Spring Street Lofts- 3693 Forest Park Ave.

bonwich · PostMay 01, 2007#12007-05-01T20:35+00:00

Corner of spring. Former hat factory, best I can tell.

They're tearing off the remuddling stucco -- fairly carefully, it appears -- and there's some cool brickwork and real live windows underneath.

Anyone know the plans for the building?

debaliviere · PostMay 02, 2007#22007-05-02T13:34+00:00

I don't know, but it did go to the Preservation Board back in October:

http://www.stlouis.missouri.org/citygov ... seyMfg.pdf

If renovated, it would be a nice addition to the neighborhood like the Aquinas Institute has been.

PostFeb 13, 2008#32008-02-13T19:10+00:00

Drove by earlier today - all of the cladding has been removed and renovation work appears to be underway. A sign on the front says "Open during remodeling," but I couldn't tell what the business is.

stlcardsblues1989 · PostFeb 14, 2008#42008-02-14T03:12+00:00

Anywhere I can find pictures?

rbb · PostFeb 14, 2008#52008-02-14T12:57+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:Drove by earlier today - all of the cladding has been removed and renovation work appears to be underway. A sign on the front says "Open during remodeling," but I couldn't tell what the business is.

According to Yahoo!, that building houses Victoria Products Inc.

[EDIT]As you can see from the pic below, it also houses Leader Manufacturing Co Inc. Sounds like a nice arrangement for the two companies.

And according to Geo St. Louis, the building is owned by M & M Enterprises, also listed as a resident of that address.

There's a picture of the building (pre-renovation, of course) on the DA+ website:

-RBB

Expat · PostFeb 15, 2008#62008-02-15T14:10+00:00

Wow, why would anybody at any time think that reclad was an improvement? Glad it will be coming off!

jlblues · PostFeb 15, 2008#72008-02-15T21:46+00:00

Expat wrote:Wow, why would anybody at any time think that reclad was an improvement? Glad it will be coming off!

Security and little maintenance required...

stlcardsblues1989 · PostFeb 16, 2008#82008-02-16T00:01+00:00

The entrance looks fairly ornamented. I wonder if the rest of the building is like that.

debaliviere · PostFeb 17, 2008#92008-02-17T15:07+00:00

STLCardsBlues1989 wrote:The entrance looks fairly ornamented. I wonder if the rest of the building is like that.

It looks like your typical loft building - if you've ever seen the renovated building immediately to its east that houses the Aquinas Institute, it's pretty similar to that.

stlcardsblues1989 · PostFeb 17, 2008#102008-02-17T18:26+00:00

It reminds me of that skinny building on Washington Avenue that had the verticle stripes like that. Fortunately that facade was taken off.

framer · PostFeb 18, 2008#112008-02-18T06:03+00:00

If it turns out anywhere near as nice as the Aquinas building, I think we'll all be thrilled.

debaliviere · PostAug 14, 2008#122008-08-14T16:05+00:00

Update from Mayor Slay:

Forest Park at Spring: Some of the several McGowan brothers (of Washington Avenue Loft District success) are expanding their efforts west to the property on the northeast corner of Forest Park Boulevard and Spring Avenue. For some months, passersby have watched as the “modern” façade has been removed from the building, revealing its original historic character. The McGowans removed the façade — even though they do not yet own the building — to enhance its eligibility for listing on the National Register. The building has now been listed. The McGowans plan to develop the property as rental residential loft apartments and retail, and are discussing occupancy of the retail space with one of the City’s successful minority entrepreneurs.

u2acro · PostAug 15, 2008#132008-08-15T15:42+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:Update from Mayor Slay:

Forest Park at Spring: Some of the several McGowan brothers (of Washington Avenue Loft District success) are expanding their efforts west to the property on the northeast corner of Forest Park Boulevard and Spring Avenue. For some months, passersby have watched as the “modern” façade has been removed from the building, revealing its original historic character. The McGowans removed the façade — even though they do not yet own the building — to enhance its eligibility for listing on the National Register. The building has now been listed. The McGowans plan to develop the property as rental residential loft apartments and retail, and are discussing occupancy of the retail space with one of the City’s successful minority entrepreneurs.

That's great news! I'd love to see more lofts around the University. Some of those warehouses are (or have the potential to be) beautiful!

I also love that Council Plaza will be getting some love. It's a great area for business with awesome visibility. Such a shame that it (and the apartments) has been in such disrepair. I really hope the right things are done with this.

flopoerich · PostNov 03, 2008#142008-11-03T05:13+00:00

They are still working on the building, albeit very slowly...Victoria Products is moving from it, to another location off Hampton and West Park I believe...

PostNov 03, 2008#152008-11-03T21:21+00:00

Here are some pictures from today

debaliviere · PostNov 03, 2008#162008-11-03T22:00+00:00

Wow, looks like a lot of damage to the brick on the upper floors.

flopoerich · PostNov 03, 2008#172008-11-03T22:03+00:00

In this pre-renovation shot, you can see how bad the Aquinas Building looked... Let's hope they can fix this one up too...

jlblues · PostNov 03, 2008#182008-11-03T22:12+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:Wow, looks like a lot of damage to the brick on the upper floors.

That is what happens to brick over the long term in a humid environment when you place a material on it that absorbs and traps moisture, and you don't maintain it.

flopoerich · PostNov 09, 2008#192008-11-09T20:08+00:00

Some scaffolding was up all week, with workers working away...

stlcardsblues1989 · PostNov 10, 2008#202008-11-10T07:06+00:00

Looks like it was a beautiful building. Hopefully it can be again.

It would be nice to see what the building originally looked like. Anybody know where I can find a pic online? Thanks.

debaliviere · PostNov 14, 2008#212008-11-14T15:12+00:00

Little blurb from the Business Journal:

Tim McGowan’s McGowan Brothers Development bought a 75,837-square-foot warehouse at 3693 Forest Park Ave. in St. Louis for $2.15 million that it plans to convert to apartments. The owner and tenant in the building, Victoria Products Inc., a custom screen printing and embroidery business, is relocating to 5727 W. Park Ave. Hilliker Corp. represented both sides in the deal.

Good to hear that the former owner/tenant is staying in the city.

flopoerich · PostNov 24, 2008#222008-11-24T05:50+00:00

There is a appeal posting up in front of the building, it mentions an interior/exterior renovation along with a parking garage.

debaliviere · PostDec 01, 2008#232008-12-01T15:03+00:00

As part of the strong rental trend, McGowan Brothers is turning a building on Forest Park Avenue into 48 loft apartments. The building, which McGowan Brothers has had under contract for two years, housed a custom screen printing business and is next to St. Louis University.

Link

ben1040 · PostDec 17, 2008#242008-12-17T22:53+00:00

They've cleaned up the brick on the east half of the building, so far. Zipped by too quick to take a picture, but the difference is like night and day.

developer · PostFeb 15, 2009#252009-02-15T22:27+00:00

Disclaimer: I am part of McGowan Brothers Development, the developer on this project, and wanted to give a little bit of info on the building.

We are developing the 2nd and 3rd floors into 48units, 1,2,3 and 4 BR market rate apartments geared towards students and young proffessionals. The first floor will consist of parking and almost 10,000 square feet of commercial/retail space The project is called Spring Street Lofts; http://www.springstreetlofts.com. Our site is still being worked on, but should be able to provide a bit of information to those interested in the project. We are opening in late July of 2009 for the Fall semester.