With the closure of The Millennium, we now have two more "ghost buildings' downtown that are either vacant or vastly underutilized. Another significant newby to this unfortunate category is the Railway Exchange and AT&T tower seems destined in the near future as well. But others like the Alverne appear to have a bright future.
I believe recalling Mayor Slay say in one of the stories during the Cupples 7 saga that we were down to 30 properties downtown that were vacant. It would be interesting to know if there is any kind of roster or list available.
I also thought this Jan. 2011 STLBJ article on downtown's ghost buildings is pretty interesting:
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/prin ... le-of.html
"Twelve significant buildings — more than 2 million square feet — sit empty in downtown St. Louis, awaiting redevelopment or demolition, despite 10 years and more than $4.5 billion spent on the city’s revitalization."
Some of the 12 were specifically cited: the Arcade Wright. Jefferson Arms, Chemical, Cupples 7, Cupples 9, and GenAmerican. Fascinating to see those 6... in the past three years since the article the collective has seen one demo, one restoration, three planned restorations and one stalled.
“Ten years ago, over 145 buildings were identified downtown that were either under-utilized or vacant and needed to be redeveloped,” Crim said.
“In the past 10 years, over 120 buildings — many of them very significant properties — were rehabbed and are now part of the new fabric of downtown.”
Hopefully we'll be able to tackle the remaining challenges and not have more needless losses like Cupples 7. The article closes out with an optimistic forecast:
“It’s a great story from the standpoint that there were five times as many buildings requiring redevelopment 10 years ago,” Symsack said. “We’ve progressed to a point where we’ve got pockets that have not been developed, but the pump is primed. Within the next five years, all these properties will be redeveloped, because there’s nothing left.”
I believe recalling Mayor Slay say in one of the stories during the Cupples 7 saga that we were down to 30 properties downtown that were vacant. It would be interesting to know if there is any kind of roster or list available.
I also thought this Jan. 2011 STLBJ article on downtown's ghost buildings is pretty interesting:
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/prin ... le-of.html
"Twelve significant buildings — more than 2 million square feet — sit empty in downtown St. Louis, awaiting redevelopment or demolition, despite 10 years and more than $4.5 billion spent on the city’s revitalization."
Some of the 12 were specifically cited: the Arcade Wright. Jefferson Arms, Chemical, Cupples 7, Cupples 9, and GenAmerican. Fascinating to see those 6... in the past three years since the article the collective has seen one demo, one restoration, three planned restorations and one stalled.
“Ten years ago, over 145 buildings were identified downtown that were either under-utilized or vacant and needed to be redeveloped,” Crim said.
“In the past 10 years, over 120 buildings — many of them very significant properties — were rehabbed and are now part of the new fabric of downtown.”
Hopefully we'll be able to tackle the remaining challenges and not have more needless losses like Cupples 7. The article closes out with an optimistic forecast:
“It’s a great story from the standpoint that there were five times as many buildings requiring redevelopment 10 years ago,” Symsack said. “We’ve progressed to a point where we’ve got pockets that have not been developed, but the pump is primed. Within the next five years, all these properties will be redeveloped, because there’s nothing left.”
