They will not celebrate redevelopment of att, railway nor millennium. Les already wrote how redeveloping those doesn’t matter if anyone wondering if they had any credibility leftChris Stritzel wrote: ↑Jan 03, 2025I once followed along with what they were posting on their social media account. At one point, it seemed like they objectively wanted to see downtown better off, but the mood has soured.
Sure, Downtown St. Louis has its issues (there's no denying them), but how can you advocate for a better Downtown without pointing out the good things going on? You get a better Downtown when you recognize realities. Being constantly pessimistic and sharing that vibe with your followers is not a good way to get people to see Downtown a different way. One can blame Tishaura, Megan Green, and other politicians for the issues that Downtown faces but we all know that the issues go back for decades and only recently have things started to positively change.
A lot of work remains to make Downtown St. Louis "the place to be". Incidents involving criminal activity are always going to be a bruise on the reputation, but there are good things happening. It's not like everyone will go to bed one night with Downtown being the way it is and then wake up the next day to it resembling a bustling place. It takes time.
"Citizens for a Greater Downtown" needs to recognize this.
Everyone knows I don't live in St. Louis anymore, but whenever I visit, I notice incremental changes to Downtown that are making it a little bit better each time. Lots of work remains, but the gist is you win some and you lose some. Celebrate the wins and take the losses as a lesson to improve for later. 2025 should yield a slate of positive announcements. It's how a certain group of people frame these announcements will be the most telling.
Will Citizens for a Greater Downtown celebrate the redevelopment of the AT&T Tower and (maybe) the Railway Exchange? What about the plan to replace the Millennium Hotel with something very nice? Or what about Thompson Coburn recommitting to Downtown and moving into Ballpark Village? Or what about Gateway South finally beginning construction? Let's not forget the activities around CityPark. Each of these are incremental enhancements to Downtown. All work together to achieve a more vibrant neighborhood.
I might no longer live in St. Louis, but it doesn't mean I want Downtown to be a crap place. It hurts to see the heart of the region hurt whenever something bad happens. It's even worse when tragedy gets more airtime than victory.
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Brad Waldrop is the person who tweets from that account
Craig Heller was Loftworks, not Pyramid.TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote: ↑Jan 03, 2025Holy hell, Heller is still allowed to do biz in DT after Pyramid? Set the JA back 20 years.
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Gotcha. Loft works did decent work. Who was the Pyramid guy?
And apologies to Mr. Heller.
And apologies to Mr. Heller.
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heller did lose it all via bankruptcy than got a sweet consulting gig at $12,500 from downtown cid to assembled land for the rams north riverfront stadium.
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Yeah, bankruptcy, like Green Street, happens. I'm sure he is well versed in DT real estate.
Commercial real estate is about as risky as it gets. Bankruptcies unfortunately happen to good people and good developers. Developers at scale personally guarantee hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. One bad deal can wipe out everything.TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote: ↑Jan 03, 2025Holy hell, Heller is still allowed to do biz in DT after Pyramid? Set the JA back 20 years.STLAPTS wrote: ↑Jan 02, 2025Weird. Craig Heller is Alex Oliver's right hand man. Quite the contradicting messages between Greater Downtown and Oliver Properties.TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 wrote: ↑Jan 01, 2025Yeah, any group with Les Sterman AND Craig Heller at the top of their pyramid should probably not be taken seriously.