urbanSTL

City Foundry is a great example of post industrial use/infill I'm very certain this will become a very popular destination.. It'll be a mistake not to add in type of considerable residential as dredger stated everything doesn't have to be 30-40 floors and 400-500 feet I'm happy with 15-20 floors around 200 or so feet.. Now i wouldn't mind some type of signature tower in midtown along grand center again doesn't have to be 4-500 feet but something along 300 or so.. Anyways City Foundry will be a asset to midtown and all of St.Louis.

St.Louis1764 wrote: ↑

Apr 27, 2017

City Foundry is a great example of post industrial use/infill I'm very certain this will become a very popular destination.. It'll be a mistake not to add in type of considerable residential as dredger stated everything doesn't have to be 30-40 floors and 400-500 feet I'm happy with 15-20 floors around 200 or so feet.. Now i wouldn't mind some type of signature tower in midtown along grand center again doesn't have to be 4-500 feet but something along 300 or so.. Anyways City Foundry will be a asset to midtown and all of St.Louis.

I agree, or varying heights between 8 and 15. Giant residential towers just don't seem like they'd fit in there. I'd rather some lower rise, dense residential buildings that you could fit retail under. It just makes more sense to me. Those tall towers belong at BPV and CWE, IMO.

I sure hope the City's new minimum wage doesn't hurt this project. There will undoubtedly be a wave of store closings across the City as already-struggling retailers face a sudden jump in their labor costs.

^ why would it hurt this project? if these jobs can't support $10/hr. why would we TIF it? I'm not saying there will be zero downside from the minimum wage increase but on the whole I think it is a big step forward for STL.

^ At $10/hour and above, it's hard to justify all the additional overhead that's required with hiring people, instead of having kiosks or other automation to take orders or just shutting everything down. This trend is already taking off in NYC.

Randy wrote: ↑

May 07, 2017

^ At $10/hour and above, it's hard to justify all the additional overhead that's required with hiring people, instead of having kiosks or other automation to take orders or just shutting everything down. This trend is already taking off in NYC.

Perhaps more people spending money with increased wages increases sales? Lower turnover of workers with better wages?

It's hard to suss out all the effects of min wage increases. Economies are far more complex than a supply demand graph.

The min wage does have exemptions for companies with revenue less than $500k and other things like numbers of workers maybe.

MONEY $$$$. Good for the retail environment and great for the life aspect. It will be fine either way

Randy wrote: ↑

May 07, 2017

^ At $10/hour and above, it's hard to justify all the additional overhead that's required with hiring people, instead of having kiosks or other automation to take orders or just shutting everything down. This trend is already taking off in NYC.

I understand that may be the case with some bottom-dwelling businesses like fast food joints but I don't think that applies to places that would be interested in locating at The Foundry. Like IKEA across the street, it is an expectation of the developers that a fair wage will be provided to workers at the subsidized project.

Interesting.
Pappos closing its Spring and Forest Park location.

Closing a branch literally next door to a highly anticipated retail district? Someone is interested in the property. Landlord wanted them out, so they increased the rent.

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/foodblog ... =hootsuite


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addxb2 wrote: ↑

May 09, 2017

Interesting.
Pappos closing its Spring and Forest Park location.

Closing a branch literally next door to a highly anticipated retail district? Someone is interested in the property. Landlord wanted them out, so they increased the rent.

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/foodblog ... =hootsuite

^ Not true. Pappo's signed a lease here around 12 months ago. Landlords can't just wake up one day and increase the rent in the middle of a likely 5, 7, or 10 year lease term. As the article quotes the owner of Pappos, they were simply not making enough money.

Surprising that brewery with amazing pizza, decent "house" beers, a huge beer selection, that located across the street from a university does not "kill it." I'll just have to get my Pappos fix at the Osage Beach location.

Let's set the record straight on pappos. They didn't market themselves well to students, the beer was decent at best (not all microbreweries have good beer, especially if their main selling point is food), and the food was slightly overpriced for students. Not to mention the location couldnt be worse, it's next to an unnatrwctive industrial site and no one ever wants to cross that intersection ever. Slu students have a saying for people who live at Reinert hall as being from another planet since it's so far away, even though it's only on the other side of the parkway.


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user28 wrote: ↑

May 09, 2017

Let's set the record straight on pappos. They didn't market themselves well to students, the beer was decent at best (not all microbreweries have good beer, especially if their main selling point is food), and the food was slightly overpriced for students. Not to mention the location couldnt be worse, it's next to an unnatrwctive industrial site and no one ever wants to cross that intersection ever. Slu students have a saying for people who live at Reinert hall as being from another planet since it's so far away, even though it's only on the other side of the parkway.


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I actually didn't like the food or the beers. Went with a couple guys before a Billikens game once - no one ever suggested it before or after a game after that. wasn't terrible, but a lot better places in our minds.

Is this project under construction?

^ yeah; at least preliminary sitework.... some demo, clean-up, etc. Big stuff isn't set to get underway until fall I think.

Looks like they are doing some clean up work inside. Good to follow their progress on their Instagram

GoHarvOrGoHome wrote: ↑

Jul 01, 2017

Looks like they are doing some clean up work inside. Good to follow their progress on their Instagram

So it looks like Spring 2019 opening instead of late 2018 now. Not a huge deal but I get impatient.

KMOX ran a story on the Armory and Foundry developments. Nothing really new but it was encouraging to see the two developers are working together in some extent to connect the project seperated by a highway barrier. From the article:

"Both Smith and Hulse plan a synergy between their projects, even an ‘innovation bridge’ over the highway, to make midtown more of a neighborhood."

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2017/07/10/ ... -makeover/

let this be a blueprint for city / county cooperation....

According to their Instagram, they just ripped the butterfly roof out. Replacing it with a new one.

If you haven't driven by in awhile, there is also wrap covering all the square windows with orange tape. City Foundry Instagram showed a few pictures of what those new windows will look like.

Foundry update with PD article. Residential tower dropped and in its place office space, garage as part of phase II

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... f84f5.html

Disappointing. But maybe it's best to wait until the other towers go through before heading off with another residential tower

Edit: looks like preservationists took a the right approach in preventing historic tax credits for new construction. Still think that area would look great with a couple tall towers

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^ interesting about the HTC angle... anyone know why you can build two 5 story office buildings but not a 20 story residential building? I think there are pleny of other places to do residential mid/hi-rise in the general area like Cortex West (original Cortex) so it's not too big a deal imo but it just seems weird.

Also, I'm not too keen on another movie theater in the Central Corridor but I guess the project is what it is... an auto-oriented office/entertainment development that some people will be able to get too via other means.

^ I take the HTC angle as some jibberish for the article sake. What I take away for residential tower being nixed is a wait and see approach in the market. The silver lining is that approach make sense from financing perspective if One Hundred is full steam ahead & BPV II will break ground this year. Throw in the new residential high rise in Clayton CBD & you got three towers going up in the region in short order.

The office angle of two 5 story buildings sounds like deal to satisfy bankers, financers IMO. Lawrence Group gets financing to build the first one with lease or two and with additional lease or two they get additional financing to build the second. Suburban office building development at its best.

Either way, it sounds like game on and getting crowded with CORTEX/US Metal sites having plenty of room, Koman having control of another CORTEX west site, Cortex East and still got Crescent building sitting empty & Green Streets Armory space being worked

I tend to agree. I always felt that a residential tower here wouldn't work. Is the office tower still a go?


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