RW, on side note I wonder if Delta's brief win on helping to kill Export/Import Bank soured GE on Atlanta. At same time, I believe it is mostly GE executive staff of up to 200 that is going to Boston. So believe it had to do more with not having to displace a larger number of employees while still getting a big fat tax benefit
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Downtown St. Louis Is Alive and Well (Thank You Very Much)
It also takes people in the metro to support downtown, see for themselves what is happening and stop spreading fear, mistruths and half-truths
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/01/23/ ... Ox.twitter
It also takes people in the metro to support downtown, see for themselves what is happening and stop spreading fear, mistruths and half-truths
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/01/23/ ... Ox.twitter
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^ that's a good piece by Debbie.... and her including Chris Sommers' comments on the need for more office workers is spot on.
"Pi Pizza’s owner Chris Sommers says, “The perception that Downtown is dead is accurate to some who visit only periodically, or who don’t see it different times of the day and week. While Pi Downtown is our highest grossing restaurant in STL, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it feels like you can safely shoot a cannon down most streets many hours of the day. Why? Because we lack the office tenants we once had. Until we can get a good mix of office and residential, it will have some of the attributes of sleepier suburbs.”
Sommers continues, “I believe we can fix this, but it will take the same energy spent trying to keep a corporation that never wanted to be here, the Rams, to be redirected to attracting and retaining corporations that actually move the needle and provide year-round traffic on Downtown streets..."
Sommers really gets it, perhaps more than anyone else I've seen among downtown stakeholders and elected officials.
"Pi Pizza’s owner Chris Sommers says, “The perception that Downtown is dead is accurate to some who visit only periodically, or who don’t see it different times of the day and week. While Pi Downtown is our highest grossing restaurant in STL, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it feels like you can safely shoot a cannon down most streets many hours of the day. Why? Because we lack the office tenants we once had. Until we can get a good mix of office and residential, it will have some of the attributes of sleepier suburbs.”
Sommers continues, “I believe we can fix this, but it will take the same energy spent trying to keep a corporation that never wanted to be here, the Rams, to be redirected to attracting and retaining corporations that actually move the needle and provide year-round traffic on Downtown streets..."
Sommers really gets it, perhaps more than anyone else I've seen among downtown stakeholders and elected officials.
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Sommers indeed gets it. We could use many more like him, engaging in both boosterism and public service. It will be interesting to see if he ever jumps into politics beyond hosting fundraisers, STL could use him.roger wyoming II wrote:Sommers really gets it, perhaps more than anyone else I've seen among downtown stakeholders and elected officials.
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Politics aren't for everybody. People like him are more effective outside the political game.
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I believe work on Union Station, Soldier's Memorial and Kiener Plaza are all set to be under construction within the next few weeks -- I think Union Station is supposed to begin in the next week or so. I'm going to try and check out three spaces one last time before they get major changes.
downtown2007 wrote:Downtown St. Louis Is Alive and Well (Thank You Very Much)
It also takes people in the metro to support downtown, see for themselves what is happening and stop spreading fear, mistruths and half-truths
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/01/23/ ... Ox.twitter
Anyone want to guess which editorial writer for one of the state's major newspapers liked the piece?
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yeah, Yael followed me on twitter this morning and the rest is history!
Yael T. Abouhalkah Retweeted STLrainbow
In fairness to St. Louis: A love letter to its downtown, backed up by some facts. Yael T. Abouhalkah added,
STLrainbow @stlrainbow
Terrific piece: Downtown St. Louis Is Alive and Well (Thank You Very Much) http://cbsloc.al/1UmzaNc
We're besties now and he is even considering visiting in Spring once National Blues Museum opens. I offered to treat him to Kitchen Sink or Pi. (Ok, we're not besties but I hope he is serious about considering a visit.)
Yael T. Abouhalkah Retweeted STLrainbow
In fairness to St. Louis: A love letter to its downtown, backed up by some facts. Yael T. Abouhalkah added,
STLrainbow @stlrainbow
Terrific piece: Downtown St. Louis Is Alive and Well (Thank You Very Much) http://cbsloc.al/1UmzaNc
We're besties now and he is even considering visiting in Spring once National Blues Museum opens. I offered to treat him to Kitchen Sink or Pi. (Ok, we're not besties but I hope he is serious about considering a visit.)
Found this today
http://downtownstl.webtestdev.com/wp-co ... -Final.pdf
http://downtownstl.webtestdev.com/wp-co ... -Final.pdf
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^downtown has tripled in population since I last lived there! Page 11 is fascinating by the way.
