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PostMar 30, 2021#301

^ Speaking of Drury company itself it seems that their financial troubles, which for the most part and to their defense took a big hit with pandemic, seems to be at the worst time considering the opportunities at least within the city.   They got a prime location next to Barnes Jewish/Wash U/Cortes in a neighborhood seeing a mini building boom, they have two prime hotel spots with ample room to rebuild and or reimagine the properties/surface lots next to a new MLS stadium and they have a prime Landing location next to convention center about to go through a multimillion dollar expansion & next to rebuilt Arch Grounds.   

Instead of building and reinvesting they seem to be looking for buyers.  Someone can speak a lot better to their situation then I obviously can but hope they are not too the moon with what they are willing to sell  for in order to part with the properties.   
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PostMar 31, 2021#302

Drury Hotels does not have any financial troubles.  
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PostApr 01, 2021#303

matguy70 wrote: ↑
Mar 31, 2021
Drury Hotels does not have any financial troubles.  
I'm sure their pockets are plenty deep...maybe it's just those really short arms? 🤔
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PostApr 12, 2021#304

There's a rumor on Facebook saying the Science Center bought these parcels. Can anyone confirm? 
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PostApr 12, 2021#305

Geo STL still shows them as being owned by Drury (although IF the Science Center purchased them on say Friday, then it wouldn't be updated that quickly anyways). My gut is telling me that this is a "telephone game" situation where someone learned about the Science Center's land at Kingshighway and Manchester and then misinterpreted it / accidentally told someone else the wrong section of Kingshighway.
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PostApr 12, 2021#306

Laife Fulk wrote:Geo STL still shows them as being owned by Drury (although IF the Science Center purchased them on say Friday, then it wouldn't be updated that quickly anyways). My gut is telling me that this is a "telephone game" situation where someone learned about the Science Center's land at Kingshighway and Manchester and then misinterpreted it / accidentally told someone else the wrong section of Kingshighway.
That was my first thought too. I would find it unlikely that the science center would do a massive expansion or acquisition with this little transparency. Perhaps that's too optimistic, though.

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PostApr 12, 2021#307

I'm skeptical that the Science Center could make those parcels work.

If they were going to do an expansion, why not expand onto the lot just south of the existing Center?

I guess I'm afraid that they'd just landbank.  
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PostApr 12, 2021#308

Agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense.   

Otherwise, talk a big disappointment if a prime location such as this spot is turned over to a non-profit in a city full of non-profit owned real esate when it could and should be tax generating property for the city even if it takes a few years of tax abatements to get there.  Hopefully City leadership would find a way to express what seems to make the most sense for the community as a whole instead of what the Science Center executives believe.   

Heck, start wonder what we be standing by now if Zoo didn't get its hands on the Old Forest Park Hospital site.  I'm still hoping that Zoo incorporate some type of theme inspired hotel/resort for that property.  The city gets win win of continued growth of zoo/visitors to city as well as some form of tax generation  
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PostMay 09, 2021#309

Discussions about the Drury properties have consumed much of my free time over the past two years, and I think we're at the start of another two years. What may be happening at a more macro level is a different Drury strategy to achieve the same goal: a hotel at the interchange and TBD residential to the south:
  • When Drury Development Corp and H3/John Hoal came to a FPSE Neighborhood Association Meeting in December 2019, they came to discuss what a possible community engagement process would look like. Included was the assumption that the project would include a hotel (at the interchange) and residential (to the south), with some type of ingress/egress. Drury "only does hotels." They'd partner with somebody on the residential. Important to note here that the WashU RFQ for MoDot/interchange land was already pulled down. Of the three answers to the RFQ, Drury was the only viable development. The RFQ required community support, but because of early community lack of support, it was pulled before a community engagement process could take place. But this meeting came about because Drury suggested that if they could work the community through an engagement process to achieve a desired, community-agreed upon project outcome, they could then prove community support and be awarded the land.
  • Those discussions died; COVID and Drury bleeding money were the reasons, according to a spokesperson at Drury. But I'd add that residents didn't want to even start discussing an engagement process until they saw tangible site plans that they could discuss. (Drury said they have hundreds for that site, always changing, and wouldn't share those because they're not formal and don't want to be shot down early on drafted plans.)
  • Drury's properties go for sale. Maybe they were forced to sell because of COVID, maybe because they failed maintain the requirements set by PCDC to allow demolition. (What I'm only now putting together is that residents at Neighborhood Association meetings consistently complained that Drury wasn't cutting grass or keeping sidewalks clear, thus falling short of the requirements to demo).
  • But intent of the sale doesn't matter here, because look at where we're at today:
  • Early this year before DDC II came to light I was told there would be large residential development necessitating a community engagement process
  • DDC II appears - the 12 properties in the south that Drury was eyeing for their residential portion of the project is formed under a Drury LLC
  • As rumored, likely a package sell of the those properties to a residential developer. Maybe LuxLiving, maybe somebody else.
  • Drury's other properties in the neighborhood are no longer listed for sale (from what I can tell) and City records show they still own them. Just two examples, here and here.
  • What we have now is Drury's desired residential developer who can provide site plans for the community to discuss, and land to the north still, at this moment, owned by Drury
  • What's likely to happen next: Well, I've been asked to help provide and expect a community engagement process for an undisclosed developer. I'm inclined to believe a project proposal is on its way and we'll start a community engagement process.
  • What's unknown: What's the availability of the MoDot/interchange land (it was last said WashU was looking to use the land internally)? If this LuxLiving/apartment project gets community support with ingress/egress, will this lessen the community's concerns of required ingress/egress for Drury properties? With ingress/egress in place, will that be enough to overcome all the other community concerns about a Drury Hotel going in at the interchange (loss of housing stock, equity, and more of the neighborhood, traffic and noise, blocked views, infrastructure, hotel aesthetics, trust of Drury...), and will it lead to community support for a hotel? Will Drury be somehow involved in this upcoming community engagement process, outside of the selling of the properties? Who will (if LuxLiving) LuxLiving sell the apartment to in a couple of years - Drury?
In short, this DDC II package will sell to a developer. Developer will look to get community approval on an apartment with ingress/egress. Drury will maintain property near the interchange for a future attempt to build a hotel with the ingress/egress started to south at the site of the apartment.

