^ An extremely ugly *section* of Midtown.
Yeah man, I was gonna say... let's not forget SLU's campus, the strip to the north with the Moolah/Scottish Rite Temple/Masonic Temple, the Continental, and Grand Center immediately to the north... plenty of Midtown looks pretty, or at least a lot prettier than it did 20 years ago, especially thanks to SLU.rheights wrote:^ An extremely ugly *section* of Midtown.
Yes, very pacific, that SLU campus:rawest1 wrote:Yeah man, I was gonna say... let's not forget SLU's campus, the strip to the north with the Moolah/Scottish Rite Temple/Masonic Temple, the Continental, and Grand Center immediately to the north... plenty of Midtown looks pretty, or at least a lot prettier than it did 20 years ago, especially thanks to SLU.rheights wrote:^ An extremely ugly *section* of Midtown.
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SLU should really be thankful that Microsoft put a picture of their campus on every desktop...Yes, very pacific, that SLU campus:
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The school I've been attending for over five years now (including postgrad) looks like this and not like what you two posted:geoffksu wrote:SLU should really be thankful that Microsoft put a picture of their campus on every desktop...Yes, very pacific, that SLU campus:
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I guess it does have in common with Windows XP's 'Bliss' desktop wallpaper that there is, in fact, green grass on the campus, and blue sky above.
Now, this thread is about Wells Fargo in midtown, not SLU, so if you want to make another smartass post in reply to this one about how SLU's plans for midtown aren't urban enough and are hurting midtown, that's fine... you're entitled to your opinion and I'm not going to debate the point any further because that would be too off-topic.
But when someone says midtown's ugly because of two buildings and forgets the rest of midtown, I'm going to stand up for the neighborhood and show one reason why much of midtown is not at all ugly. And like it or not, Pevely building (and all the other structures that have fallen as SLU expands) or not, SLU is one of the (if not the) biggest reason(s) why midtown isn't ugly.
Could they be doing more, or doing things differently? Of course; but that's always the case with anything. I can't find many photos of SLU and the surrounding area from the early nineties and before, but I can say with certainty that approximately one hundred percent of returning alumni who went to SLU during that time period talk about how blah the campus used to be, and how much of a *hole the area immediately around campus was before Father Biondi took over.
And I'll take their word for it.
It actually says "like a *hole," the s-word I typed being swapped for an asterisk automatically by the forum's built-in censorship. Oh, well.Alex Ihnen wrote:^ I think you meant sh*thole and not "a*hole".
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Fair enough.rawest1 wrote:It actually says "like a *hole," the s-word I typed being swapped for an asterisk automatically by the forum's built-in censorship. Oh, well.Alex Ihnen wrote:^ I think you meant sh*thole and not "a*hole".
More on-topic. Yes, the SLU campus is cleaner and nicer than it's likely ever been. The real criticism is that it's purposely an island. Many of the images posted aren't seen unless one is on campus, or they are directly across from/next to a vacant lot that SLU cleared. It's past time for SLU to focus on being part of the city. The Pevely issue highlights that the administration isn't ready to do that.
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Such a bummer that the WFA campus is really a compound. It's completly closed off to the rest of downtown. No street grid, few real walkable food/entertainment options (That's why the food trucks do so well there). Anyway - it's very nice to WFA's continued support of the St. Louis/Midtown. We should be close to 5,000 employees in the compound after these new additions.
That is true - they could easily have decided to move their compound out to MO'Fallon.moorlander wrote:Such a bummer that the WFA campus is really a compound. It's completly closed off to the rest of downtown. No street grid, few real walkable food/entertainment options (That's why the food trucks do so well there). Anyway - it's very nice to WFA's continued support of the St. Louis/Midtown. We should be close to 5,000 employees in the compound after these new additions.
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It's official: $12.6M in funding for Wells Fargo Securities expansion
Story: http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... f6878.html
This is a great piece of news for STL and our ever-growing cluster in Investment Services.
Minimally, this means 400 more high wage, highly educated professionals calling STL home. Going forward, this further solidifies STL as a City where one can find tremendous talent in the Financial Services industry, furthering the attractiveness of our Metro Area to companies in this industry considering expansions. Add-in the continued growth of Sfifel Financial, Edward Jones, and Scottrade, and we're truly core to the industry.
Story: http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... f6878.html
This is a great piece of news for STL and our ever-growing cluster in Investment Services.
