urbanSTL

There's a Clayco trailer on the southeast corner, and construction fencing is going up.

Went to the first official event at Lewis Rice's new office at 600 Washington. It is absolutely beautiful. Very modern and open, and full of glass. Also, I never realized that the 25th floor has a glass atrium and patio. They have turned it into a really awesome event space.

Also, lots of work appears to be happening on the St. Louis Centre portion with a major piece of the glass canopy removed at 6th and Washington. Let's hope that that bridge on Washington comes down soon!

^Yeah, the Lewis Rice space is incredible. It will undoubtedly be featured in several interior design write-ups. Top shelf all the way.

Does anyone have any pictures of that, it sounds great. I would love to see it.

Framer wrote:^Yeah, the Lewis Rice space is incredible. It will undoubtedly be featured in several interior design write-ups. Top shelf all the way.

They really did a fantastic job. One of the coolest offices I've seen in STL.

Hopefully more firms will want to join them in One City Centre.

Per the BJ - Financing closed today. And, wait for it, 600+ of the 800 parking spots are already pre-leased!


http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... ily76.html

I don't care how they spin it but I think this project is a huge missed opportunity. I know I have said this before but I can't stop complaining about it.

While far from ideal, consider that repositioning the mall as a parking garage has had the positive effects:

1. Allowed the tower above to be rehabbed due to onsite parking and kept a large firm downtown. Also providing more decent Class-A office space.
2. Provided parking for a large law firm that could have moved to Clayton.
3. Removing the largest eyesore from downtown and in it's place providing 100,000 sq. ft. of ground-level retail. (that is a huge amount FYI - I wouldn't expect it to be leased quickly)
4. Providing hope for the removal of the Washington Ave. skybridge by fall.

The fact is, land values just aren't high enough downtown and there is not enough public transportation infrastructure to discourage parking garages yet. Hopefully some day we will reach that, but in the meantime we need to find ways to fill and build our downtown to reach that point.

The article said:

Backers of the $37.5 million transformation of the vacant St. Louis Centre mall downtown closed on financing Friday, and construction on a new parking garage will be completed this FALL.

No way it will be done that quickly, right?

Alex Ihnen wrote:

Downtown2007 wrote:I don't care how they spin it but I think this project is a huge missed opportunity. I know I have said this before but I can't stop complaining about it.

But with a possible 100,000 sq ft of retail and the parking lot basically leased, what's not to like? Whether there is too much parking downtown or not, I guess some didn't think it was in the right place.

Because we have failed to jump at the opportunity to create more density to this portion of downtown. Instead of focusing on a long term solution like adding residential or office space we opted for a short term solution resulting in a parking garage without considering that there is already plenty of parking available and a metrolink station is right across the street. Seriously, a parking garage next to a metro station? We might as well advertise it as a park and ride.

We are also adding another 100,000 sqft in retail space despite the fact we cannot fill what we have now. Glut in parking spaces and a glut in retail spaces without adding people. How is that sustanable?

We completely settled for a sort term solution instead of taking the time to get it right and focus on the longer term.

It doesn't even feel like a short term solution.

I agree, without adding any people to the downtown scene, I just don't see how that retail space is going to be filled.

I imagine it will be a bunch of lunch-time hours only restaurants with a constantly changing cast of characters. And how much of that do we already have DT?

Granted, it would be nice to walk around that area and not feel like you're walking into a dead zone, but....I don't know. A parking garage seems like a huge missed opportunity, esp. since there's one across the street.

Even a parking garage with some residential plopped on top of it would be nice, anything to get people into that area.

I'm not nessicarliy against a parking garage, but we'll now have 2 blocks of contiguous parking garages, maybe 3 if you count the FED's garage on Broadway @ Locust (I know it's not open to the public, but still...) in downtown's core.

The deal is this. It HAD to be a parking garage. It was part of the deal to keep Thompson Coburn there. The other alternative would be to build a parking garage on the US Bank plaza. Imagine how cold the area would be then. The parking garage keeps Thompson Coburn downtown and makes the office Tower a prime location downtown. You will also gets new retail in the area which will create a vibrant lunch area for the week. As for residence you will have the Laurel being built right there. Yes it sucks that a parking garage is right next to it but it is irrevelant to Thompson Coburn, and we couldn't lose them. Long term we should hope that this building makes the other parking garage obsolete and therefore a prime development area. As well as allows the mercantile library to be redeveloped.

Like you I wish that residential was booming and that we didn't have to give firms whatever they want to stay here but right now that is not the case. I have a lot of faith but the first step is filling up any and all vacant buildings. Lets gets the Alexa, Jeffeson Arms, Arcade, Ballpark Willage going. Lets be proud about the investment and redevelopment of the old crappy mall, the Laurel, the arch grounds, park pacific, and the robert tower. Just keep moving forward.

I understand the reasoning behind their decision but that doesnt mean that it was the right decision. I had a lot of correspondence with the alderman about this issue and know all of the components that went into the decision. It was still a short sighted decision.

I would have much rather of had the parking garage for Colburn built on the U.S. Bank plaza. That way the Centre could still be utilized as residential, office space, or entertainment while Thompson Colburn stays downtown and still gets their parking. The garage on U.S. plaza wouldnt be a big loss since no one utilizes the plaza anyway. All gains and no losses for downtown and we are still in good shape for the longer term.

The reason the garage wasn't placed on the plaza was due to money and resources. It would have cost the city way too much and would have taken too long. Swing and a miss.

Mayor Slay just posted about this project (and Park Pacific) on his blog. One of the more interesting comments he makes:

"The completed facility will include 750 parking spaces and approximately 70,000 sq. ft. of first floor retail space. It is also expected to include a movie theater on a portion of the second and third floors."

Read more here: http://tinyurl.com/2ewcrnz

I do hope for a downtown movie theater. If it was a decent sized 6 screen theater or so it would make me totally happy with this project.

I know, I just don't quite understand how that happened. It seems crazy. It is also cool that it was built under the highway.

I prefer a parking garage with a movie theater and some retail over an empty mall. It would be great if they had put something more urban there, since St. Louis seems to have more parking than it needs. But you have to pick your battles. I don't really have a problem with this. I don't really have a problem with the Park Pacific parking garage either, as long as it means the historic building is being saved and nothing else is being demolished.

I can't complain too much about either. At least they're being developed, which is a miracle considering the economy the last few years.

olvidarte wrote:I agree, without adding any people to the downtown scene, I just don't see how that retail space is going to be filled.

I imagine it will be a bunch of lunch-time hours only restaurants with a constantly changing cast of characters. And how much of that do we already have DT?

I heard a rumor about one potential retail tenant that I think would make most people happy and would add a little life to the area throughout the day and on weekends, not just at lunch time.

That would be great.

With another garage, I have dreams of the Library building at Broadway and Locust turning into a Target. I imagine a downtown Target would be packed.

I understand the reasons for another garage, and I'm not totally against it, but...

I'm on the 9th floor and my view is dominated by 2 parking decks with a 3rd on the way...cars in the sky. Blech.

It's just a visual reminder of how some still think the parking garage is the solution to keeping people downtown.

debaliviere wrote:

olvidarte wrote:I agree, without adding any people to the downtown scene, I just don't see how that retail space is going to be filled.

I imagine it will be a bunch of lunch-time hours only restaurants with a constantly changing cast of characters. And how much of that do we already have DT?

I heard a rumor about one potential retail tenant that I think would make most people happy and would add a little life to the area throughout the day and on weekends, not just at lunch time.

Nice tease...Please don't let it be a Dave and Buster's...