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thanks for posting... this in depth report definitely seems to be the fruit of the labor of the research director that was hired not long ago. Great to see moving forward as we need some brains in that downtown saint louis outfit.True_dope wrote:Found this today
http://downtownstl.webtestdev.com/wp-co ... -Final.pdf
The 2015 report will be even better with everything that went online late in the year (Arcade, 720 Olive, Station Plaza) and I suspect Downtown will surpass Downtown West in population very soon, especially if that planned Crowne Plaza partial conversion actually happens.
Here's the 2015 State of Downtown Report, too:
http://downtownstl.org/wp-content/uploa ... O-CURL.pdf
The lack of any movement on office other than t-rex, etc. is depressing, but other than that not bad.
http://downtownstl.org/wp-content/uploa ... O-CURL.pdf
The lack of any movement on office other than t-rex, etc. is depressing, but other than that not bad.
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Though isn't that in some ways a win considering the headwinds factoring into it right now like the crime issue and any Ferguson effect?
The other issue that may be a problem coming up is at some point another recession will occur soon which would slow down development.
The other issue that may be a problem coming up is at some point another recession will occur soon which would slow down development.
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^ certainly retaining what companies we already have downtown is key -- and I think we're not losing as many as before -- so you raise a good point but at some point we have to expect more inflow into downtown.
I got this good response from Metro to a question I had on tracking 8th and Pine boardings in light of the Arcade-Wright redevelopment:
We too are excited about the redevelopment happening downtown, including the gorgeous Arcade building. Metro does collect boardings data at each of our MetroLink stations on a daily basis, however ridership at the 8th & Pine station has dropped recently. Much of this trend can be attributed to fewer events and employment in Downtown, and 8th & Pine in particular has lost some of its market due to the relocation of major companies like AT&T. We are optimistic that continued residential growth and repopulation of some of the Downtown buildings will result in growth in MetroLink ridership.
I don't think the impact of fewer office workers on ridership is a revelation but it is interesting to see that fewer events are mentioned.... I guess that's mostly a reflection of the move of the various festivals.
We too are excited about the redevelopment happening downtown, including the gorgeous Arcade building. Metro does collect boardings data at each of our MetroLink stations on a daily basis, however ridership at the 8th & Pine station has dropped recently. Much of this trend can be attributed to fewer events and employment in Downtown, and 8th & Pine in particular has lost some of its market due to the relocation of major companies like AT&T. We are optimistic that continued residential growth and repopulation of some of the Downtown buildings will result in growth in MetroLink ridership.
I don't think the impact of fewer office workers on ridership is a revelation but it is interesting to see that fewer events are mentioned.... I guess that's mostly a reflection of the move of the various festivals.
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If they're factoring in foot races and festivals into a daily average, that probably puts a big dent in their numbers. Most of those should be Union Station, Civic Center, or Stadium though. 8th and Pine would just be conventions and CBD stuff, right?
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Is it possible that the construction itself gently pushed people to use other stations? Wanting to stay away from the equipment and construction work? I would assume we'll see a slight increase as people normalize their patterns again.
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^ I'd think it's part that as well; a whole host of things I guess. .. Laclede Gas moving out of 720 Olive, AT&T reduction, construction, fewer events. Hopefully things will pick back up as things settle in to a new normal. Relatedly, I guess the next question I should ask is how overall boardings have done in the CBD stations.
Somewhat of a metaphor for the state of downtown, I called in 2 dead birds on Olive this afternoon... one in front of RR/X and another in front of LaSalle.... man that stretch of Olive (and Locust) is depressing. And RR/X has planters with dead vegetation. Embarrassing. Hopefully the rumors of a LaSalle rehab are true. Downtown BID Clean Team picked the birds up w/in ten minutes, though, which was pretty impressive.
The reason downtown isn't "losing as many as before" is because the availability of office space in Clayton is low. If downtown doesn't have new space within the next two years, we'll see more companies move to Clayton.roger wyoming II wrote:^ certainly retaining what companies we already have downtown is key -- and I think we're not losing as many as before -- so you raise a good point but at some point we have to expect more inflow into downtown.
Speaking of the eight and pine station... Cold metro or downtown partnership clean the glass roof of the entry to the station/ platform. It's still covered in crap from the Arcade redevelopment.
Sounds like maybe Downtown BID could be more responsive/productive than calling Metro.roger wyoming II wrote:I called in 2 dead birds on Olive this afternoon... Downtown BID Clean Team picked the birds up w/in ten minutes, though, which was pretty impressive.
^ In my experience, Metro ignores the first half dozen reports of something wrong, and will eventually respond after the 10th or so complaint (usually takes at least a month to respond to something after enough complaints). They're just not good with customer service at all.
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It's official. No surprise. Hardees is moving to Nashville. The CA offices will also move to TN, in an effort to consolidate operations.
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 5394c.html
http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/r ... /81366088/
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 5394c.html
http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/r ... /81366088/