The State of Downtown

jcity · PostDec 25, 2015#12512015-12-25T18:40+00:00

The city, the Mayor, etc, need to be all over the continued exodus of office tenants/companies from downtown. I thought this ended, but clearly it hasn't. This year alone:
Northwestern Mutual
RSM McGladry
Goldblatt Singer -the firm that uses old downtown stl footage in its ads...
Roseman Architects - REALLY?! The firm that specializes in historic loft conversions?!

There have been gains as well but not as many over the last year. The new consolidated agreement between county and city, the economic council has CLEARLY backfired for the city. The city has everything to lose and we need the SLDC advocating for the city again. Some type of incentive program needs to be established. No taxes if you bring 20 + employees downtown for three years. The city needs to compete and while there are many positives such as TRex, arch grants, etc, the city needs to be doing far more. Also, it's all about crime or perception of crime downtown. A few idiots have clearly had a detrimental impact on the CBD over the last 18 months. Mayor Slay, protect the city's golden egg!

roger wyoming II · PostDec 26, 2015#12522015-12-26T18:41+00:00

Touche wrote:About those highly anticipated restaurants: http://www.stlmag.com/dining/the-10-mos ... -for-2016/

I guess M/X is going to need a Ramen place if it's to be complete.

chaifetz10 · PostDec 28, 2015#12532015-12-28T14:51+00:00

I've said it dozens of times before, and I'll keep saying it again: St. Louis needs new leadership. I've lost all faith in this mayor and board of aldermen to be able to stop the bleeding and change the city's course. They're just too passive when it comes to business development. And I don't want to hear about the "behind closed doors conversations do happen" argument. Even if that's the case, it obviously hasn't been working.

roger wyoming II · PostDec 29, 2015#12542015-12-29T21:55+00:00

jcity wrote:The city, the Mayor, etc, need to be all over the continued exodus of office tenants/companies from downtown. I thought this ended, but clearly it hasn't. This year alone:
Northwestern Mutual
RSM McGladry
Goldblatt Singer -the firm that uses old downtown stl footage in its ads...
Roseman Architects - REALLY?! The firm that specializes in historic loft conversions?!

There have been gains as well but not as many over the last year. The new consolidated agreement between county and city, the economic council has CLEARLY backfired for the city. The city has everything to lose and we need the SLDC advocating for the city again. Some type of incentive program needs to be established. No taxes if you bring 20 + employees downtown for three years. The city needs to compete and while there are many positives such as TRex, arch grants, etc, the city needs to be doing far more. Also, it's all about crime or perception of crime downtown. A few idiots have clearly had a detrimental impact on the CBD over the last 18 months. Mayor Slay, protect the city's golden egg!

Goldblatt Singer is moving out of 720 Olive? I know they have a smaller Clayton office but I hadn't heard of a move out of downtown. Do you know about how many moved out with RSM McGladrey and when the move happened?

Anyway, I agree that the continuing loss of some companies to the county is frustrating... it makes it hard to move forward when our gains aren't yet doing much more than making up for losses. And it seems like we've had more wins with Illinois firms either moving or expanding into downtown (the mesothelioma law firm, Think Tank Marketing, etc. etc.) than from the County. We need to get to that point where more firms are considering downtown and we clearly are winning more expansions -- if not outright HQ relocations -- into downtown than firms moving out.

cteclipse · PostDec 29, 2015#12552015-12-29T22:04+00:00

Just ate at the new Kitchen Sink DT around noon today. The restaurant was booming as was the area within a few blocks. Great to see! Lots of tourists in front of courthouse/arch today. Excellent food and atmosphere as well.

roger wyoming II · PostDec 30, 2015#12562015-12-30T21:18+00:00

^ The big young christian conference may have had something to do with it... nice time of year to have a biggie.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/blog ... 6-000.html

Edit.... I see that actually is the largest conference of the year.

