The Edge at Lafayette Square (Praxair Site)

sc4mayor · PostOct 15, 2019#2262019-10-15T21:46+00:00

From the Business Journal:
14-home development slotted for Lafayette Square
https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... s_headline

The redevelopment of the former Praxair site in Lafayette Square is moving forward with plans for a 14-home development. Universatile Development is the developer behind Lafayette Reserve, which will have 14 single-family homes ranging in size from 2,100 square feet to 2,500 square feet. All will feature detached, two-car garages and backyards or gardens. Prices will range from $500,000 to more than $700,000. Construction is slated to start later this year. The first few homes could be delivered this summer; the entire project is expected to wrap up in late 2021. The total investment cost is about $8 million, said Jeff Winzerling, president of Universatile Development.

“Lafayette Square has been booming in recent years, and there’s no question that the historic architecture is what gives the neighborhood its unique appeal," Winzerling said in a statement. "But not everyone wants to live in a 130-year-old house." Winzerling said the neighborhood has seen "steady development" of high-end homes and said the 2018 sale of 1212 Dolman for nearly $1.6 million shows market demand. Lafayette Reserve is the first project slated for Chouteau Avenue Partners' master planned, redevelopment of the former Praxair site, a 12-acre block of land along Chouteau and Jefferson avenues. (Praxair, an industrial gas company, moved its operations from the site following a massive fire in 2005.) Behind Chouteau Avenue Partners LLC is HOK architect Bill Odell and his wife, attorney Lisette Odell; Paul and Wendy Hamilton of Hamilton Hospitality, owners of nearby Vin de Set and other restaurants; and Tom Graddy, owner of the former Vanguard Trucking facility on the site. The total development was estimated to cost $160 million. “What Jeff and his team have put together for Lafayette Reserve will be the perfect bridge between the historic neighborhood and the higher-density, mixed-use district we’re creating along Chouteau," Odell said in a statement.

debaliviere · PostOct 16, 2019#2272019-10-16T15:38+00:00

sc4mayor wrote: ↑
Oct 15, 2019

I love the colors. Almost like a second Harris Row.

moorlander · PostOct 16, 2019#2282019-10-16T15:46+00:00

Very promising. At those prices hopefully materials are high quality.

dbInSouthCity · PostOct 16, 2019#2292019-10-16T17:09+00:00

lol ^

sc4mayor · PostOct 16, 2019#2302019-10-16T18:20+00:00

^ I’ve seen some really bad historic replicas in St. Louis...but I’ve also seen some really good ones in Lafayette Square. The two red brick rows on Mississippi at Park are two pretty good examples.

ImprovSTL · PostOct 16, 2019#2312019-10-16T21:38+00:00

They do a good job in that hood for the most part.

RockChalkSTL · PostOct 16, 2019#2322019-10-16T21:42+00:00

The Gate neighborhood has a lot of truly awful looking homes.

ricciottidominic2 · PostOct 18, 2019#2332019-10-18T15:01+00:00

Will the Lafayette Reserve townhouses (illustrated) face Chouteau?

LArchitecture · PostOct 18, 2019#2342019-10-18T15:17+00:00

ricciottidominic2 wrote: ↑
Oct 18, 2019
Will the Lafayette Reserve townhouses (illustrated) face Chouteau?

If it is following the rendering they will be facing Hickory St.

urbanitas · PostOct 19, 2019#2352019-10-19T00:45+00:00

ricciottidominic2 wrote: ↑
Oct 18, 2019
Will the Lafayette Reserve townhouses (illustrated) face Chouteau?

There's a site plan at the bottom of this page: Lafayette Reserve - Campbell Model

ricciottidominic2 · PostOct 19, 2019#2362019-10-19T19:51+00:00

Urbanitas, thanks for the site plan. I also found this sign via Google street views (I no longer live in StL so I depend on this site). The photo is at the corner of Missouri and Hickory.

PostOct 19, 2019#2372019-10-19T20:00+00:00

KansasCitian wrote: ↑
Oct 16, 2019
The Gate neighborhood has a lot of truly awful looking homes.

I agree for the most part. The awful ones probably date from the 80-90s, but there are fine examples of contemporary infill along Lafayette between Jefferson and Grand (?) The built example is at 2834 Lafayette and there are others too.

