urbanSTL

they have a commercial tenant buying all of th eunits on the 2nd floor for their graphic design business

They are now at exactly 50% sold. Pretty good considering they are still expecting a lot of business during the "Spring (or should I say summer) Loft Tours". I am really happy to see units being sold after purchasing relatively early. Anyone have any approximation what the monthly cost will be to own a fireplace? From my understanding, the energy used for fireplaces will be aggregated from all who possess a fireplace and then evenly distributed among those owners to pay that portion of the monthly energy bill. Thanks.

mophipsi wrote:they have a commercial tenant buying all of th eunits on the 2nd floor for their graphic design business

Excellent! I like it when these loft buildings have commercial tenants on the lower floors. A good mix of uses keeps the building (and the street) active at all times.

mophipsi wrote:they have a commercial tenant buying all of th eunits on the 2nd floor for their graphic design business

Wonder if they provided parking for the commercial tenants, how many spaces and where?

This graphic designer was also supposed to take up half of the retail space on the first floor. If they end up building a parkng garage on the back lot, I REALLY hope they keep it to 3-4 floors. Currently, the north view is only slightly blocked by moon bros. building, which is 4 stories tall.

bsharmastl wrote:4 stories tall.

Just for accuracy, it's 5 stories.

And I think you guy's views will be fine if they build a garage. A 4+ plus story garage would be a massive for a building of Ventana's size considering you already have some underground parking. It'd probably be 3 stories tops.

I hope they [the graphic designer company] don't take up all the retail space. I think it would be a waste to have just that one tenant. It would be nice to have a restaurant or cafe of sorts or at least some other kind of real retail like shops or something. A restaurant or cafe would make the place even more lively with more people throughout the day and nighttime. Personally, it'd be nice to see a Starbucks be located somewhere nearby, perhaps even downstairs. Usually having a Starbucks means being in a "nice area." A restaurant would be great. The convenience of going to dinner or picking up something to eat downstairs just seems like a great thing to have. Who knows, maybe with the name like The Ventana, we could keep a spanish theme going, and have a Spanish restaurant...tapas and such. What are peoples thoughts of having a restaurant or cafe downstairs?



Also, general question. How does having commericial tenants such as that one occupying the entire 2nd floor affect the value of the residences in the lofts on the floors above? Does it do anything to the value? Will it have a positive effect or no effect? Hopefully it's either only those two.

BLUsky7 wrote:I hope they [the graphic designer company] don't take up all the retail space. I think it would be a waste to have just that one tenant. It would be nice to have a restaurant or cafe of sorts or at least some other kind of real retail like shops or something. A restaurant or cafe would make the place even more lively with more people throughout the day and nighttime. Personally, it'd be nice to see a Starbucks be located somewhere nearby, perhaps even downstairs. Usually having a Starbucks means being in a "nice area." A restaurant would be great. The convenience of going to dinner or picking up something to eat downstairs just seems like a great thing to have. Who knows, maybe with the name like The Ventana, we could keep a spanish theme going, and have a Spanish restaurant...tapas and such. What are peoples thoughts of having a restaurant or cafe downstairs?



Also, general question. How does having commericial tenants such as that one occupying the entire 2nd floor affect the value of the residences in the lofts on the floors above? Does it do anything to the value? Will it have a positive effect or no effect? Hopefully it's either only those two.

IMO having a commercial tenant neither increases nor decreases value. Actually I guess that depends on the tenant. We have the Drive Ad Agency occupying all 10,000 square feet of the street level retail in Printer's B building. You would never know that they are here as most the time they keep the blinds drawn. It would have been great if they would have done something cool with their window space but they didn't. They have been a non-issue with resales. And they really don't do anything to liven up the building. They're gone by 5:00 and not here on the weekends. They do participate in First Friday Gallery Walks but that's about it.



As for a restaurant, sounds good on paper, can be used as positive marketing when time to resale BUT unless you are higher up in the building you could be subject to frequent odors, noises and the potential for pests. I personally would not want to live right on top of a restaurant. But would LOVE for a restaurant to be like next door or across the street.

Any idea who the graphic design firm is? I'm wondering if it's one that's relocating from another downtown location or elsewhere in the region.

Apparently some fo teh second floor units had been reserved and thus this created some unhappy future loft owners. Anyone know what they offered to the original people who reserved on teh second floor? Could you pretty much demand a better unit?

I asked this question to the sales people (cause they had sold 3 units). All 3 of them accepted similar units on other floors at no extra cost.

BLUsky7 wrote:I hope they [the graphic designer company] don't take up all the retail space.

Agreed. I like commercial tenants on the 2nd and maybe 3rd floors of loft buildings, but retail should be on the ground floor. I can't wait until the day when retail storefronts line both sides of Washington, all up and down the block.

I called The Ventana today just for some updates and to get answers to some general questions I had. Here's what I found out.



