St. Louis Centre Redevelopment/Updates

jmedwick · PostApr 18, 2005#512005-04-18T19:19+00:00

After reading that business journal article two things jump out at me:

First, if Express Scripts were to take the Gundeker offer, i think the property owner for St. Louis Center should back down and let the bridge be torn down. If he truly is intersted in helping the city, then even he must recognise the value in doing what it would take to make such a deal happen. If he balked, then he is clearly a sham.

Second, if Express Scripts does not take the Gundeker offer, then the Center owner should be given time to come up with a complementary plan for the property that could work in harmony with Dillard's building. This mean everything must be on the table. Taking the whole bridge out. Taking part of the bridge out. Maybe it should only be one level entering on the thrid floor of St. Louis Center? But all options should be looked at. The Center's owern is right, the brige is a help to the building. But the visual argument that it blocks washington and that the brige is way to low is also valid.

I say one bridge on the thrid level of the center going into the Dillard's building, if the Center's owner must really have a skyway and really thinks a resurant could be a good plan for such a space. I mean why not build the walkway on the thrid level, and then build his glassed in resurant above that. Then the view down washington would be more open. The sidewalks under along washington could be safer looking, and it could make for a very intersting space.

This is not all or nothing. Gotta think of all the options.

debaliviere · PostApr 18, 2005#522005-04-18T19:33+00:00

BTW, not to make you feel old, but I wasn't even born when the Centre opened, so I really don't remember seeing the facade at all. That is one of the things I want to see, the entire facade of that building

Ah yes, thank you for the reminder of my advancing age - the big THREE-OH is just around the corner.

MattnSTL · PostApr 18, 2005#532005-04-18T20:52+00:00

^Well, the big TWO OH is 2 days less than a year away. I feel old just saying that.

And I agree, that maybe a smaller bridge could be an OK compromise, but I still think tearing it down is the best option. At least clean up the pigeon droppings more often than every few years when the Final Four rolls through.

xing · PostApr 18, 2005#542005-04-18T22:12+00:00

ah, yes, the big "TWO OH." Not nearly as exciting as the big "TWO ONE."

MattnSTL · PostApr 18, 2005#552005-04-18T22:15+00:00

Ya, but that's 2 years away still.

debaliviere · PostApr 19, 2005#562005-04-19T15:20+00:00

really don't remember seeing the facade at all. That is one of the things I want to see, the entire facade of that building.

There is a rendering in the Business Journal of how the building would look without the skybridge attached - very nice!

MattnSTL · PostApr 19, 2005#572005-04-19T19:09+00:00

I wish I got the biz journal.

suburban lou · PostApr 19, 2005#582005-04-19T19:51+00:00

By Martin Van Der Werf

Of the Post-Dispatch

04/19/2005

BOLD STROKES: It's as quiet as an art museum inside St. Louis Centre. So why not turn part of the struggling downtown shopping mall into one?

A group of artists is getting ready to blow the dust off the vacant third floor and open an 8,000-square-foot gallery and classrooms.

"The building is very clean. It's empty more than anything, it's not dangerous" said Davide Weaver, chief executive of ArtDimensions, which plans to open the gallery May 13.

ArtDimensions was formed four years ago to help invigorate downtown through the arts. Among other things, it has been putting up art displays in vacant downtown storefronts and helping plan gallery walks

PostApr 19, 2005#592005-04-19T19:51+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:
really don't remember seeing the facade at all. That is one of the things I want to see, the entire facade of that building.

There is a rendering in the Business Journal of how the building would look without the skybridge attached - very nice!

Could you scan it?

debaliviere · PostApr 19, 2005#602005-04-19T20:07+00:00

I'll see if our scanner here at work is still functional - we've had some problems with it lately.

matt drops the h · PostApr 19, 2005#612005-04-19T23:09+00:00

I've actually spoken with Davide Weaver at the St. Louis Centre for a school project. He is very optimistic about St. Louis's becoming a national arts center. He stressed that, with effort and time, he and those who support him would try to put St. Louis in line with San Francisco, New York and Chicago with regards to the arts.