A while back I wrote on this forum here about this Drury saga, if you're interested.

Welcome to my Drury hell.

edits: spelling/grammar so I don't look like a complete dumbdumb 
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PostMay 09, 2021#310

Thanks for the extensive explanation.   It really does make sense/logical on how you laid it out with Drury keeping property next to very visible interchange for future hotel while pursuing a means to hand over properties to sell to developer.  

In defense of Drury, business travel took a nose dive during pandemic and can see them bleeding cash while occupancy was nil from a business perspective, cash flow is paramount in any business.  In defense of the neighbor Drury could have made relative small investments to maintain there current properties but pretty much dropped the ball on short sighted thinking.  Someone with common sense at Drury must have realized how much the ill will they have sown with neighborhood and decided best way out of the mess they created is find a legit residential developer.   Of course, what developer they sell too is another concern and currently see the two more years of Drury hell coming your way.    
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PostMay 09, 2021#311

doellingd wrote: ↑
May 09, 2021
Discussions about the Drury properties have consumed much of my free time over the past two years, and I think we're at the start of another two years. What may be happening at a more macro level is a different Drury strategy to achieve the same goal: a hotel at the interchange and TBD residential to the south:
  • When Drury Development Corp and H3/John Hoal came to a FPSE Neighborhood Association Meeting in December 2019, they came to discuss what a possible community engagement process would look like. Included was the assumption that the project would include a hotel (at the interchange) and residential (to the south), with some type of ingress/egress. Drury "only does hotels." They'd partner with somebody on the residential. Important to note here that the WashU RFQ for MoDot/interchange land was already pulled down. Of the three answers to the RFQ, Drury was the only viable development. The RFQ required community support, but because of early community lack of support, it was pulled before a community engagement process could take place. But this meeting came about because Drury suggested that if they could work the community through an engagement process to achieve a desired, community-agreed upon project outcome, they could then prove community support and be awarded the land.
  • Those discussions died; COVID and Drury bleeding money were the reasons, according to a spokesperson at Drury. But I'd add that residents didn't want to even start discussing an engagement process until they saw tangible site plans that they could discuss. (Drury said they have hundreds for that site, always changing, and wouldn't share those because they're not formal and don't want to be shot down early on drafted plans.)
  • Drury's properties go for sale. Maybe they were forced to sell because of COVID, maybe because they failed maintain the requirements set by PCDC to allow demolition. (What I'm only now putting together is that residents at Neighborhood Association meetings consistently complained that Drury wasn't cutting grass or keeping sidewalks clear, thus falling short of the requirements to demo).
  • But intent of the sale doesn't matter here, because look at where we're at today:
  • Early this year Before DDC II came to light I was told there would be large residential development necessitating a community engagement process
  • DDC II appears - the 12 properties in the south that Drury was eyeing for their residential portion of the project is formed under a Drury LLC
  • As rumored, likely a package sell to the those properties to a residential developer. Maybe LuxLiving, maybe somebody else.
  • Drury's other properties in the neighborhood are no longer listed for sale (from what I can tell) and City records show they still own them. Just two examples, here and here.
  • What we have now is Drury's desired residential developer who can provide site plans for the community to discuss, and land to the north still, at this moment, owned by Drury
  • What's likely to happen next: Well, I've been asked to help provide and expect a community engagement process for an undisclosed developer. I'm inclined to believe a project proposal is on its way and we'll start a community engagement process.
  • What's unknown: What's the availability of the MoDot/interchange land (it was last said WashU was looking to use the land internally)? If this LuxLiving/apartment project gets community support with ingress/egress, will this lessen the community's concerns of required ingress/egress for Drury properties? With ingress/egress in place, will that be enough to overcome all the other community concerns about a Drury Hotel going in at the interchange (lose of housing, equity, and more of the neighborhood, traffic and noise, blocked views, infrastructure, hotel aesthetics, trust of Drury...), and will it lead to community support for a hotel? Will Drury be somehow involved in this upcoming community engagement process, outside of the selling of the properties? Who will (if LuxLiving) LuxLiving sell the apartment to in a couple of years - Drury?
In short, this DDC II package will sell to a developer. Developer will look to get community approval on an apartment with ingress/egress. Drury will maintain property near the interchange for a future attempt to build a hotel with the ingress/egress started to south at the site of the apartment.

A while back I wrote on this forum here about this Drury saga, if you're interested.

Welcome to my Drury hell.
Really appreciate the detailed explanation, Dan. St. Louis needs more like you!
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PostMay 09, 2021#312

Thanks Dan!
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PostMay 10, 2021#313

SPAG happens. You don't look like a dumbdumb. Your explanation is great and much appreciated.

I suppose I should clarify that I'm not flat-out opposed to a clean slate development here. I just hope that we will get either a fairly inspired new structure or a creative reuse of what's there. It's a pretty darn high profile spot right next to some of the most desirable assets in town. This site asks for something special.
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PostJul 21, 2021#314

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