The signs painted on the sidewalks are a nice touch.
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Mostly off topic, but since we are discussing red paint on sidewalks downtown...what is the red line painted on the sidewalks along, I know for sure 4th St in front of the Drury, but other streets as well?
Downtown history tour. I'm sure there's a site for it somewhere. It was a Charlie Brennan project with a book, the line, and markers on the historic sites.
From Mr. Brennan's KMOX website:
Brennan is the founder of Rediscover St. Louis, a not-for-profit corporation marking 27 historic sites with informative plaques in Downtown St. Louis. In May 2001, Brennan and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay cut the ribbon to a 1.5 mile trail linking more than 25 sites with a painted red line on the sidewalk. Charlie is co-author of "Walking Historic Downtown St. Louis" with Ben Cannon. The book and the plaques each won Silver Quill Awards in 2001 from the International Association of Business Communicators for their exceptional design.
Maybe its just me, but that first MX logo looks like it could be a nice symbol for a Soviet-era Metro system.
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trent wrote:Not just the skybridge on Wash Ave, but think of how great it will be to see the other bridges gone, along with that hideous white and green siding.
I couldn't agree with you more
Wanamaker's in Philadelphia (now a Macy's) has been said to be the most architecturally significant retail space in America. I visit it each trip to just stroll through (and purchase occasionally!).
http://www.robbender.com/gallery/wanamakers
Could a similarly lofty goal be achieved in downtown St. Louis?
http://www.robbender.com/gallery/wanamakers
Could a similarly lofty goal be achieved in downtown St. Louis?
Matt wrote:Wanamaker's in Philadelphia (now a Macy's) has been said to be the most architecturally significant retail space in America. I visit it each trip to just stroll through (and purchase occasionally!).
http://www.robbender.com/gallery/wanamakers
Could a similarly lofty goal be achieved in downtown St. Louis?
Why are they selling pants at the opera house?
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I'd put the arcade up against that building ..... I WOULD have put the Century building up against it as well. Sorry - I know I shouldn't bring that up
The Arcade can be a very impressive building once done. That said, Wanamakers is just an incredible building. Always worth a stroll when wandering around downtown Philly. A good place to walk off lunch after a trip to the Redding Terminal Market. I am always impressed by downtown Philly. Just some amazing buildings in that city.
Just a bit of trivia-the pipe organ in those Wanamaker's photos was created for our own 1904 World's Fair and was housed in a domed building called Festival Hall situated between the Art Museum and the Grand Basin. Pretty cool!
Agreed about Philly, JMedwick. That market is amazing, and Wanamakers. And I could go on.
STL has plenty to amaze, too. Especially considering we are a smaller city than Philly. Philly is a good example for STL, because they suffer from a lot of the same problems including negative natives.
But, back to MX. Something impressive is happening. A series of neighorhoods are coming together.
STL has plenty to amaze, too. Especially considering we are a smaller city than Philly. Philly is a good example for STL, because they suffer from a lot of the same problems including negative natives.
But, back to MX. Something impressive is happening. A series of neighorhoods are coming together.
Was Wanamakers used in the one of the early scenes in 12 Monkeys? I know it was set in Philly, and it sure looks familiar.
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It sure was.
There's a couple of scenes, if I'm not mistaken, that shows the interior of the store during the virus-infected-post-apocalyptic "future" reality.
Particularly near the end where Cole is actually inside the store in the 90's but is quckly reminded that he's standing inside of a building that he did in fact briefly explore in the future.
The reminder is a quick FX shift effect where the audience quickly sees the store go from bright lit and peppered with shoppers to dark,dank and desolate.
Pretty cool scene.
There's a couple of scenes, if I'm not mistaken, that shows the interior of the store during the virus-infected-post-apocalyptic "future" reality.
Particularly near the end where Cole is actually inside the store in the 90's but is quckly reminded that he's standing inside of a building that he did in fact briefly explore in the future.
The reminder is a quick FX shift effect where the audience quickly sees the store go from bright lit and peppered with shoppers to dark,dank and desolate.