PostOct 19, 2019#2382019-10-19T20:02+00:00

ricciottidominic2 wrote: ↑
Oct 19, 2019
KansasCitian wrote: ↑
Oct 16, 2019
The Gate neighborhood has a lot of truly awful looking homes.
I agree for the most part. The awful ones probably date from the 80-90s, but there are fine examples of contemporary infill along Lafayette between Jefferson and Grand (?)

framer · PostOct 19, 2019#2392019-10-19T20:30+00:00

^Yep. Lots of good stuff on Lafayette. Nice mix of old and new.

Trololzilla · PostOct 20, 2019#2402019-10-20T06:45+00:00

^^ I really like that one.

sc4mayor · PostNov 15, 2019#2412019-11-15T03:05+00:00

Updates from the PD on this project:
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... dd90d.html

The 14 home development should begin this winter. Also a 34 unit apartment building is supposed to start around the same time as the home project.

A 127 unit apartment complex on the former Praxair site should start in the spring, along with sidewalk and infrastructure work. Opus Group is working on the 150,000 square foot office building at Jefferson and Chouteau.

chriss752 · PostNov 15, 2019#2422019-11-15T07:12+00:00

The OPUS office building. I'm pretty sure that the finished product will look better than the renderings. Overall, I like it.

The back parking lot...

Aerial view. The parking garage and lot are issues.

Roof view

Black02AltimaSE · PostNov 15, 2019#2432019-11-15T14:31+00:00

^So this building would be on the SE corner of Choteau and Jefferson, right?

urban_dilettante · PostNov 15, 2019#2442019-11-15T14:39+00:00

^^ it's not even a "back" parking lot. it's a prominent street-fronting lot. what's the point of a parking structure if you're just going to plop a surface lot right next to it? god, what a terrible, hopeless intersection. the pedestrians in that rendering are hilarious. a ***** stroller!

dbInSouthCity · PostNov 15, 2019#2452019-11-15T14:58+00:00

sc4mayor wrote: ↑
Nov 15, 2019
Updates from the PD on this project:
https://www.stltoday.com/business/local ... dd90d.html

The 14 home development should begin this winter. Also a 34 unit apartment building is supposed to start around the same time as the home project.

A 127 unit apartment complex on the former Praxair site should start in the spring, along with sidewalk and infrastructure work. Opus Group is working on the 150,000 square foot office building at Jefferson and Chouteau.

Preservation Board chair mentioned on twitter that according to the plan they presented at the Board, they plan to build these 14 one by one as they get bought, not all 14 at once.

jshank83 · PostNov 15, 2019#2462019-11-15T15:06+00:00

If this is what they are going to put there I would almost rather have them flip the garage and building. That corner already has a gas station on one corner and a surface lot on another, might as well put the garage there and the building on the other side closer to the rest of the development. That also hides the surface lot. But then I guess it would put the garage further from the later buildings.

sc4mayor · PostNov 15, 2019#2472019-11-15T15:54+00:00

^^ That’s fine. I didn’t say they were going to build them all at once. Just that they plan to begin in the winter.

I imagine that surface parking lot could be used in the future for an expansion of that office building or maybe another project. Especially with them planning on building a garage. I really hope they can improve the design of the office building. I’m not crazy about it right now...I expect a lot better from Opus. Maybe a little more glass and steel (I understand LS has certain guidelines and restrictions on design and materials but an office building should have a little more leeway than the homes). Overall though this is a vast improvement over what is currently there.

ImprovSTL · PostNov 15, 2019#2482019-11-15T16:08+00:00

Man what a downgrade from the original plan. Like an increase of 70% in parking. That street wall is BRUTAL.

RockChalkSTL · PostNov 15, 2019#2492019-11-15T16:25+00:00

I take issue with the parking as well. And I can't really decide if it's the surface lot or the garage that is bothering me more.

With no retail in the office building or the garage, you've got the makings of an extremely uninviting, unwalkable environment along Chouteau, where a future Metrolink station will be.

If I could edit this plan, I'd swap the surface lot with the garage. That way, the surface lot on Chouteau could still be developed into something else down the road.

sc4mayor · PostNov 15, 2019#2502019-11-15T16:34+00:00

KansasCitian wrote: ↑
Nov 15, 2019
With no retail in the office building or the garage, you've got the makings of an extremely uninviting, unwalkable environment along Chouteau, where a future Metrolink station will be.

Wow, I hadn't noticed that. No retail in the office building or the garage is pretty bad. I'd be willing to give a pass on the office building, but the garage at the very least needs some retail. I'd also swap the garage with the surface lot. A surface lot is no better than a garage but it least it can become something else. I doubt we've seen the final plans yet so hopefully something can change, though I wouldn't hold my breath.

The Edge at Lafayette Square (Praxair Site)

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