Presbyterian · PostJan 01, 2016#12572016-01-01T21:05+00:00

Yes. InterVarsity's Urbana is now in St. Louis long-term... every third year between Christmas and New Years. It's a great group.

roger wyoming II · PostJan 07, 2016#12582016-01-07T17:11+00:00

While checking on the status of Khan's Shipyards proposal in JAX, I came across this 2016 downtown development posted today:

http://eujacksonville.com/2016/01/06/do ... s-in-2016/

What's your boots on the ground view, Florida Orange Guy a.k.a. The Goat?

FirSTLove · PostJan 07, 2016#12592016-01-07T18:30+00:00

Not sure if some of these "predictions" are goals or if they know something we don't. Either way, this would make for a great 2016 for downtown.

There will be at least two corporations located outside of the city that move to Downtown St. Louis or open offices Downtown in order to attract higher quality millennial talent.
The Chemical and/or Jefferson Arms buildings will begin rehabilitation in 2016.
Another new accelerator launches at T-REX.
Over $50 million will be raised by Downtown-based innovative companies.
The Downtown Innovation Community adds at least 25 companies and 500 people.

http://eqstl.com/downtown-st-louis-inno ... edictions/

roger wyoming II · PostJan 07, 2016#12602016-01-07T18:38+00:00

^ I'll take it!

shimmy · PostJan 07, 2016#12612016-01-07T22:26+00:00

Nothing would make me happier than seeing the Chemical get renovated (except for maybe the announcement of a 30+ story tower at Kingshighway/Lindell). I too was downtown on the 30th and was thrilled with how packed it was. At the time I realized there was a big conference going on (based on the doomsday signs outside the convention center after leaving the Blues game the night before), but it was still awesome to see.

wabash · PostJan 08, 2016#12622016-01-08T01:00+00:00

^Lets not forget the Union Trust. Not quite the same scale as the Chemical, but would still make for a great redevelopment addition to DT that seems much more manageable than the RX & JA goliaths.

shimmy · PostJan 08, 2016#12632016-01-08T02:17+00:00

Yeah, obviously the RX and JA would make me similarly excited (if not more in the case of the RX), but I'm honestly just not that optimistic about them at the present moment. Chemical seems like the logical choice to be the next big one

I've always loved the Union Trust. Honestly, I don't know much about it. I even had to look up its name when you mentioned it. But, it's always been a building that I've walked by and admired. I guess I wasn't even aware that it was entirely vacant.

roger wyoming II · PostJan 08, 2016#12642016-01-08T02:30+00:00

^ The Gills bought Union Trust last year and the rumor is that they plan to put in a second Blackhawk Hotel like they did in Iowa... it's a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel so if they do it'll be sweet. I haven't put it on the project list because the GIlls themselves have been mum at least publicly on their plans. (Anders Accounting used to be the biggest tenant but they moved out when they acquired a firm in the County and consolidated everyone over on the south side of Market.) Anyway, I won't be surprised at all to hear plans on this at anytime.

I agree with you on R/X. that's going to take some heavy lifting and maybe several phases to get done. As for Jefferson Arms, there is scuttlebutt that the McGowan Bros are still very much pursuing the building and may have an announcement before long. But we'll see.

In my mind, if we can get two of the remaining decent-sized historics off the ground this year with solid announcements that would be pretty decent success -- say Chemical and Union Trust (that would really solidify Olive all the way from 7th to almost Tucker) or Jefferson Arms and one of the above. Anything more than that would be really sweet.

stlgasm · PostJan 08, 2016#12652016-01-08T03:25+00:00

How about the Southwestern Bell (AT&T) tower? It's the 2nd tallest skyscraper in the city, and it's vacant. Just think if Express Scripts or Edward Jones or World Wide Technology relocated from the burbs to this building. Why they choose to be in the anonymous suburbs over a high-profile location in the central city is beyond me.

jcity · PostJan 08, 2016#12662016-01-08T05:07+00:00

Lots of things are happening downtown from what I've heard, but they aren't public yet. Stay optimistic!

roger wyoming II · PostJan 08, 2016#12672016-01-08T14:28+00:00

^ sweet!

roger wyoming II wrote:^ The Gills bought Union Trust last year and the rumor is that they plan to put in a second Blackhawk Hotel like they did in Iowa... it's a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel so if they do it'll be sweet. I haven't put it on the project list because the GIlls themselves have been mum at least publicly on their plans... Anyway, I won't be surprised at all to hear plans on this at anytime.