(1) On the website, under the "Lofts" link, the units that say "Reserved" pretty much mean the same as "Sold"

(2) They said they are at about 51% sold

(3) The reserved underground parking space are really "reserved" space. In other words, we get a specific reserved numbered parking space. I guess that means we own the spot?

(4) The negotiations with the graphics design firm is not 100% final yet. The plan is still for that firm to occupy all of the 2nd floor. When I asked them of anything proposed for the 1st floor, she said the graphics design firm is interested in having an art gallery on the 1st floor. Other than that, there are no other new developments.



*Comments on the "Art Gallery" idea: I personally don't like that idea. I firmly believe that there should be some retail/cafe space down there. That would certainly make the building a little more lively throughout the day and night. I think an art gallery would not be as fun to have downstairs. Some retail or cafe/restaurant would at least give some reason for residents to go downstairs and hangout on the 1st floor perhaps. You don't really "hang out" at an art gallery. It'd be cool to have a place to "hang out" or socialize downstairs too in addition to the rooftop.



What do people think about this idea, the art gallery on the 1st floor? What would people like to see on the 1st floor? Any thoughts?

An Art Gallery will not contrbute into turning the area into a 24 hour destination. I fancy diner (city diner), an independant type over the counter restaurant, bar, or a 24 hour coffie hour would be my choice. But a Art Gallery? Boring.

Downtown2007 wrote:An Art Gallery will not contrbute into turning the area into a 24 hour destination. I fancy diner (city diner), an independant type over the counter restaurant, bar, or a 24 hour coffie hour would be my choice. But a Art Gallery? Boring.

I'll pass on the 24 hour diner idea. I don't particularly want drunks walking up and down Washington at 3:00am yelling.

Scrutinizer, forgive me for being blunt, but noise is something you are simply going to have to embrace. I live in a very loud neighborhood and I find it exciting. When indoors, I simply get used to it and tune it out. We're not talking about quiet residential neighborhood but a downtown. A downtown, I think, should trade all notions of quiet secluded living spaces for an exciting, walkable space that is alive 24 hours a day. People know what they are getting into when they move into such neighborhoods and are thrilled by the trade off. Certainly, in anycase, a loud a**hole is a loud a**hole, but not everyone going to a diner at 3 AM is a loud a**hole. I actually think you will find that your prejudice in this case is wrong. In just the same way not everyone you bump into on the street is going to mug you. These are the kinds of prejudices that keep people in the suburbs, and they do have a right to that choice. Dense city living is a diverse and wide smattering of opportunities at all times of day and an acceptance to both enjoy the good aspects (i.e. the opportunity for a cup of coffee at 3 AM) and the bad ones (i.e. loudness). The best we can do for downtown is to strive for such an intensity where the great opportunities outweigh the minor discomfort of noise now and again.

^ Well said

Touch? Stlmike...



I TOTALLY agree with the coffee/city diner type line of business on the ground floor. But we do not really have any say do we?

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:
I'll pass on the 24 hour diner idea. I don't particularly want drunks walking up and down Washington at 3:00am yelling.

Yeah, I want to move to a thriving nightlife destination, and complain about loud people at 3 in the morning. [/sarcasm]



I understand people like certain things where they live, but if you move to a place like Wash Ave, you better get used to drunks walking up and down your street at 3 in the morning. Just a warning. If that's a problem, perhaps you should look for a loft off of Washington. Perhaps Delmar, Locust, or Lucas would be a more appropriate street. Or even something more in the central core. Just a suggestion.

Hey blipic, do you have a relative that lives in Southwest City, a couple of blocks east of Hampton Village?

trent wrote:

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:
I'll pass on the 24 hour diner idea. I don't particularly want drunks walking up and down Washington at 3:00am yelling.

Yeah, I want to move to a thriving nightlife destination, and complain about loud people at 3 in the morning. [/sarcasm]



I understand people like certain things where they live, but if you move to a place like Wash Ave, you better get used to drunks walking up and down your street at 3 in the morning. Just a warning. If that's a problem, perhaps you should look for a loft off of Washington. Perhaps Delmar, Locust, or Lucas would be a more appropriate street. Or even something more in the central core. Just a suggestion.

I am prepared for the occasional drunk. But we don't need a 24 hour diner to attract a bunch of them.

Downtown needs a 24 hour diner. The vibrant cities I've been to all have awesome little diners that really server the neighborhood well. The idea that it would attract drunks and be detrimental is just closed minded.

buckethead wrote:Downtown needs a 24 hour diner. The vibrant cities I've been to all have awesome little diners that really server the neighborhood well. The idea that it would attract drunks and be detrimental is just closed minded.

Or based on experience perhaps.

I'm going to agree that the fear of drunks all night is very much an unfounded fear. Sure there will be some, but I think it will cater more towards the neighborhood. Remember that not everyone up at 4 am is drunk. Some of us just don't like to go to sleep early.