He says that St. Louis Centre is just one step in centralizing the art movement in a downtown location. He sees the Centre as a perfect location for art and walking galleries. All of the art featured in the main gallery will be local art.

The space that he currently is occupying (on the 3rd floor in the old Abercrombie) will open to the public on May...13...if I'm not mistaken. He gave me and the other guy I'm working with on the project a tour of the space. It looked very interesting. Apparently, the old store's dressing room will be transformed into a staging area for public performance.

A storage room in the back of the store will house artworks from cities other than St. Louis, but Mr. Weaver said that the conditions for displaying this art was that the gallery in the other city would have to display some St. Louis art as well.

If you want to know anything else, just ask. I can't think of what else to type right now.

debaliviere · PostApr 20, 2005#622005-04-20T12:36+00:00

That is a really great idea - the more presence that artists have downtown, the better!

matt · PostMay 10, 2005#632005-05-10T18:05+00:00

I picked up an announcement at the gas station of all places for a new art gallery. In St. Louis Centre. Here's the content of the card. Sounds great!

Art D-Complex

the Centre Gallery exhibits over 30 local artists

guest gallery

Art D classroom

artist resource center

gift market - gifts under $100 created by local artists

Regular hours Thursday-Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Opening Show May 13, 2005

Located in St. Louis Centre between 6th and 7th Streets on Washington Ave.

ArtDimensions.org

314.497.5356

soulardd · PostMay 10, 2005#642005-05-10T19:31+00:00

^Hopefully a sign of life?

arch city · PostMay 10, 2005#652005-05-10T21:08+00:00

That's awesome.

Perhaps that could become the arts destination downtown needs - if done well.

matguy70 · PostMay 16, 2005#662005-05-16T23:12+00:00

Did anyone get a chance to go?

matt · PostMay 18, 2005#672005-05-18T18:34+00:00

I should have paid attention to the hours. I went over there today and its closed. Open Thursday - Sunday only. I guess they aren't only targeting DT workers. There is lots of art is empty shop windows throughout the mall.

xing · PostMay 19, 2005#682005-05-19T07:50+00:00

An Art Gallery in an abandoned mall? I guess that could be interesting.

suburban lou · PostMay 20, 2005#692005-05-20T04:24+00:00

Downtown's future may hinge on St. Louis Centre, Fleming says

By Tavia Evans

Of the Post-Dispatch

05/19/2005

Civic booster Richard Fleming on Thursday called St. Louis Centre "the Pruitt-Igoe of retail," and said the future of downtown retail could hinge on redevelopment of the mall.

Fleming, president of the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association, made the comments during an Urban Land Institute conference at the Chase Park Plaza. His remarks were in reference to the failed Pruitt-Igoe housing complex on the city's North Side. The complex was razed in the early 1970s.

National planning experts said the future of downtown St. Louis is closely tied to the fate of the troubled mall.

Department stores are essential to the success of downtown retail, said Margaret McCauley, principal with Economics Research Associates in Washington.

She said the city must pay attention to what Federated Department Stores Inc. wants to do after it buys May Department Stores Inc. May's properties include a Famous-Barr store adjacent to St. Louis Centre.

The mall "should be razed and brought back with new construction," she said.

St. Louis Centre owner Barry Cohen of Malibu, Calif., said in a telephone interview that he's working with the city on a plan to renovate and reposition the mall.

"The detractors need to be patient," said Cohen, who did not attend the conference. "We're looking at options for the center, which could include tearing down the skybridge or putting new exterior siding on it. But I think the mall can be turned into something positive and be a part of downtown."

Cohen bought the mostly-empty mall in August at a foreclosure sale, reportedly for $5.4 million; St. Louis Centre was built in the 1980s for about $95 million.

Urban planners said the pluses for downtown are its small, but growing, residential population and its streetscape of historic buildings.

More than 1,000 market-rate housing units have been built downtown since 2000, another 1,200 are under construction and 1,000 are under development, with units at the Syndicate Trust to come online in 2007. A year later, downtown residents are expected to number about 15,000, up from 9,700 now.

More residential and retail growth is expected for Washington Avenue and areas near the Old Post Office. And while about 90,000 business day commuters are currently underserved by retail, more is on the way.