Minimally, this means 400 more high wage, highly educated professionals calling STL home. Going forward, this further solidifies STL as a City where one can find tremendous talent in the Financial Services industry, furthering the attractiveness of our Metro Area to companies in this industry considering expansions. Add-in the continued growth of Sfifel Financial, Edward Jones, and Scottrade, and we're truly core to the industry.
Curious if that 400 jobs figure it legit. I fully believe WF will bring more jobs here, I just question if it'll actually be 400.
This is a great news in all but it's a tad bittersweet. I just wish their campus wasn't designed like it should be situated on Manchester and I-270. I would love to see the SLDC and Wells Fargo come together and plan a financial center downtown that is a true TOD centered around one of our underused downtown stations. Union Station would be perfect in my opinion. Could you imagine a modern mixed use project at a new 22nd st. interchange with access to the Union Station Metrolink. With thousands of employees, we could create demand for office, residential and retail. Maybe we could even lure some of those financial jobs from West County. I just dont think local leadership (private or pubic) understands what it takes to attract young and dynamic talent.
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^ the thing is that WF isn't that far from revitalizing areas - Wash Ave a couple blocks north is coming along, Olive is seeing some investment - a new Jefferson/21st St interchange could produce some adjacent retail/restaurant infill... the city/WF should focus on good infill surrounding the site.
Yeah I see what you mean. Maybe the biggest problem here is connectivity and lack of cohesive streetscapes and development. I'm sure if we could go 10 years into the future this area will be completely different.Alex Ihnen wrote:^ the thing is that WF isn't that far from revitalizing areas - Wash Ave a couple blocks north is coming along, Olive is seeing some investment - a new Jefferson/21st St interchange could produce some adjacent retail/restaurant infill... the city/WF should focus on good infill surrounding the site.
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SoulardX: I've heard validation that the 400 figure is accurate, both recognizing the number of current employees in Minneapolis and the number of actual positions Wells Fargo is looking at for full-time, long-term employment.
Goat: Recognize that the Wells Fargo HQ is a major draw to STL City. I know plenty of people who are employed there who live within 3 miles of the HQ, many in Downtown (one of whom got her fiance to sell his Wildwood home to move into her Downtown loft), a whole lot in Soulard & Lafayette Square, and others throughout South City, such as along Macklind and Tower Grove, let alone the CWE. Many of these are transplants from Wachovia's moving operations here from Richmond, VA.
Also, let's just be glad that the buildings are being utilized.
Remember back to the fall of 2008, when the world was collapsing... Citigroup was the original buyer of Wachovia via government intervention, able to acquire Wachovia's remains for very, very little, and doing so with government assistance. That was before Wells Fargo came along and placed a higher bid with their own monies, and without government backing as the base for their deal. The Wells Fargo deal closed, preferable to Citi buying Wachovia with government funding.
That all said, if Wells Fargo hadn't come along, and Citi had closed on acquiring Wachovia, we would have seen Citi go through with their plans to consolidate operations into the main Jefferson tower and maybe the smaller building along Jefferson & Market, with everything west of Beaumont mothballed. Imagine how bad that would have been. Who knows, by now they may have moved operations outside of STL and put the STL HQ on the market.
One of the main strategic reasons Wells Fargo bought Wachovia was the long-term expansion opportunities of the STL AG Edwards campus, which was built towards the goal of long-term expansion. The moves taking place now are partly Wells Fargo capitalizing on their plans to fully occupy the STL campus, consolidating other operations into the Jefferson Avenue campus.
While I'd aesthetically prefer 3 40+ story towers in the heart of Downtown, I'll take occupancy of an existing campus in Downtown West.
Goat: Recognize that the Wells Fargo HQ is a major draw to STL City. I know plenty of people who are employed there who live within 3 miles of the HQ, many in Downtown (one of whom got her fiance to sell his Wildwood home to move into her Downtown loft), a whole lot in Soulard & Lafayette Square, and others throughout South City, such as along Macklind and Tower Grove, let alone the CWE. Many of these are transplants from Wachovia's moving operations here from Richmond, VA.
Also, let's just be glad that the buildings are being utilized.
Remember back to the fall of 2008, when the world was collapsing... Citigroup was the original buyer of Wachovia via government intervention, able to acquire Wachovia's remains for very, very little, and doing so with government assistance. That was before Wells Fargo came along and placed a higher bid with their own monies, and without government backing as the base for their deal. The Wells Fargo deal closed, preferable to Citi buying Wachovia with government funding.
