urbanSTL

If Rex simply wanted to buy-up properties, he could have done that at any time, without the whole chess thing. 

I am looking forward to seeing their expansion plans, though. Social media has been pretty harsh on Rex and the Chess Club taking over this corner; hopefully they're gonna build something that makes it all worthwhile. 

didn't the BJ article say the chess club is just leasing the space? not sure who owns the building. also now wondering where i got this idea since i don't have access the BJ.

i hope they're not thinking about demolishing those two houses.

Between these businesses and the closure of Cartel Coffee, this corner has lost a lot of the sidewalk life it previously had. It was cool to walk by a Saturday lunch on a nice day and seeing all four corners packed with diners. Now it looks like that applies to only two corners.

Maybe the Culpeppers space can be turned into a Chess themed bar with fancy cocktails and lots of outdoor chess tables

I'd be very surprised if the Chess Club didn't do something to keep the street active. 

They have the Kingside Diner there. You'd think that they'd have a Chess bar or Chess coffee shop or something to keep their little chess kingdom active. 

urban_dilettante wrote: ↑

Dec 06, 2019

didn't the BJ article say the chess club is just leasing the space? not sure who owns the building. also now wondering where i got this idea since i don't have access the BJ.

i hope they're not thinking about demolishing those two houses.

An LLC associated with Mac Properties (One Hundred developer) owns that whole northeast corner of retail along Maryland and Euclid, and the large parking lot behind it.

Not happy. To have one entity dominate one of the most active corners in the whole city will not help the streetlife in the CWE. They are taking out three businesses to expand, one quarter of Euclid and Maryland will be dead


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I'm surprised by all the hate here. Let's be real, Culpeppers has been a bad sports bar for a very long time, occupying one of the most prized locations in the entire city. Just because they've been around forever doesn't mean they should stay there. I cringed every time I saw a big group of out-of-towners go there for dinner.

Brennans moving is sad. I've spent way too much time in that place and it's one of my favorites for bringing guests/dates. But I fully trust the team to find another location and recreate the magic. This is what creativity and business acumen is all about. 

Competition is good for the city. We need thriving businesses to stay competitive and sometimes that means relocating. Brennans moving somewhere else in CWE will bring energy wherever they go.

And the Chess HOF expanding is a very good thing for St. Louis' public image. In Israel some of the few people who know St. Louis is due to the Chess HOF and the tournaments they host. Over time this will increase.

If the Chess Club is acquiring that building, does that mean we are losing another of what I am sure is a very productive lot from the tax roles to a nonprofit acting more like a property developer?

^^^ Culpeppers seemed pretty popular for being so terrible. there were always way more people in there than i ever see in the chess club or museum/HOF. can't wait until all those israelies come to st. louis and marvel at our lack of street life and walkable amenities. the chess club is a good thing as long as it recognizes that it doesn't exist in a vacuum.

^^ what imran said. St. Louis already has one of the lowest distributions of walk-up commercial in the country. and now its getting worse.

I for one am happy to see the Chess Club expand. It's great draw for the neighborhood and might make it more lucrative for new developments to increase their plans for street level retail space. In my opinion the NIMBY's have done more to hurt the area. Whereas Mr Sinquefield should be considered a champion for his development. Both the museum and diner spaces struggled for stability before he came along.

SLBJ-St. Louis Chess Club details 20,000-square-foot expansion in Central West End

"The 20,000-square foot area will encompass a larger club facility and Kingside Diner, adjacent to the existing club. The expansion will allocate the entire first floor to classroom space, an expanded area for tournaments, an improved community gathering space, and an elevator and other ADA-compliant upgrades. Revamped technology will be incorporated throughout the chess campus, officials said."

It's not really clear how much of that 20,000 SF is new construction vs. existing space.

Sucks to lose the fine-grained diversity of uses here. Imagine if they anchored a new building at Euclid and Lindell.

quincunx wrote: ↑

Oct 10, 2020

Sucks to lose the fine-grained diversity of uses here. Imagine if they anchored a new building at Euclid and Lindell.

The silver lining is that maybe the Chess Club leasing all of that retail space makes redevelopment of the huge parking lot in back more likely.

Renders included:

https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/ ... 053a3.html

Nice to see that they stayed focused on chess and the Chess Club itself, without getting distracted by irrelevant talk about Rex's politics. 

framer wrote: ↑

Feb 23, 2021

Nice to see that they stayed focused on chess and the Chess Club itself, without getting distracted by irrelevant talk about Rex's politics. 

Every single sport is bankrolled almost exclusively by scumbags, I'm sure the media is used to avoiding the topic.

To make sure that people get the correct credit, EM Harris built the Old North Chess Pocket Park as one of the winning proposals for the Sustainable Land Lab Competition sponsored by the Washington University Sustainability Office, Rise, and Old North Saint Louis Restoration Group. The Chess club did provide some chess sets, and has had people teaching there off and on over the years, but they did not build or fund it. There are a reliable group of neighbors that have chess tournaments there every Saturday morning, and inside across the street if weather is not good. Good to see other tables popping up around the City.

Before I started dabbling in online play during the pandemic, I did most of my chess playing at Oberweis.

Another world-class player has moved to St. Louis:

World Chess Champion Levon Aronian Moves to St. Louis, Plans to Represent U.S.

https://www.laduenews.com/arts-and-cult ... 1ae1a.html