urbanSTL

Yeah. Maybe this should have been built 5 years ago when the buildings were demolished!

Why is the plaza remaining? If I am correct, this plaza was a part of some early 70's plan after the Victoria was demolished?

I'm just glad that the Roberts' have plenty of cash on hand, otherwise I would bet that this project would never get off the ground. I think it will be quality, but they clearly don't know what they are doing in terms of marketing, etc. The woman running their sales unit at the loft tour LAST YEAR did not even know what LEED certified meant and there was no pricing or floor plans if I remember correctly. There was an option to put $500 down, but that was it...

Bastiat wrote:I'm just glad that the Roberts' have plenty of cash on hand, otherwise I would bet that this project would never get off the ground. I think it will be quality, but they clearly don't know what they are doing in terms of marketing, etc. The woman running their sales unit at the loft tour LAST YEAR did not even know what LEED certified meant and there was no pricing or floor plans if I remember correctly. There was an option to put $500 down, but that was it...

^LOL! Interesting.



So I am surmising you haven't read any of the many articles regarding the project, seen the big banners hanging off the Mayfair, or visited the website? Is that not marketing? I am also surmising that you have not spoken a salesperson THIS YEAR or visited the model they have downtown THIS YEAR?



Anyway, here's a tidbit from the 06/15/07 St. Louis Post-Dispatch,



"The Marketing and Educational Center for the Roberts Tower received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 2,400-square-foot Marketing and Educational Center, a project of St. Louis-based sustainable consulting firm Vertegy Inc., is on the first floor of the former Board of Education building at 901 Locust Street. The center was renovated to highlight the sustainable options available within the future Roberts Tower condominium units, to be built across the street."



Source

Building a plaza in the OPO area isn't a bad idea. Whether it simply be a quarter block at 9th and Locust or the full half block between 8th and 9th, at least there will be some development going in on that spot.



All of that said, the area for the plaza is not the best one in the OPO. Since the City was determined to tear down the Century building, if I were renvisioning the space, I would have put the plaza on the Century building site and the garage along Locust between 8th and 9th.



Might sounds crazy, but the views from a plaza on the Century site would have been far better than the location proposed. The Century site allowed for great views of the Frisco, the Board of Ed, the Paul Brown, combined with the opportunity to create a modern facade on the Syndicate Building facing the plaza. The space would be far more impressive than the proposed location, from which you can see the parking lot at 7th and Locust, the short old Mercantile building, the cut down Hamilton Jewelers building, and the fire escape for the Orpehum Theater. Just a sad mistake.

Arch City wrote:

Bastiat wrote:I'm just glad that the Roberts' have plenty of cash on hand, otherwise I would bet that this project would never get off the ground. I think it will be quality, but they clearly don't know what they are doing in terms of marketing, etc. The woman running their sales unit at the loft tour LAST YEAR did not even know what LEED certified meant and there was no pricing or floor plans if I remember correctly. There was an option to put $500 down, but that was it...

^LOL! Interesting.



So I am surmising you haven't read any of the many articles regarding the project, seen the big banners hanging off the Mayfair, or visited the website? Is that not marketing? I am also surmising that you have not spoken a salesperson THIS YEAR or visited the model they have downtown THIS YEAR?



Anyway, here's a tidbit from the 06/15/07 St. Louis Post-Dispatch,



"The Marketing and Educational Center for the Roberts Tower received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 2,400-square-foot Marketing and Educational Center, a project of St. Louis-based sustainable consulting firm Vertegy Inc., is on the first floor of the former Board of Education building at 901 Locust Street. The center was renovated to highlight the sustainable options available within the future Roberts Tower condominium units, to be built across the street."



Source

I think that they are doing a better job. Maybe on the next tower they can put up the banner first, then break ground? They seem to have the cart in front of the horse a little too often. Of course, they are not the only ones (Bottle District), but they are not keeping good company in that regard.



I wonder how many interested buyers have been put off by their incompetence last year so that they have neglected to bother checking anything out this year. I'll bet that SkyHouse breaks ground before the Roberts do.

JCity wrote:well, EXACTLY. FOUR years ago, they had a different concept. How many times have they changed the design that the PUBLIC has seen for the Crescent, Maryland Walk, Skyhouse, etc. I understand why people question the Roberts a little. I love the new design, and I really look forward to it breaking ground. but come on...

