow jobs and the region does not grow jobs because it is often perceived as backward (at best) or ignored (at worst) by people who create business and job opportunities. A word class new RGA hq designed by a great architect means far less than if it would locate in a normal office building in Clayton or downtown, thereby supporting more shopping, dining and retail within walking distance.

Regarding the building design, it looks like pure mid-60s, retro-modernism. It’s midrise, not overly ostentatious, and unoriginal. This is probably part of RGA’s message to its market base, that it is both highly professional yet low-cost in the sense that it monitors the bottom line as a high priority. If they were to put up a grandiose building in one of the Central Business Districts, it could come off as indulgent. Doubtful, but possible…

But what I find fascinating about it is that its modernist design would’ve fit in 100% perfectly in the original concept for the Gateway Mall. When the Arch was being built, the “powers that be” tore up much of what Downtown STL used to be to build both the Arch Grounds and the Gateway Mall. While the Arch Grounds are home to our iconic national landmark, the goal was to have the Paris-esque Gateway Mall so new businesses would line their corporate HQs along either side, and as the renderings show doing so in a way that would be a pure modernist haven.

Where was once envisioned this…

And this…

We could’ve had this:

But, because business leaders don’t want to put their new corporate HQs in the City and the Central Business District (for reasons varying from the City Corporate Tax to shorter commutes for key executives), we are witnessing a truly bizarre twist to STL’s history: new uber-modernist construction, of the type originally sought to compliment the Gateway Mall, being planned in a green field 25 miles west of Downtown. Doing such eschews Downtown as a whole and particularly negates the Gateway Mall’s intended purpose.

It’s not RGA’s responsibility to locate in the City, far from it. But, was it even an option?

I know Stenger made a line of attack on Dooley for jobs loss, but I think while not out of bounds it was somewhat unfair... the recession wiped out jobs all across the country (particularly in the Rust Belt) and I believe most regions in the US continue to have fewer jobs than at their pre-recession peak; meanwhile, there have been some pretty good corporate office expansions and biotech and other research growth here and Dooley must have had some kind of successful threat to companies if they dared to relocate to downtown (just kiddin!). He certainly was able to play Slay (not kiddin!).

Stream will make the argument that only he as a Republican leader can grow jobs but Stenger will actually benefit from a relatively decent job performance during Dooley's reign, and apparently there is some major news that will be coming out of North Park in a few weeks.

^ I believe the region has already recovered peak office jobs but we're still projected to take a few more years to get to overall job numbers.... certainly manufacturing was a major driver of loss and has a ways to go.