tech840 wrote:If t-rex bought the parking lot behind it should they build apartments or office space? Parking below ground or in middle of building?
In an ideal world, I'd vote for below ground parking, but I say we jack up building heights all we can. So middle.
I could go either way on residential vs. office. I think I'd say office just for the sake of having some NEW office space downtown. We don't have much of that. Renovated sure, but not new buildings.
tech840 wrote:If t-rex bought the parking lot behind it should they build apartments or office space? Parking below ground or in middle of building?
Without a doubt I'd love to see this as office space (with some first floor retail) especially suited for companies exiting out of t-rex. I'd like the massing to be similar to the Lammert block and the design along the lines of the T3 wood building I posted awhile back that Hines is looking to build in a Minneapolis tech area. (I'll try to dig that image up).
As for the lot that is currently for sale next door, I'd like that to be mixed-use residential/commercial redevelopment again with similar massing.
^ here is the post I had on the Tech thread of my dream of having behind the Lammer this kind of "T3" building planned planned for Minneapolis...
roger wyoming II wrote:I love this T3 "timber, technology, transit" building that is planned for Minneapolis. Something like this would be great behind the Lammert as a t-rex Phase II and downtown tech district takes shape.
Hines' seven-story T3 building would have 32,000-square-feet on each of the six office floors, plus retail and common area space on the first floor.
The building would a have 12-foot ceilings with exposed wooden beams, designed to feel like the inside of century-old warehouse buildings in the North Loop today.
Hines is calling the project T3 for the three elements that are key to the site: timber, transit and technology, Pfefferle said... Wood buildings are greener and faster to build than other types of construction, Pfefferle said. Some of the materials are more expensive, but a shorter construction timeline helps balance out the costs.
^ I would vote office. As Roger noted, I think downtown will need some Class A office space as I see downtown not being as competitive going forward without some new Class A soon than later. At the moment, you got some new Class A office space proposed and could be easily built out everywhere except downtown whether it be Chesterfield, Clayton (next phase of Centene or Apex Oil) and CWE/CORTEX (Koplar/Koman or Wexford/Cortex).
As far as residential, downtown can still fill Railway, Chemical if not mistaken, as well as the huge space that Jefferson Arms takes up in addition to the assumption the BPV next phase will be new residential as well as Drury on Laclede's. Plenty of residential to go around. New residential space at this location means that less likely other space or other proposals don't get off the ground.
How about this idea. Would folks with T-rex consider putting in a data center @ Railway Exchange with some upper floor residential.
Dredger, thanks for the feedback. I tend to agree we need more office space than residential due to the number of buildings which can be converted to residential. There have been 3 graduates (FoodEssentials, Juristat, and TopOpps) of T-REX that have moved next door into the Curlee building and all 3 are growing at a pretty good clip and want to remain within walking distance of T-REX. There a a few more within T-REX who are getting close to needing to look for additional space nearby within 6-9 months. There are other spaces within a few blocks for rent but density is so important and I would prefer for the companies to not get spread too far around town.
T-REX has at least 40,000 sq ft within their building to remodel (capital is needed) which will support some of the growth but they have more early stage companies still on the waiting list that cannot get in, yet due to space constraints.
As far as a data center is concerned, 710 Tucker is a great data center building (that gets no love) that has a power substation below ground and is built for large loads and has hundreds of thousands of sq ft available. The power and the fiber is already delivered to the building so I do not think Railroad Exchange building should pursue a data center as the amount of capital it would take to get it in a position to compete with 710 Tucker, 210 Tucker and 900 Walnut (all of which have capacity) is too great. Finally, data centers do not create many jobs as compared to any other software/hardware company. Our capital in this town is limited so I would not go in that direction. I would support a mixed use of retail, university, corporate with residential on the upper floors. The building is a big challenge, but beautiful.
This thread is a year old and started with sean's taking a observational walk around downtown during Arch Madness. Arch Madness is now 25 years old and this year should be another good tournament with another Top Ten Witchita State team and Northern Iowa on their heels. (#11 Witchita State just beat # 10 Northen Iowa yesterday.)
debaliviere wrote:I'm a little worried that the majority of the Arch Madness visitors will spend the bulk of their time at Ballpark Village.
They will, they will love it, and that is fine. Just like visitors to KC rave about P&L.
I would hope the hotels push other options as well, but I have my doubts. Although, I would speculate that many of the visitors to Arch Madness attend annually and already have their favorite spots DT.
BPV isn't for me (give me Dubliner, Hair of the Dog, Bridge, Mo Bar (RIP), etc any day), but it definitely has its place. It caters to a large percentage of the population. It's safe, flashy, and for most a lot of fun. I also think it's an asset for bringing similar events to Arch Madness to St Louis. I just hope the long term cost isn't the DT establishments I love.
Wheelhouse is killing it...I think they'll get a ton of people as well. Especially the college aged kids that come to the event. As will Flying Saucer.
^ Hopefully Flying Saucer is doing okay as it was one of the places where management was on record with a sales dip post-BPV opening.
Something I thought was interesting was Downtown STL marketing a "Stadium District" restaurant week recently... I think branding a rather well-defined Stadium District would be a great thing and help Cupples businesses and others near the stadium but outside BPV.
I think the warmer weather and sunshine this weekend will help get people out and around. I could see the undergrads sticking to BPV, but the alumni getting out and looking for something more.
A lot of the Arch Madness attendees have been coming for years and have their favorite St. Louis spots figured out.
I've heard that as well. Whats the deal there? How are they killing it with so many other places lagging? Was downtown that much in need of a new bar/club?
debaliviere wrote:I'm a little worried that the majority of the Arch Madness visitors will spend the bulk of their time at Ballpark Village.
They will, they will love it, and that is fine. Just like visitors to KC rave about P&L.
I would hope the hotels push other options as well, but I have my doubts. Although, I would speculate that many of the visitors to Arch Madness attend annually and already have their favorite spots DT.
The NCAA Wrestling championships are also here in a few weeks. Another interesting crowd
I've heard that as well. Whats the deal there? How are they killing it with so many other places lagging? Was downtown that much in need of a new bar/club?
Appears the owners are well connected through the Mizzou crowd. It seems like every time I go there everyone is a Mizzou grad.
I was fortunate to do the deal with these guys at the Ballpark Lofts...They're great operators. Know how to market to their target customers. Designed a great facility from scratch. 3am license. Picked a spot that's easy to get to right off I64 and near some major venues like Busch, Scottrade, and Peabody. Safer area of downtown. Established brand and customer base in Clayton.
Wheelhouse is definitely the spot 20 something's go to downtown. Usually a line to get in on weekends. Remember when wash ave had Lo, cheetah, velvet.... I guess now it's still Lucas park, side bar, dubliner, hotd.