Eight new restaurants opened downtown in 2004, and four more will open this year, along with three new retailers, said Jim Cloar, president of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership.

Urban experts also tied the region's continued progress to the city's public school system. The success of new city subdivisions, such as Botanical Heights, formerly McRee Town, might hinge on whether St. Louis can offer quality schools for residents, Fleming said.

"In neighborhoods immediately around downtown, part of the equation will be families who may want the option to live in older city neighborhoods and want their children to go (to school) there," he said. "The city has to be able to offer that, too."

Reporter Tavia Evans

E-mail: tevans@post-dispatch.com

Phone: 314-340-8159

mcarril · PostMay 26, 2005#702005-05-26T18:56+00:00

Here's something to think about:

You could put a Target, Best Buy, Office Depot, and a Borders inside of The St. Louis Centre and still have 100,000 sq ft of leaseable space left over. The thing is gigantic.

debaliviere · PostJun 28, 2005#712005-06-28T12:51+00:00

Martin Van Der Werf reports this morning that the St. Louis Centre skybridge will be torn down, hopefully by the first preseason Rams game on August 12.

I couldn't find the column online, but it's in this morning's print edition.

southslider · PostJun 28, 2005#722005-06-28T13:38+00:00

Skybridge, skybridge, all fall down

By Martin Van Der Werf

Of the Post-Dispatch

06/28/2005

A true eyesore, the skybridge from St. Louis Centre across Washington Avenue, will not be around much longer.

Barry Cohen, owner of the shopping center, and Mike Hejna, president of Gundaker Commercial Group, which owns the Dillard's building at the other end of the bridge, have reached a verbal agreement to dismantle it.

Hejna hopes to see it come down by Aug. 12, when the St. Louis Rams play their first home preseason game. Both developers have agreed to donate their portions of the bridge to Downtown Now, a nonprofit that will pay to knock it down.

Tom Reeves, Downtown Now's executive director, says both businessmen could get tax breaks for donating the bridge. And they won't be arguing about who is responsible for each specific cost.

Reeves says he has raised the money needed for demolition, but declines to specify the amount or provide more details. "I applaud (Cohen) for working with his architects and coming up with some creative plans," he said.

Cohen apparently intends to install glass on the north end of the shopping center, where the bridge connects. He said he will announce his vision for renovating the struggling mall in July or August.

Once the bridge is down, Hejna will enlarge the street-level entrance to the Dillard's building and make it two stories tall. Gundaker plans to convert part of the building into a 150-room hotel, with the rest divided between residences, offices and street-level stores.

Cohen has been viewed by some as a speculator since he bought St. Louis Centre last summer and has done little to it.

On Monday, Hejna was singing his praises. "We believe he is being a wonderful corporate citizen. This is a big, big thing. I could not be more appreciative."

brickandmortar · PostJun 28, 2005#732005-06-28T14:08+00:00

Huzzah! This will open up Washington now to the highway at least. I'm never one to cheer for tearing down something downtown, but I'll cheerfully make an exception in this case.

I wonder what the plans for the St. Louis Centre are? I've thought the best use would be street level retail with condos/apartments on the upper 3 floors. With all the glass in that place, I think it would be perfect for a living space.

midcoaststl · PostJun 28, 2005#742005-06-28T17:24+00:00

I think living spaces on the upper floors would be great. Also I remember from a previous post that he originally thought of placing large plasma screens on the sky bridge.

I think it would be cool with an all glass wall, and some plasma screens, advertisements, stock scroll, etc like times square or hollywood and highland on the northwest and west corners. And then to open up the street to multiple shops and restaraunts, with condos on the top. Just a thought but it would really liven up the area. Either way this is an awesome development.

stlgasm · PostJun 28, 2005#752005-06-28T19:43+00:00

Now they just need to tear down St. Louis Centre and start the ***** over. It's appalling that such a monstrocity was planted in the heart of the CBD, sucking all pedestrian traffic off the sidewalks and into a suburban-styled mall. There is no hope for reviving St. Louis Centre-- its offensively ugly, un-urban and obsolete. Such a prominent location could be put to much better use.

St. Louis Centre Redevelopment/Updates

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