urbanSTL

Now that Rice and his "shelter" has to get itself in shape or get lost. Does anyone think with him having to change or get out. How much positive affect could this have on downtown? and when would we see the results of him being gone???

Last I heard was that there's less then 60 K job still downtown East of Jefferson.

^Source?

I wish the city would go to express scripts and say, if you move 100 + jobs into Railway, you will not have to pay taxes for x number of years. Or any large, growing company.

roger wyoming II wrote:

kinger wrote:The owner of those garages requires all new leases (for retail space) to have a clause that the tenant can be relocated/terminated in the event the ownership wants to redevelop the property. They will not bend on it, either, which is a big reason there are several vacancies in an otherwise great retail location. ...Gets you thinking.

Steve P. has a good article up on the old garage on Tucker undergoing an extensive renovation.... I wasn't sure what exactly was going on there and if Pappa John's and the Chinese place were still open; they aren't.

http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/2014/12/p ... jobs-lost/

If the Keiner garages similarly need extensive renovation at some point I think that would make a mixed-use redevelopment more likely. They could do one garage first and then the second. I'd love to see it happen! Also, does anyone remember details on what I think was the Downtown Now plan to put some parking under the Mall?

I saw that. I was really annoyed that that Chinese restaurant closed. I liked going there, and now live only a block away. That garage was in really bad shape though. I parked inside there a few times a few years ago, and the concrete was visibly crumbling in a number of places.

I was hoping they would just tear it down and put up some new construction like apartments, etc., which would improve the Tucker streetscape. There's already too many garages in that area.

prophett wrote:Last I heard was that there's less then 60 K job still downtown East of Jefferson.

If Downtown is in fact down to barely 60K jobs that in itself is devastating. I really don't like the way people and business's are blaming BPV its not even nearly complete and i would dislike to see once all phases are completed. I look at BPV as a niche that downtown needed. There should be more to our downtown than just bars. There has to be other alternative geared towards families couples without kids singles so this means we need to be trying to diversifying our downtown. What we have right now isn't doing much for people. H.eres what i look at a few key developments to prosperity in our downtown. Union Station BPV further enhancing our convention centers it in itself can be more competitive bringing in better retail and restaurant options also more jobs. I would love to see our leaders offer parking lots for new development give land to companies who are willing to chance on downtown. Clean up the crime cause theres not a perception that downtown is dangerous right now with the outbreak in crime no where in downtown is safe. Downtown leaders should have offered one of many parking lots to Centene free of charge along with some tax breaks. I'm not going to blame BPV its a new asset that we have now that we didn't have in the past. Point of the matter our leaders are balking on downtown

Ok let's look at the number and think about it really quickly. First when I was told the number it didn't include any offices south of 40 , West of Jefferson , and North of Cass. The DT Partnership will site a 110 K number but the boundaries they use are inflated and encompass a area much larger then DT.

Also I think the real devil and interesting DT office population number would be avg income. I suspect that the avg income of offices workers has fallen significantly. The jobs that have been created over the past 10 - 15 years have been of the $ 30 K variety vs. $100 K + office jobs that really propel a region as a core CBD.

Someone one from the city needs to crunch this data to get a understanding as to what's actually going on. You can't support $200 K new Condo construction when you have a office population who's struggling just to get by making $ 30 K a year. I think developers see this issue and this why there hasn't been a single new high rise constructed downtown sense 1989.

prophett wrote: Also I think the real devil and interesting DT office population number would be avg income. I suspect that the avg income of offices workers has fallen significantly. The jobs that have been created over the past 10 - 15 years have been of the $ 30 K variety vs. $100 K + office jobs that really propel a region as a core CBD.

Not sure about the created jobs income number. Companies who have added jobs like Stifel, Hudson Bay, and various law firms, are paying significantly more than $30k. Even startups who are hiring software engineers are paying more than $30k. Now that I think about it, I know servers and bartenders DT who make more than $30k/yr. While an increase in wages will help, I don't believe thats a real issue. The issue is there isn't enough job growth. Sucks to say, but downtown is just not the place to be right now. Midtown, CWE, and Clayton are just so much hotter right now.

prophett wrote:...this why there hasn't been a single new high rise constructed downtown sense 1989.

OPOP Tower (previously Roberts)

So how downtown can move on the the next level ? I think getting rid of all the one way streets and new streetscapes would do a lot.
Also i think tucker and market east of tucker could use a street diet.

True_dope wrote:So how downtown can move on the the next level ? I think getting rid of all the one way streets and new streetscapes would do a lot.
Also i think tucker and market east of tucker could use a street diet.

Several things need to happen. I think with the renovation of the hotels will help a lot...hopefully it'll boost tourism. Crime needs to be addressed head on, not passively. No one will move their co downtown if they think one of their employees could become a victim of a random shooting, car jacking, or assault.

^ my guess is Steinberg.

maybe. i wonder if Detroit has any other outdoor rinks within a similar distance (downtown to forest park). and i wonder if having one downtown here would detract from steinberg's business.

urban_dilettante wrote:maybe. i wonder if Detroit has any other outdoor rinks within a similar distance (downtown to forest park). and i wonder if having one downtown here would detract from steinberg's business.

It definitely would.

I'm glad there has been talk about the homeless problem for 2015 with alternate solutions. I was in the central library Sunday and it was almost scary. The lobby had 2 armed guards keeping an eye on about 50 presumably homeless people just loitering, the other room had a guard, and all the clerks seemed on edge. Wasn't a welcoming experience.

cteclipse wrote:I'm glad there has been talk about the homeless problem for 2015 with alternate solutions. I was in the central library Sunday and it was almost scary. The lobby had 2 armed guards keeping an eye on about 50 presumably homeless people just loitering, the other room had a guard, and all the clerks seemed on edge. Wasn't a welcoming experience.

So all the homeless just just the Library as a day time version of NLEC? So in a way the city is paying NLEC light and heat Bill during the day I am really glad the city is tacking a stand.

Takaya closed at MX....

http://m.stltoday.com/entertainment/din ... touch=true

Can't say who, as it's not my place to announce it, but everyone will be very happy to learn of who is going to replace Takaya.

Aw man, don't do this to us!!!

I'm intrigued.

^I believe he said it wasnt a chain. I was hoping Hortons