Forgive me if this was already posted. I didn't see it. Also, the Post got the address wrong apparently. The Sheraton is at South 14th, not North.
Edison condos change downtown real estate
By Tavia Evans
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Nov. 10 2005
Floor by floor, a former distribution warehouse for J.C. Penney is being
converted to fit a niche in the market for condominium hotels.
Developer Donald Breckenridge and Gundaker Commercial are spending about $40
million to carve through concrete floors and beams of the old 13-story
warehouse at 400 North 14th Street.
After cutting an eight-story atrium through the center of the building, they've
created 81 units, known as the Edison Condominiums. The housing is built out on
four floors above the Sheraton St. Louis City Center Hotel & Suites. The
distinctive building, alongside Highway 40 (Interstate 64), is decorated on the
outside with a huge trompe l'oeil mural.
The hotel opened in October 2001 after $53 million in renovations and a severe
downturn in the tourism industry following the terrorist attacks that September.
Nationwide, the tourism and hospitality industry has struggled to return to
pre-9/11 operating levels. But Breckenridge said convincing anyone in St. Louis
about a high-end market for condos downtown was even harder.
"If you would have asked me or most other folks (whether) a product like this
could be in the city, I would have questioned it," Breckenridge said. "Before
this, only lofts had been built downtown, and they were capping out at $150,000
back in 1999."
Read more here
Edison condos change downtown real estate
By Tavia Evans
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, Nov. 10 2005
Floor by floor, a former distribution warehouse for J.C. Penney is being
converted to fit a niche in the market for condominium hotels.
Developer Donald Breckenridge and Gundaker Commercial are spending about $40
million to carve through concrete floors and beams of the old 13-story
warehouse at 400 North 14th Street.
After cutting an eight-story atrium through the center of the building, they've
created 81 units, known as the Edison Condominiums. The housing is built out on
four floors above the Sheraton St. Louis City Center Hotel & Suites. The
distinctive building, alongside Highway 40 (Interstate 64), is decorated on the
outside with a huge trompe l'oeil mural.
The hotel opened in October 2001 after $53 million in renovations and a severe
downturn in the tourism industry following the terrorist attacks that September.
Nationwide, the tourism and hospitality industry has struggled to return to
pre-9/11 operating levels. But Breckenridge said convincing anyone in St. Louis
about a high-end market for condos downtown was even harder.
"If you would have asked me or most other folks (whether) a product like this
could be in the city, I would have questioned it," Breckenridge said. "Before
this, only lofts had been built downtown, and they were capping out at $150,000
back in 1999."
Read more here
