urbanSTL

MidcoastSTL wrote:I talked to them about a few things.



They need 40% to start construction and according to the board and the rep I talked to they are halfway there with the ones that are "held". The process is 2500.00 down and then you go to contract in 7 days. At that point 5% is put down with the rest due at closing.



She said once they start construction they will hopefully use 2 cranes to build the tower and it should take 18 months.



I askd her what type of retail they were going for. On th brochure there is a generic sign about an organic grocer and on the lcd tv's I saw clothing stores like BCBG etc. When I asked her, she said nothing is finalized but they have talked to Trader Joes and they are interested.

Ok, so I went down to the sales center today for Skyhouse and spoke to one of the sales reps who was extremely knowledgeable about the project as well as the whole scape of downtown in general. He gave me a bunch of great info, some not pertaining so much to this project but very cool none the less.



HERE WE GO! (sorry about gramatical errors, I'm very excited to get this all down)



The old drycleaners on the corner where skyhouse is located is going to be demolished in a month. This will be immediately followed by an intense 2 month clean up period monitored by the EPA (It's a drycleaners = not environmentally friendly). After the two month clean up period, construction can follow as soon as possible.



The construction loan for the project, and subsequent construction, is contingent upon a 40% pre-sale of the project. The gentleman stated that as of right now they are "just over" 20%. This is an amazing number, however, because the sales center was just opened 2 weeks ago, and the actual grand opening of the skyhouse for sales isn't until this Saturday during the Downtown Living Tour.



There will be retail space on the ground-floor facing Washington, which the sales rep stated is "currently set-up for a grocery store." When pressed slightly further, he said that they want (and have been in talks with) an organic foods grocer. He stated that two they are currently talking with are Trader Joes and Whole Foods Market.



He pointed out the tiered design of the balconies which are facing East(so as to maintain a line of sight for each balcony), a subtle design element that I had not noticed on the renderings, but which looks absolutely stunning on the model in the sales center. Every unit will have its own private balcony.



They have not recieved a final height for the building yet. It will be 22 stories tall, and the normal units will have 9' heigh cielings. The upper, more luxurious units will have taller cielings though, and there are extra design elements on the top which will add height. I had read that zoning for the plot stipulated a maximum height of 250', but the rep said that he thought it will be anywhere between 230' - 280' ish.



As a side note, he also said that a new Wallgreens is going up downtown in the very near future, something I had yet to hear. In addition, he said that the Schnucks is basically a done deal as well, they have just not announced it yet.



AND HERE IS THE BEST PART (I had to make him repeat this by the way, as I was sure he couldn't have said this. This is St. Louis Right???)



The company which is developing Skyhouse has bought and is in control of "several" more prime plots of land in downtown, and is currently going to develop more towers contingent upon the success of Skyhouse! The sales rep would not state any specific information regarding possible future towers (height, design elements, etc.) but did say that he had seen preliminary renderings of the new possible towers and is very excited! I can't believe they have allready bought several new plots and have preliminary renderings.



GOD I HOPE SKYHOUSE KILLS AND SELLS OUT QUICKLY!