The MX District is featured in December's Heartland Real Estate Business Magazine.
COVER STORY, DECEMBER 2007
ON THE HORIZON
Heartland Real Estate Business looks forward to the next wave of Midwest development.
Dan Marcec
![]()
The Pyramid Companies and Spinnaker Real Estate Partners are developing the $450 million Mercantile Exchange mixed-use redevelopment over several city blocks in downtown St. Louis.
Heading into 2008, there are projects across the Midwest that are underway and poised to change the face of their respective markets. Heartland Real Estate Business recently interviewed executives involved with several significant developments either under construction or in the planning stages that will transform the market in their areas. These developments are spurring activity and change across all commercial sectors, whether by directly creating a mixed-use project with diverse components or initiating additional growth through new construction and redevelopment.
The Mercantile Exchange - St. Louis
The Mercantile Exchange (MX) is a historic renovation and adaptive reuse project set to transform downtown St. Louis, which is in the midst of a renaissance in commercial development. Somehow, in the midst of the revitalization of this part of the city, the buildings involved in the MX had been overlooked, so developers The Pyramid Companies and Spinnaker Real Estate Partners took on the land, addressed the problems with the site and began working on an expansive new community.
Spanning several city blocks, the $450 million redevelopment will include 175 residential condominiums, 120 luxury apartments, 525,000 square feet of new and revitalized office space, and 460,000 square feet of retail space, in addition to a 216-room hotel and 1,200 parking spaces. Total build-out is expected to be complete in 2010.
“In creating the MX, we are looking beyond redeveloping individual buildings; this is about making a truly diversified neighborhood of Class A offices with Class A tenants; exciting, energetic retail; and serene, luxurious condominiums and apartments,” says John Steffen, CEO of The Pyramid Companies. “We worked for several years to assemble the buildings and land within this district so that we would have the ability to make the MX a reality. It is a tremendous opportunity for The Pyramid Companies and St. Louis to complete the revitalization of the core of downtown.”
The first building, the historic renovation of The Laurel, currently is underway. Designed by Trivers Associates Architects, The Laurel comprises 580,000 square feet that, when complete, will include 35,000 square feet of retail, 74 high-end condominiums, 120 apartments and an upscale hotel.
The retail space will be spread throughout the project, with 160,000 square feet of new, street-level retail in various buildings in the six-block area. The 300,000-square-foot Macy’s at the historic Railway Exchange Building on the southern end of the project already anchors what will become the rest of the MX.
Looking forward, one of the most unique pieces of the MX is the revitalization of the former St. Louis Centre, which is being recreated as The Concord, designed by The Lawrence Group. Previously a mall that had become an eyesore, The Concord is being renovated to offer something new and appropriate to the neighborhood, stretching two city blocks.
“This area is one of the final pieces to the puzzle in downtown’s rebirth,” Steffen says. “We’re taking an area that has been an undesirable part of downtown and turning it into an upscale destination, making it the center of retail, residential and business. This new district will bring in visitors, increase property value for the residential and business owners, and remind our fellow St. Louisans that downtown is where they have to be when they want a real cosmopolitan experience.”
Source
