urbanSTL

^Not so sure about that. I think SSM / SLU Med School will drive growth regardless of a grocery store. Plenty of areas have seen significant residential investment and development without a grocery - The Highlands come to mind as a good comp - but also established neighborhoods like FPSE and Soulard.

I think tenants here for the foreseeable future will be looking for a central location with walkability to SSM/SLU and little else.


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The Mayor wrote: ↑

Jan 15, 2019

Good points, but I'm not sure I agree. There is already a crossing (albeit a very sh*tty one) over the freight tracks here and Metro could always be against building one over their tracks but I fail to see how a crossing here would be any different than the one at Taylor in the CWE from Metro's perspective. My guess is that their biggest objection would be who's going to pay for it. And this wasn't so much about connecting to Compton (or Grand for that matter), but to the Armory District, which isn't very easily accessible from the south at all. A connection over the tracks and a right turn on Scott and you're right in there. If the Armory District and this area south of the tracks really takes off, I think it would be nice to have an at grade crossing that doesn't require all this looping around to get places. If I'm hypothetically working at the Armory I would definitely consider living here and access between the two isn't very good and nearly impossible on foot. Using Grand would take roughly 10 minutes and two miles. Compton is about 6 minutes and 1.5 miles. A street crossing on Theresa would be about half a mile, much more walkable (huge plus for anyone who wants to live at Steelcote and walk to Metro) and could help really tie the two areas together instead of two separate islands.

Regarding Spring, I have heard no word of the viaduct reopening (that would be far more expensive than what I'm proposing here, and would also likely require significant negotiations with the railroad and Metro). I have heard about a pedestrian overpass that would run in the old Spring corridor from Cortex/Foundry to the Armory district, which doesn't do much for people coming from the other direction. I hope I'm wrong though, I'd love to see the Spring viaduct fully rebuilt.

The existing crossing is essentially the remnant of an old crossing that Metro and the Terminal already closed. I suspect the UP would also report that the crossing is private, though I don't recall signs to to that end. (I can't really see any reason for it to be there beyond providing the railroads access to their signals and yard leads.) That said, there's a significant practical difference between Theresa and Sarah: Sarah only crosses the Metrolink line. It ends into Vandeventer without ever crossing UP or BNSF to the south. The Theresa corridor crosses Metrolink, the TRRA, and UP all within the space of a block. Cars tend to get stranded between tracks at crossing like that. They'll begin to cross just before or even just after the gates begin to go down and inevitably someone will stop halfway across leaving someone stuck on the tracks. This scenario does not end well. There's an enormous difference between a two track crossing with one automobile length across the tracks and a five track crossing where three or four automobiles could quite easily occupy the crossing at once. It's just not safe and there's no way to make it so without building a bridge. (Note that IDOT just spent a great deal of money building a bridge over one such crossing in Granite City and closed another. A third is still open last I checked, but . . . who knows for how long.) Of course I don't really think there's anything that would prevent a pedestrian from walking through right now, save for the legal authorities should they be nearby.

As to Spring, I fear I misspoke somewhat. I believe the planned pedestrian connection is supposed to go south from Armory across the tracks as well as north through the highway, but I believe you are quite correct and the loopy stitch is only for pedestrians. Of course that's just a preliminary proposal for the Chouteau Greenyway. What someone actually ends up building there is an open question.

robertn42 wrote: ↑

Jan 19, 2019

I would say in a good way. As John Cocostan said, SLU's President Pestello chose a proposal for this site and I was made aware of it. It seems like a good project, as it was described to me in words, but I swore to not reveal much beyond what I already said.

Chevy Chase's alias in Fletch is weighing in on this project?
[/quote]

Yeah, I also considered Harry S Truman, Mr. Pune, and Mr. Singalingingg as my UrbanSTL name but John C was the winner

I took a hard hat tour today of the project with owner Michael Hamburg and I must say this is a better project than I thought it would be. The views are amazing and the units are light and airy. An early May opening is expected. He told me that the Columbia Oil Building will begin construction in Early March. Here are some pictures…

Lobby was too dark so no photos.

Second Floor





Third floor is in the same state of construction as the second floor, so no photos there.

Fourth Floor

Hallway...


This specific unit is a one bedroom.



Fifth Floor

This is one of the two bi-level units. A hole was cut in the ceiling for stairs to access the bedroom that is right below the Steelcote Sign. The other bi-level unit is next door.





The rooftop.

This will be an amenity deck level for the residents as well as the place where the residents of the bi-level lofts will have their own private patios.

This is the area where the bi-level units will have their patios. They will be Separated by a wall, the same with the AC units. Where I am standing is the second sundeck for the other 31 units.


Other views from the roof. This is the Eastern side now. The private patio and fsecond deck is in the middle.





Next up on the redevelopment list...


Ground level

This will be the main entrance area.


This will be a walkway connecting to that other elevated piece of concrete at the end.


This single floor structure had to be entirely tuckpointed again because it was going to collapse.

Seems like the windows are taking a while.

^Nice work 

Checked in on progress today. Since January...‬
‪- 1st Floor has drywall going in.‬
‪- Pathway to parking lot has been poured.‬
‪- Windows have started to go in.‬
‪- Counters and appliances have been installed in units.‬
‪- Kitchen backsplash matches the fire sprinkler pipes.‬
‪- Bathrooms are coming together.‬

Steelcote Lofts should open in June, or around the time all the windows are installed. The unit windows will start in the top floor and work their way down.














