urbanSTL

I had never actually seen in that unit but I had heard the two units were combined, but I am still suprised they combined 2 mid level units instead of buying one of the 7 and 8(rooftop) level 2 story units with decks. It is a completly unique unit in the banker's lofts building.

It does seem a little restrictive on the amount of natural light, but if you are a night owl like I am, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

You would actually be surprised how much light comes in. The windows are HUGE. And both master bedrooms are great as they are in the back of the space with windows for light but the windows face a dead space in the building so it is completely quiet back there. And the bar area has since been updated with adding about 10 bar stools, glass shelves on the wall and two more plasmas are now suspended above the bar to make three total. The bar was custom made by John Beck Steel and the concrete top was poured in place by CK Concrete Designs. This place was built for entertaining with the basically indestructible pebble flooring on the upper level and the wood floors on the main level having a "gym floor" coating for protection. And you should see the inside of the master bathroom on the main level. Three computers operate all the various shower heads and there is a steam pipe that converts the entire shower to a steam shower. They had to install four drains in the floor just to handle all the extra water. There are also hookups to hang plasmas in the bathrooms. And yes, the only knock to this place is no private outdoor space but you can always enjoy the two community rooftop decks. And even though it is two lofts built into one, each loft has its own private entrance so is perfect for someone to live on the upper floor and the other to live on the lower one. And there are no carpeted rooms in this loft.

Apologize for the bump, but I've just moved to this condo and I figured I'd do a little write up/photo share since all the old ones are long gone. 

Originally called the Mallinckrodt Building, Bankers lofts was built in 1892 and was designed by a firm named Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge based out of Boston. Some of their notable work consists of the Chicago Public Library and the main quad at Stanford university and other surrounding buildings. Locally, they also designed the Bell Telephone building at 920 Olive. 

(building on the left corner)




Bankers lofts is a typical Washington Avenue garment district warehouse. At one point in time, it housed manufacturing for companies such as Henderson Hat, Hirshfield Skirt, Surpeme Waist and La Vogue Waist and Dress. Additionally, the first floor was occupied by a furniture store called Buettners up until the decline of garment production after WW2. It was then that Bankers lofts got its signature name by having multiple banks until 1951, when the Bank of St. Louis moved in. Sometime during the 90's the bank moved out and left the building abandoned. During this time, the building also lost its cornice. I can only imagine this happened when the Bank of St. Louis was still occupying the building and deemed it too costly to repair but, I could be wrong.



In 2005, Pyramid Companies purchased the building and converted it into a condominium with 64 units with street level retail space. The building maintains a relatively high occupancy rate with the only major project being a roof repair sometime in the near future.  Below are photos of the building before it was restored (big thanks to a neighbor for sharing these!)




Top floor





Below are some that I recognized where they were taken, and tried to recreate.

Front door before

After


Garage before

After

This shot alone is worth a ten-year bump.

cornices are important...