urbanSTL

Went back through my images to see if I could find a similar view before any remediation/construction. Closest I could get. From July 2016.



I'd say there's been some improvements. 

What is happening in that old dinner picture?  What are those tubes for? 

Chris did a write up on this on January 20th. There are some interesting pictures in his story. I hope they do more work than what is shown in the story. IMO, it looks dirty.

https://www.cityscene-stl.com/post/a-lo ... oundry-stl

NorthHamptonMatt wrote: ↑

Feb 03, 2020

Chris did a write up on this on January 20th. There are some interesting pictures in his story. I hope they do more work than what is shown in the story. IMO, it looks dirty.

https://www.cityscene-stl.com/post/a-lo ... oundry-stl

Construction sites are usually dirty. Still have 5 months.

^ Have to agree some finishes will not happen until the very end.   However, Considering the Foundry itself wasn't quite clean I think it wouldn't hurt to have a few of those walls unfinished, looking like it was.   Certainly get away from faux look by keeping some of the real thing

mjbais1489 wrote: ↑

Feb 03, 2020

What is happening in that old dinner picture?  What are those tubes for? 

The first pic is from a post by Arch City on Skyscraper Page. As Shadrach said, the dinner pic is from "Brazil". Anyone who's seen the movie will instantly see the connection. 

Here's another from The Foundry:


 

^Someone squashed a bug and mistyped a card somewhere in a labyrinthine bureaucracy causing all manner of chaos? Yeah, that sounds like home.

NorthHamptonMatt wrote: ↑

Feb 03, 2020

Chris did a write up on this on January 20th. There are some interesting pictures in his story. I hope they do more work than what is shown in the story. IMO, it looks dirty.

https://www.cityscene-stl.com/post/a-lo ... oundry-stl

Thanks for sharing, Matt.

I enjoyed my tour of this place. One other forum user went with me on this. It's an interesting place and unique, to say the least. It will retain its grittiness and everything that isn't painted now, with the exception of drywall, most likely won't be painted. The floor is a mix of terrazzo and concrete that will all be polished and sealed. They tried to level it off to the best that they could but in some cases, it's not possible. Some graffiti will stay to add character. There are also numerous unique things that most people won't know about or will know about when they walk in.

1. These tubes will hang over tables in cozy dining room style areas in Fassler Hall. There will be lights in them and they are quite large. W you sit in these areas, they were actual underground at one point but the renovation dug some dirt out and now they're at-grade.


2. This wall, on Foundry Way, is the original foundation wall. This section was underground at one point. It's neat to see a 98-year old foundation. 


3. No picture, but there was a catwalk system in the main food hall area that they wanted to let people walk in. They determined it was too much of a liability but that hopefully in the future, they can bring it back.

There are other interesting things that we saw and heard on our tour but I can't talk about them. Overall, they will make the Foundry a unique place. In my opinion, this is going to do well with college students (who are a mix of Millenials and Gen Z) and Millenials who like this type of stuff. However, I do not see county residents coming down here unless there is something so unique that they just have to go.

I think this could be a great place for families as well. On top of this, I remember hearing the developer say he wanted this place to be "instagrammable." If there are places here that people can get a really "artsy" looking pictures this place could become a huge hit for county and city residents alike. Since Union Station has been redone I have seen some really awesome pictures of people posing in front of the wheel or other attractions. This helps drive people in to snap a picture or two as well as get some food. I can see this place being a great family outing as well as maybe a first date option for many people.

^Was just about to ask the group - Is the underground speakeasy/bar still a thing?? Heard it mentioned in an interview but haven't heard anything about it since. 

pattimagee wrote: ↑

Feb 06, 2020

I think the buzz will really take off once they begin to announce more of the tenants. 

Butler's Pantry is the office tenant, the food hall tenants have mostly been announced: 
https://www.stlmag.com/dining/city-foun ... lining-up/

But this project is so massive - look at all of the retail tenants. Considering they raised almost $50M in opportunity zone funding... i'd bet they have a lot of these spots spoken for already:

Butler's Pantry is doing the 18 Rails event space.

Why would they wait to announce tenants?  The food hall and the mall space between it and the parking garage are supposed to open late spring / early summer.  If there are any other retail tenants in those areas that haven't been announced, they would need to be starting on their tenant improvements soon to be ready for the "Grand Opening".

Timmy wrote: ↑

Feb 06, 2020

^Was just about to ask the group - Is the underground speakeasy/bar still a thing?? Heard it mentioned in an interview but haven't heard anything about it since. 

Still a thing. 

SM Wilson - GC for the project runs a picture a week on progress - This weeks interior shot demonstrates the uniqueness of this space - I think this is going to be a regional and tourist spot based not just on tenants but on the industrial imagery they have been going for. Now I hope they can figure a way to mitigate that parking garage 

https://twitter.com/SMWilsonCo

beer city wrote: ↑

Feb 07, 2020

SM Wilson - GC for the project runs a picture a week on progress - This weeks interior shot demonstrates the uniqueness of this space - I think this is going to be a regional and tourist spot based not just on tenants but on the industrial imagery they have been going for. Now I hope they can figure a way to mitigate that parking garage 

https://twitter.com/SMWilsonCo

Very unlikely, as they don't see any problem with that parking garage as it is.

Stl Mag - City Foundry STL food hall slated for mid-summer opening

https://www.stlmag.com/dining/city-foun ... mmer-2020/

So in the end it's just a big food court + grocery store & movie theatre? No retail shops?

Very happy to see this get done but initial rumours of new stores to the region like Zara made it a much more significant attraction.  

RuskiSTL wrote:So in the end it's just a big food court + grocery store & movie theatre? No retail shops?

Very happy to see this get done but initial rumours of new stores to the region like Zara made it a much more significant attraction.  

I hear rumors they’re still working at attracting retail, and some big names at that. But we’ll see who they end up with. I’m sure there will be some retail.


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^This may seem a little off the wall, but this reminds me a heck of a lot of Union Station back in the day. When it opened it had more or less all of that, minus the grocery and plus a hotel. And it was really dang cool for a good many years. All in all, I'd actually call it a success, since it saved a gorgeous building and kept it lit and generating tax revenue for a fair few years. I hope Foundry does even better.