dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑Nov 06, 2021
wabash wrote: ↑Nov 06, 2021
OnTheEdge wrote: ↑Nov 06, 2021
I rest my case.
Is your case about Downtown or St. Louis City?
DT was at its peak bubble of historic loft renovations in 2008, and progress certainly slowed significantly in the following 12 years.
The East Loop, Debaliviere, Central West End, Grove, Botanical Heights, Shaw, Midtown (although more the south and western portions than Midtown Alley) all feel very different than they did in 2008, with investment and development seeming to continue to pour in.
2004-2008 downtown + west
2,010 permits and $1,120,000,000
2017-2021 downtown + west
1,850 permits and $1,280,000,000 (probably 1.3 by end of year)
Yes. When you compare private dollars invested in Downtown & Downtown West with both condo values (posted previously) and rent rates (specifically office, restaurant & retail) it becomes blatantly obvious that the ROI for developers is paltry at best. Can you build a new apartment building and sell it for an ok ROI? Probably with incentives (contrary to what many anti-incentive people believe). But, even with incentives, are Downtown & Downtown West investments high priority for developers versus sites outside of Downtown? Probably not.
The comparison between private dollars invested (building permits) and rent rates also highlights some things are very wrong with Downtown & Downtown West. It’s not the private development projects: eg., 21c Museum Hotel, STL CITY, Union Station, BPV, The Last Hotel, Monogram, … the problems are related to what goes on in the public domain (infrastructure, crime, …) … stuff controlled by City gov & the CID.
If there were a focus on infrastructure (road diets, bike/ped connections), form-based code, crime (parking lots, quality of life issues, problem properties …), marketing (the CID did a crap job), and some other stuff, Downtown & Downtown West would be strong investments.
Problem properties is a big crime category: Reign; lots of illegal bars/event venues; gas stations (particularly Shell); homeless encampments that are volunteer-oriented (which is basically every tent encampment); 7-Eleven & other joints that sell single serve alcohol; bad service providers themselves; parking lots … Problem properties could be tackled pretty easily but the City gov & CID seem to not want to do it.
Downtown & Downtown West should be great investments. To date the data shows otherwise. There needs to be change outside the four corners of a private development project. Change needs to happen in the public realm (government & quasi-government entities).