This guy is full of sh*t... don't listen to anything he has to say!
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/prin ... hotel.html

debaliviere · PostJan 08, 2016#12682016-01-08T14:44+00:00

stlgasm wrote:How about the Southwestern Bell (AT&T) tower? It's the 2nd tallest skyscraper in the city, and it's vacant. Just think if Express Scripts or Edward Jones or World Wide Technology relocated from the burbs to this building. Why they choose to be in the anonymous suburbs over a high-profile location in the central city is beyond me.

I don't think it's entirely vacant. Not yet, at least. I go in to use the CVS every once in a while, and there are usually employees milling about.

roger wyoming II · PostJan 08, 2016#12692016-01-08T14:53+00:00

^ that's right. An employee I was talking to said that the lease they were committed to was actually a year longer than they thought so I suppose that is giving them less urgency to vacate.

On the down side, one of the larger CRE firms told me they think it'll take an anchor tenant taking up a large chuck of the building -- several hundred thousand square feet -- before it would make sense for the owner to begin marketing it for multi-tenant leasing. So it will take a big get before we see anything here. But if someone out there is reading and needs a quick, large move-in downtown STL can suit your needs!

DowntownNick · PostJan 08, 2016#12702016-01-08T15:11+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:^ sweet!

roger wyoming II wrote:^ The Gills bought Union Trust last year and the rumor is that they plan to put in a second Blackhawk Hotel like they did in Iowa... it's a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel so if they do it'll be sweet. I haven't put it on the project list because the GIlls themselves have been mum at least publicly on their plans... Anyway, I won't be surprised at all to hear plans on this at anytime.
This guy is full of sh*t... don't listen to anything he has to say!
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/prin ... hotel.html

Is there anything in there worthwhile outside of the preview for the article?

This is all I can see without subscribing... Restoration St. Louis, a local development company led by Amrit and Amy Gill, is planning a $50 million renovation of a mostly vacant office building at 705 Olive St.

moorlander · PostJan 08, 2016#12712016-01-08T15:20+00:00

DowntownNick wrote:
roger wyoming II wrote:^ sweet!

roger wyoming II wrote:^ The Gills bought Union Trust last year and the rumor is that they plan to put in a second Blackhawk Hotel like they did in Iowa... it's a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel so if they do it'll be sweet. I haven't put it on the project list because the GIlls themselves have been mum at least publicly on their plans... Anyway, I won't be surprised at all to hear plans on this at anytime.
This guy is full of sh*t... don't listen to anything he has to say!
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/prin ... hotel.html

Is there anything in there worthwhile outside of the preview for the article?

This is all I can see without subscribing... Restoration St. Louis, a local development company led by Amrit and Amy Gill, is planning a $50 million renovation of a mostly vacant office building at 705 Olive St.

see Union Trust Blackhawk thread.

stlien · PostJan 08, 2016#12722016-01-08T18:18+00:00

wabash wrote:^Lets not forget the Union Trust. Not quite the same scale as the Chemical, but would still make for a great redevelopment addition to DT that seems much more manageable than the RX & JA goliaths.

Not quite the same scale? What do you mean?

wabash · PostJan 08, 2016#12732016-01-08T19:02+00:00

They're actually closer in size than I thought. But Chemical has 2 more floors and is 2,000-12,000 sq.ft. bigger.

goat314 · PostJan 08, 2016#12742016-01-08T19:15+00:00

jcity wrote:Lots of things are happening downtown from what I've heard, but they aren't public yet. Stay optimistic!

Can you give a hint, or is this just a shameless tease?

roger wyoming II · PostJan 08, 2016#12752016-01-08T19:17+00:00

^ He doesn't want to be thrown in the Mississippi if he's wrong!

The State of Downtown

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