Pretty cool scene.
Thanks, I thought that was it. Sorry to stay off-topic, but 12 Monkeys is one of my all-time favorite movies.
Portions of article in St. Louis Business Journal:
Friday, October 26, 2007
St. Louis region ready for retail makeoverSt. Louis Business Journal - by Rick Desloge
The real estate players for St. Louis' shopping districts continue to get bigger, and as they do, the face of retailing in the region continues to evolve.
In September, General Growth Properties of Chicago, which operates some 200 shopping centers around the country, agreed to handle retail leasing for Mercantile Exchange, Pyramid Properties' $600 million hotel-retail-condo development downtown. General Growth already owns the Saint Louis Galleria, which it purchased in 2003.
Meanwhile, a number of existing mall properties in St. Louis County have changed hands or have been put up for sale. The biggest of the deals closed in mid-October. CBL & Associates Properties Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn., a real estate investment trust that owns, holds interests in or manages 83 malls and open-air centers across the country, purchased four area malls from Westfield Group valued at more than $1 billion -- South County Center, West County Center, Chesterfield Mall and Mid-Rivers Mall. Westfield also has placed Crestwood Plaza up for sale, and at the same time, Crestwood city officials have sent out a request for proposals to redevelop the 47-acre site, suggesting it, too, could become an open-air site.
CBL has not announced any plans for its new properties in St. Louis. However, the company is known for building what developers call "lifestyle centers" -- shopping centers geared to upscale buyers, with a mix of chic stores in an open-air setting. They usually include restaurants and some retail space facing the outside of the center, with fountains and other amenities to give the properties a "main street" feel.
BREAK
Pyramid Properties' President John Steffen said the traffic for his mixed-use Mercantile Exchange downtown is already there and it now only needs retail tenants.
"The inception of this 'lifestyle center' was in the 1700s. It changed to a cosmopolitan center in the 1800s," Steffen said. "We don't need to build this so people will come. We need to build this for the people who are already here."
General Growth saw what was happening in downtown St. Louis and contacted Pyramid, Steffen said.
Mark Hunter, vice president of leasing and client services with General Growth, said he expects St. Louis' downtown will attract a different mix of stores compared to other metro areas -- one that caters to business people working downtown, a sports crowd, and downtown's new residents -- younger people moving into new condos and apartments, and older couples who have left their single-family homes.
"What works in Dallas and New York City isn't necessarily going to work in St. Louis," Hunter said. Compared to those cities, St. Louis' professional sports teams are based downtown, so there will be a retail element catering to that group. "We're seeing a resurgence of different age groups, people just out of college and older people," Hunter said. As the residential population increases and office population remains steady, downtown will be able to support more retail -- particularly clothing and home furnishing stores.
Hunter said it's too early to identify possible retailers for the Mercantile Exchange, but General Growth works with dozens of national retailers including Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Ann Taylor, Victoria's Secret, Apple Computer, Sharper Image, Williams-Sonoma, Cheesecake Factory and Crate & Barrel. When Pyramid announced plans for the project, Steffen said then he envisioned a concentrated area of upscale, street-level retail that would include fine dining and entertainment.
Link to article:
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor ... 00^1540955
Friday, October 26, 2007
St. Louis region ready for retail makeoverSt. Louis Business Journal - by Rick Desloge
The real estate players for St. Louis' shopping districts continue to get bigger, and as they do, the face of retailing in the region continues to evolve.
In September, General Growth Properties of Chicago, which operates some 200 shopping centers around the country, agreed to handle retail leasing for Mercantile Exchange, Pyramid Properties' $600 million hotel-retail-condo development downtown. General Growth already owns the Saint Louis Galleria, which it purchased in 2003.
