urbanSTL

I really wish they would get moving on this. I'm so tired of looking at the mosquito pool.




I was surfing a Portland thread on SSP by cityscapes and when I was this image I imediately thought of this project. The below building keeps the top floor set back, utilizes the traditional StL brick but has much better massing. Just adjust the first floor for retail and I think we'd have a real winner.





Now I'd really like to see something more like this. Come on StL developers, let's be bold.

^ Does that mean that this project will have market rate and subsidized low income units? Or is that only if low income housing credits are used?

I really love the 2nd and 3rd designs you posted Moorlander. At first glance the 3rd was my favorite, but I think the second one would fit that area so well.

Moorlander wrote:^ Does that mean that this project will have market rate and subsidized low income units? Or is that only if low income housing credits are used?

They are only trying to get a loan guarantee. No requirements for income restricted affordable housing.

Moorlander wrote:


I was surfing a Portland thread on SSP by cityscapes and when I was this image I imediately thought of this project. The below building keeps the top floor set back, utilizes the traditional StL brick but has much better massing. Just adjust the first floor for retail and I think we'd have a real winner.

Wow! This is an excellent example of the difference a prominent cornice can make. The Mills building is twice the size, but the Portland building is twice as handsome. It's much more "finished" looking. Don't they teach these things in architecture school anymore?

I noticed someone pumping water out of the CWE Mosquito Sanctuary pond the other day...anyone know why? I assume it was just simple maintenance but it got my hopes up.

Curious if anyone has access to the full story on Mill properties in the St. Louis biz journals that came out today and if any of the article referenced Citywalk on Euclid

Thanks,
Tim

The latest update from the West End Word:

http://westendword.com/NC/0/1758.html

No news, really; still waiting for financing.

stlgasm wrote:Some modern residential buildings in DC and Minneapolis that are similar in size to the Citywalk Project, but much more interesting (from Skyscraperpage.com)...

DC:




Minneapolis:

This is whip-ass architecture. St. Louis is very deserving of this, and not the typical pastiche or corporate stuff like what is replacing the Ettrick.

There's much more to do than just hope.

First of all, talk with neighbors and gauge their opinions on this design. Show them your examples and frame this as an issue to pursue collectively: obtaining a different, and better, design for this high profile vacant lot.

Contact the alderman and let him (Joe Roddy) know that you as neighborhood residents do not feel the current design suits the neighborhood--especially if you live in the 17th Ward. If you can't get a hold of the alderman, try the Neighborhood Stabilization Officer for the ward. They usually have the alderman's ear.

Forward some of these pictures to Mills himself. He probably thinks everyone in the neighborhood wants a classical-looking building and therefore it's an easier sell. Contact him and let him know that Park East Tower, Metro Lofts, etc. have established a context for more contemporary design in this part of the neighborhood.

Write blog posts, Facebook posts, tweets, letters to the West End Word, Post-Dispatch--flood the media with a campaign for a different design if the above contacts yield no results.

Don't assume that "hope" is the only solution.

That has to be a big part of why we continue the conversation about urbanism and the improvement our city in this forum. Someone in a position of power or influence WILL see these posts, and pass on comments or even steal ideas. At the very least, there is an online archive of discussion pertaining to various topics that we can simply direct someone to, or pull up and be reminded of. It's great that the total history of the discussion thread is preserved and continued, because it's more than just interesting to see the comments of readers prior to [the start of some project, or some ballot measure vote, or community event] during it's progress, and then afterward. There are some threads that are still active that were begun in 2004!

True, but we can insist that that minimum standard of architectural representation of currency is upheld and bich about historicizing replicas.

The latest news, courtesy of the West End World.

To summarize, a lot of people are complaining about the site to the CWE Association and Alderman Roddy. They have agreed to give Mills until June 15th to secure financing (still waiting on HUD loan approval) before enforcing codes relating to the chain link fence and the giant hole/pond/cesspool. After June 15th, they will "aggressively pursue enforcement."