Updates on the other two projects...
- Steelcote Crossing is underway with interior demolition taking place. This process should take 3 weeks
- After that, framing for walls will begin
- Steelcote Crossing should be completed in about 8 months.
- Mill Creek Flats will begin demolition towards the end of July. All buildings on Theresa from the Railroad to Papin will be demoed.

chriss752 wrote:Updates on the other two projects...
- Steelcote Crossing is underway with interior demolition taking place. This process should take 3 weeks
- After that, framing for walls will begin
- Steelcote Crossing should be completed in about 8 months.
- Mill Creek Flats will begin demolition towards the end of July. All buildings on Theresa from the Railroad to Papin will be demoed.

No loss there.  Any idea how old that 5-story white building (grain elevator?) is?  

I'd guess it was the elevator for a feed mill. You can kind of make out the ghost of "feed company" on the Theresa side between Papin and Gratiot. And that makes sense, given the proximity to both the railroad and Purina. That's certainly what it appears to be. From the late nineteenth or early twentieth century at a guess, just based off stuff I've seen with other rail buffs. I've not not made a careful study of mills, but that's surely what that looks to be to this train-spotter's eye.

symphonicpoet wrote: I'd guess it was the elevator for a feed mill. You can kind of make out the ghost of "feed company" on the Theresa side between Papin and Gratiot. And that makes sense, given the proximity to both the railroad and Purina. That's certainly what it appears to be. From the late nineteenth or early twentieth century at a guess, just based off stuff I've seen with other rail buffs. I've not not made a careful study of mills, but that's surely what that looks to be to this train-spotter's eye.

Geo St. Louis has only one building listed for that whole parcel, and says it was built in 1910, but I doubt all of that half-block was built at the same time. I'd bet the elevator building is a few decades older than that.

Here comes more glass. It really make a difference once it’s all put in.





The small building, with the three smokestacks, should be getting it’s windows and doors soon as well. That building will open last. I think it will be an apartment. If not that, the leasing office for Steelcote Square.

The final answer will be the divided light factory style windows we're seeing on the upper story? That should look great!

chriss752 wrote:
The small building, with the three smokestacks, should be getting it’s windows and doors soon as well. That building will open last. I think it will be an apartment. If not that, the leasing office for Steelcote Square.

I like the way this guy thinks, wish there were more developers like him around the city.

I see he also owns 3520-3570 Gratiot.  Has there been any mention of plans for that parcel in his pressers?

urbanitas wrote: I like the way this guy thinks, wish there were more developers like him around the city.

I see he also owns 3520-3570 Gratiot.  Has there been any mention of plans for that parcel in his pressers?

You’ll hopefully learn more soon.

Will they be painting the exposed structural concrete?  

framer wrote:Will they be painting the exposed structural concrete?  

I think so. They’ll also paint back the Steelcote paintings.

^As a scale-model builder specializing in quirky, run-down structures, I gotta say, that "HOG" building was pretty awesome. I'm gonna save a copy of that for future project ideas.  

chriss752 wrote:

urbanitas wrote: I like the way this guy thinks, wish there were more developers like him around the city.

I see he also owns 3520-3570 Gratiot.  Has there been any mention of plans for that parcel in his pressers?

You’ll hopefully learn more soon.

I will take that as a "No, there has not." 

urbanitas wrote:

chriss752 wrote:

urbanitas wrote:I like the way this guy thinks, wish there were more developers like him around the city.

I see he also owns 3520-3570 Gratiot.  Has there been any mention of plans for that parcel in his pressers?

You’ll hopefully learn more soon.

I will take that as a "No, there has not." 

You're right. Nothing else was put out in press releases and whatnot. But as I said earlier on in the thread, he wanted to do residential first to get people down there before adding other usages. I had a quick email exchange with Michael today and he did confirm it was him who bought the property and that he bought others in the neighborhood but I can't find those on the City website. They'll be for future development and control of the area. But based on his track record so far, I don't think he'll sit on these forever. He'll develop them eventually. I just think we will have to wait until Steelcote Lofts, Crossing and Mill Creek Flats open and do well before we see future developments here. Those are really the "testing the waters" projects. They include lofts, micro-lofts, and normal sized apartments, not to mention retail space. 

In my opinion, I have no doubt that these 3 projects will do well. At first, leasing will most likely go slow. Reason? There will only be one residential building here and it would be semi-creepy to be one of the few living here. When Steelcote Crossing opens, you'll start having a few more people moving in. The largest booster will definitely be Mill Creek Flats as it has the ability to bring some restaurants and bars to the area along with a small market thus creating a more welcoming environment. Plus, the streets around here aren't well lit so it adds to the creepy factor. Over time, new lights will be added to correspond to the changing area which will allow some more people to walk in the area. 

When future development comes, I would definitely expect more apartments and retail space to continue with the Steelcote Square District and Iron Hill. Maybe even some creative office will pop up over time, but that is a ways away. At this point, I look forward to seeing the Steelcote Lofts opening up followed by the Crossing and Mill Creek Flats. They'll have an impact on the area for sure.