Meanwhile, a number of existing mall properties in St. Louis County have changed hands or have been put up for sale. The biggest of the deals closed in mid-October. CBL & Associates Properties Inc. of Chattanooga, Tenn., a real estate investment trust that owns, holds interests in or manages 83 malls and open-air centers across the country, purchased four area malls from Westfield Group valued at more than $1 billion -- South County Center, West County Center, Chesterfield Mall and Mid-Rivers Mall. Westfield also has placed Crestwood Plaza up for sale, and at the same time, Crestwood city officials have sent out a request for proposals to redevelop the 47-acre site, suggesting it, too, could become an open-air site.
CBL has not announced any plans for its new properties in St. Louis. However, the company is known for building what developers call "lifestyle centers" -- shopping centers geared to upscale buyers, with a mix of chic stores in an open-air setting. They usually include restaurants and some retail space facing the outside of the center, with fountains and other amenities to give the properties a "main street" feel.
BREAK
Pyramid Properties' President John Steffen said the traffic for his mixed-use Mercantile Exchange downtown is already there and it now only needs retail tenants.
"The inception of this 'lifestyle center' was in the 1700s. It changed to a cosmopolitan center in the 1800s," Steffen said. "We don't need to build this so people will come. We need to build this for the people who are already here."
General Growth saw what was happening in downtown St. Louis and contacted Pyramid, Steffen said.
Mark Hunter, vice president of leasing and client services with General Growth, said he expects St. Louis' downtown will attract a different mix of stores compared to other metro areas -- one that caters to business people working downtown, a sports crowd, and downtown's new residents -- younger people moving into new condos and apartments, and older couples who have left their single-family homes.
"What works in Dallas and New York City isn't necessarily going to work in St. Louis," Hunter said. Compared to those cities, St. Louis' professional sports teams are based downtown, so there will be a retail element catering to that group. "We're seeing a resurgence of different age groups, people just out of college and older people," Hunter said. As the residential population increases and office population remains steady, downtown will be able to support more retail -- particularly clothing and home furnishing stores.
Hunter said it's too early to identify possible retailers for the Mercantile Exchange, but General Growth works with dozens of national retailers including Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Ann Taylor, Victoria's Secret, Apple Computer, Sharper Image, Williams-Sonoma, Cheesecake Factory and Crate & Barrel. When Pyramid announced plans for the project, Steffen said then he envisioned a concentrated area of upscale, street-level retail that would include fine dining and entertainment.
Link to article:
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stor ... 00^1540955
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"The inception of this 'lifestyle center' was in the 1700s. It changed to a cosmopolitan center in the 1800s," Steffen said. "We don't need to build this so people will come. We need to build this for the people who are already here."
Excellent.- 10K
vollum wrote:Compared to those cities, St. Louis' professional sports teams are based downtown, so there will be a retail element catering to that group.
Translation: Hoosiers.
"That group" doesn't really refer to any group. It should probably read "...so there will be a retail element catering to sports fans."
^Yes. I still think Steffen is a little goofy, but that was a great quote.
Oh come on, DeBaliviere! Do you really need to join "that group" of people who insist on calling people "hoosiers"? Can't we just drop that word once and for all?
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I'm not even sure you should be so quick to call the sports fans hoosiers...There's a fairly affluent constituancy of cards fans who patronize the games on a regular basis. I would say that many of the cards fans are most deffinitely not hoosiers.
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newstl2020 wrote:I'm not even sure you should be so quick to call the sports fans hoosiers...There's a fairly affluent constituancy of cards fans who patronize the games on a regular basis. I would say that many of the cards fans are most deffinitely not hoosiers.
I agree. I suspect you'll find the highest hoosier ratio at Blues games.
^
I say Cubs games.
Seriously, I don't think DeB was trying to say that. I think he was saying that vollum was using the phrase 'that group' in a derogatory manner.
I say Cubs games.
Seriously, I don't think DeB was trying to say that. I think he was saying that vollum was using the phrase 'that group' in a derogatory manner.
But really - what kind of retail caters to sports fans? Hat shops? Jersey shops? Sports Authority? I hav eto think he was talking about the broad demographic - county residents, middle income - to differentiate it from the other groups he mentioned (people living downtown, downtown workers).