urbanSTL

threeonefour wrote:

olvidarte wrote:

Broadway to 7th & Olive to Washington are virtual ghost towns even in the daytime let alone night.

Yup. It feels so much worse with Macy's closed. I've been downtown going on 8 years and the CBD has never felt this dead, even in the middle of the day.

And that 500 block of locust? I don't like walking down it during the day, no way i'd walk those blocks at night. That garage overhang really makes that block feel scary.

I love downtown, but it's feeling really sleepy lately. Off topic, i know.

That section of downtown really is much worse since Macy's closed. It's been a year since its doors closed, and now the building is completely empty. The mayor made its closing sound like no big deal because hipsters don't shop in department stores. People like me who mourned its loss must have looked like sentimental old farts by comparison. Seriously, however you feel about the store, it was one of the last signs of life in that entire area. The restaurants along Olive and Seventh aren't open past lunchtime or on weekends, and Mercantile Exchange retail is still concentrated on the Washington Avenue side, with the Locust Street side vacant. That whole area around the Mercantile Library and Railway Exchange buildings looks like the place where young Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered. As adjacent developments nearby are completed, perhaps the ground floors of these buildings will slowly come back to life, but now, it's No Man's Land, regardless of the time of day.

I agree, downtown feels a bit sleepy now, at least away from Washington Avenue. Getting back on topic, the true test of Ballpark Village will come after the Cardinals finish their season (in October, I assume). I've eaten in all of the restaurants and I've come away pleased each time, but how many times are people going to go there just for that? After all, that's the problem with downtown. Even if there's a restaurant you like, if there are no events in progress, you go to eat, and there's not much to do afterwards. Again, I am confident that this will eventually improve. It's just frustrating to see such a large dead zone in the middle of downtown after so many years of progress in surrounding areas.

threeonefour wrote: The restaurants along Olive and Seventh aren't open past lunchtime or on weekends, and Mercantile Exchange retail is still concentrated on the Washington Avenue side, with the Locust Street side vacant. That whole area around the Mercantile Library and Railway Exchange buildings looks like the place where young Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered. As adjacent developments nearby are completed, perhaps the ground floors of these buildings will slowly come back to life, but now, it's No Man's Land, regardless of the time of day.

terence d wrote:

That section of downtown really is much worse since Macy's closed.

I can't comment on weekdays during the day since I don't work downtown, but living just a block or so away for the last five years I feel the opposite. I would say the closing of Macy's had little-to-no effect on the vibrancy of the immediate area (bounded by Olive and Locust from Broadway to 7th). It was largely dead before Macy's closed and largely dead now. No dis intended. I love this area and the potential is unlimited. Just calling it how I see it.

The Lasalle Building seems prime for residential conversion

debaliviere wrote:

roger wyoming II wrote:Anyone know who owns all the properties under the Mercantile Library, Inc. umbrella?

Same ownership group as The MX.