Answers to a few comments/questions and
let's get some facts straight.
Unfortunately, Union Stations across the country have folded or become becons of tourist attractions. Amtrak is the only game in the country for rail transportation. Besides cities like NYC, L.A., D.C. and NYC that use their Union Stations as viable rail centers (due highly to city commuter rail and Amtrak usage) most stations are nothing more that rotting archieves of America's rail past. Just like the rusted rail cars sitting around the country - so are most stations... and most cities completely lost their stations to the wrecking ball. FORTUNATELY, for St. Louis, our station was spared the wrecking ball in the 70's and 80's and brought back to life with it's grand restoration in the 80's. But what to do with a massive building? Amtrak is federally funded and the decision to keep Amtrak in a gov't funded station was made when Union Station reopened in the 1980's. So reinventing Union Station was the only way the station was to survive. In the 1990's Union Station started to see rail traffic once again with METRO begining to serve the Union Station subway tunnel and a new station, and with Rail Cruise America and Northwest Orient Excursion trains arriving in the train shed. Other cities have not had as much success as St. Louis has had in the past 20 years of operation.
Union Station has seen it's up's and down's in the past 20 years. Today, I only see it headed to a better Union Station. Metro has given Union Station new foot traffic, lunch traffic, and on the tourist rail circuit. Adding Hard Rock Cafe and other tourist options has also increased Union Stations visability again in the past 10 years.
As for Union Station financial status. My company is a member of the RCGA and the financial group meets quarterly to discuss the "state of the union". Recently, we were met by a representative of Union Station to discuss the renovations and viable option of adding residential units to the stations exterior buildings. The station is meeting current financial obligations and just recently was able to invest money back into the station.
Jlblues, the article you posted was in early 200
3 and since then the station management and ownership has changed. The station is owned by Chicago-based Park National Bank. It is managed by the Jones Lang LaSalle Firm. Even in that article in 2003, the retail was "doing well and over 90% leased" During that time, the St. Louis Station Associates were running Union Station. They did so from 2000 until 2004 and probably were one of the worst management companies (slum lords IMO) in the country. They since then have ceased operations.
They were the financial problem, not Union Station's tenants or sales/revenue. There is a
big difference!
Here is an article just written 2 months ago about St. Louis Union Station's current restorations and status:
Union Station undergoing an $8 million makeover
St. Louis Business Journal - May 26, 2006 by Rob Luke
One of St. Louis' best-known rehabbed properties is getting another rehab.
The Union Station retail complex is almost midway through an $8.1 million makeover that the building's managers expect to take until early 2007 to complete.
Union Station's General Manager Byron Marshall, of property management firm Jones Lang LaSalle, called the ongoing project "a huge commitment" to the property by its owners, Chicago-based Park National Bank. He stressed that all funding for the work was coming directly from the owner's corporate equity.
Marshall estimated that around $3 million had already been spent on new roofing and interior restoration, plus external stone work and tuck-pointing. Further exterior work will consume most or all of the remaining budget, he said.
Gary Klotz, project manager with Union Station's main exterior-work contractor, Superior Waterproofing and Restoration (SWR), estimates that the project will take between a year and a year and three months. "It's not our biggest job but it's a real nice size," said Klotz, whose company handles 200-300 jobs per year worth about $13 million.
The work is part of a long-term plan by Park National Bank to revitalize the property and attract new tenants.
Park National Bank acquired Union Station after parent company, Oak Park, Ill.-based FBOP Corp., merged Regency Bank, which owned Union Station, into Park National in January this year. Jones Lang LaSalle has managed Union Station since October 2004.
"Union Station's doing well," Marshall said. "Hotel rates are up, occupancy is up and store sales are up."
Marshall said the current rehab work is merely part one of an ongoing revitalization plan aimed at improving the building's returns. He said owners and management were currently "talking with a great many potential retail partners" about the building's future. Marshall did not mention specifics but said the group was looking at more restaurants and retail entertainment venues, and even mixed-use venues. "One thing we concluded was that it's important not to limit ourselves to what we are now," he said.
Union Station was originally constructed in the 1890s, underwent a $150 million restoration in the early 1980s and is home to many examples of late-19th century architecture. On re-opening in 1985, it was then the largest adaptive re-use property in the United States. Union Station holds official status as a National Historic Landmark.
Klotz said working on a building of such historic value will benefit SWR given Union Station's size and prominent location. SWR, which specializes in restoring old structures, has recently completed restoration work on historic buildings at Saint Louis University, Anheuser-Busch and the downtown loft neighborhood.
Some of the work at Union Station already has been completed. The three sections of Union Station -- Head House, Midway and Train Shed -- have each received some new roofing while Head House has had its interior restored. Chiller and cooling towers have also been replaced.
Over the next 12 months or so, the three sections will receive more tuck-pointing, stone and stucco replacement, and re-roofing.
The renovation work won't interrupt any of the scheduled displays and concerts at Union Station over the next few months, officials said.
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... ocus4.html