I certainly believe that people have the right to question developers, but some people appear to be "questioning" with "biased" grounds. And it seems they have little knowledge to make fair assessments.



First, do you know how many proposals there have been for the Clayton Hole where The Crescent is being built? Several. I could post several renderings. Two projects have never come to fruition. Manlin-Mehlman has proposed a $100-million development for the site for over a year now, and when I last checked, they had no idea when they would break ground AND they informed me that they might modify the project.



Also, did you know that Maryland Walk was actually a Conrad Properties project called The Monaco on Maryland, which was proposed back in like 1998. Conrad scrapped it in 2000, then revised it with a different name and design.



And SkyHouse has not even broken yet, so let's not get the "cart before the horse".



It's interesting too that you left out Lawrence Group's Park Pacific Cityside and Park East Tower. It has been two (nearly three years) since developers first started talking redevelopment of the downtown MoPac site. And it took about two and half years - if not longer - for Park East to rise.



Also, the Doctor's building site (Mills Properties) and Port St. Louis (LaClede's Landing) are undeveloped. The Doctor's building site is on its third redesign. And Lindell Condominiums………approaching three years…………two redesigns. Check with Cincy and ask them how long they have been waiting for Queen City Square, an office tower, to rise out of the ground. It's been since 2002.



As long as these proposals are not announced as canceled I think we are fine.

JCity wrote:Yes, I see your point. Conrad did postpone the Monaco, but Fountain Place wasn't proposed by Mehlman. In any event, my point is that what the Roberts Brothers have done so far has been a little sub par in my opinion. The Mayfair seems to be run down the tubes, go tripadvisor.com for guests comments and the Roberts Orpheum "make over" is nothing more than a new splash of paint. I really hope they break ground on the new Tower. Yes, Lawrence Group has taken their time too on Park Pacific, but at the same time I've seen tangible evidence of quality product completed by the Lawrence Group (Security Bldg, Marquette). Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Roberts yet.. All their renderings look great, but lets see some action. What about all the land they control north of Delmar at Euclid? I have questioned the lack of action by Koplar on Kingshighway and Lindell too, so this isn't just an attack on the Roberts.

JCity, I never suggested that Fountain Place was proposed by Mehlman. What I was suggesting is that over the years there have been many proposals on the table for the Clayton Hole, which is finally being filled. Several developments never happened. Point being, most developments simply don't happen overnight. People need to put their restlessness in check if they expect cranes to be on a site one day after a project's proposal. While it happens like that some of the time, it just doesn't happen like that MOST of the time. Also, you must realize what market you are dealing with........St. Louis.........where developments can take a little longer to come to fruition.



Also, have you been on any of the Robertses construction sites? Have you visited the BOE building? How about Roberts Place Homes and Apartments? Have you been inside the Mayfair since the recent renovation? When was the last time you've been inside the Orpheum? If you say no to any, then I question your ability to make balanced assessments.



Also, you asked me to check out trip advisor and I found this (dated 05/28/07),

"This was by far the best hotel experience we have ever had. We stayed at the Wyndham in St. Louis last year during Ribamerica Festival. It was good then. However, they have renovated many of the rooms now and it is absolutely beautiful.



We had booked 2-two room suites. One was on the 10th floor. The other was on the 11th floor. Both were newly remodeled. They still smelled like paint. Both had brand new furniture as well as a plasma T.V. on the wall in the living area and another one in the bedroom. The bathroom was spacious and spotless. We had 2 double beds as well as a pull out couch. Plenty of room. There wasn't a microwave or fridge.....but that didn't bother us. The niceness of the room definitely made up for that.



All of the building is smoke free now except for the lounge. Since my husband is a smoker, that was a bit of an inconvenience. But I totally understand why they wouldn't want smoking going on in these beautiful rooms. We have a Wyndham by Request card (which is free). They promptly brought 2 beers to our room as well as a tray with fresh fruit and chocolate chip cookies. They also turned down our beds. The breakfast in the dining room was absolutely great. We had omelets and they were the best.



All of this for only $107.00 per night. You just can't beat that. The hotel is totally elegant. Hopefully people will realize that some of the other reviews that are more negative were written before the rooms were remodeled."



Source

With all of that said, I am looking forward to Roberts Tower - whenever it starts going up.

The terra cotta does look exceptionally poor. It is made to look like limestone, btw.