That all said, if Wells Fargo hadn't come along, and Citi had closed on acquiring Wachovia, we would have seen Citi go through with their plans to consolidate operations into the main Jefferson tower and maybe the smaller building along Jefferson & Market, with everything west of Beaumont mothballed. Imagine how bad that would have been. Who knows, by now they may have moved operations outside of STL and put the STL HQ on the market.
One of the main strategic reasons Wells Fargo bought Wachovia was the long-term expansion opportunities of the STL AG Edwards campus, which was built towards the goal of long-term expansion. The moves taking place now are partly Wells Fargo capitalizing on their plans to fully occupy the STL campus, consolidating other operations into the Jefferson Avenue campus.
While I'd aesthetically prefer 3 40+ story towers in the heart of Downtown, I'll take occupancy of an existing campus in Downtown West.
Minor point of contention - Citi already has 4000+ employees in the far-flung periphery of the Saint Louis area. I doubt they would have vacated the St. Louis market entirely if they'd purchased Wachovia. Now maybe they would have moved them all out to Mo'Fallon (there's not room in their current building but there are vast expanses of unused land in the immediate vicinity), or maybe they would have moved their Mortgage/IT operation downtown. But Citi has been consolidating work and jobs to Saint Louis, not the opposite.gone corporate wrote:SoulardX: I've heard validation that the 400 figure is accurate, both recognizing the number of current employees in Minneapolis and the number of actual positions Wells Fargo is looking at for full-time, long-term employment.
Goat: Recognize that the Wells Fargo HQ is a major draw to STL City. I know plenty of people who are employed there who live within 3 miles of the HQ, many in Downtown (one of whom got her fiance to sell his Wildwood home to move into her Downtown loft), a whole lot in Soulard & Lafayette Square, and others throughout South City, such as along Macklind and Tower Grove, let alone the CWE. Many of these are transplants from Wachovia's moving operations here from Richmond, VA.
Also, let's just be glad that the buildings are being utilized.
Remember back to the fall of 2008, when the world was collapsing... Citigroup was the original buyer of Wachovia via government intervention, able to acquire Wachovia's remains for very, very little, and doing so with government assistance. That was before Wells Fargo came along and placed a higher bid with their own monies, and without government backing as the base for their deal. The Wells Fargo deal closed, preferable to Citi buying Wachovia with government funding.
That all said, if Wells Fargo hadn't come along, and Citi had closed on acquiring Wachovia, we would have seen Citi go through with their plans to consolidate operations into the main Jefferson tower and maybe the smaller building along Jefferson & Market, with everything west of Beaumont mothballed. Imagine how bad that would have been. Who knows, by now they may have moved operations outside of STL and put the STL HQ on the market.
One of the main strategic reasons Wells Fargo bought Wachovia was the long-term expansion opportunities of the STL AG Edwards campus, which was built towards the goal of long-term expansion. The moves taking place now are partly Wells Fargo capitalizing on their plans to fully occupy the STL campus, consolidating other operations into the Jefferson Avenue campus.
While I'd aesthetically prefer 3 40+ story towers in the heart of Downtown, I'll take occupancy of an existing campus in Downtown West.
All that said, though, your point stands that Wells Fargo was the better suitor for Wachovia, and it wasn't really close.
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^One contention: O'Fallon has CitiMortgage. Citigroup's NYC Operations have their Capital Markets. While one division works on trading global futures contracts, the other deals with processing 30-year house loans. Capital Markets and Mortgages are polar opposites and never would combine. Much like how you won't see Wells Fargo set up retail banking at 1 North Jefferson.
I contend that, if Citi had closed on Wachovia, that they would have shuttered everything west of Beaumont and left the future of the remaining Jefferson tower precarious at best as they consolidate operations in NYC. If this had taken place, I think they would have left the Mortgage operations as-is in O'Fallon, because one has nothing to do with the other. With the subsequent JV between Citigroup & Morgan Stanley to create Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS has the upper hand), I bet the viability of their "STL operations" would have been in even greater peril.
I contend that, if Citi had closed on Wachovia, that they would have shuttered everything west of Beaumont and left the future of the remaining Jefferson tower precarious at best as they consolidate operations in NYC. If this had taken place, I think they would have left the Mortgage operations as-is in O'Fallon, because one has nothing to do with the other. With the subsequent JV between Citigroup & Morgan Stanley to create Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS has the upper hand), I bet the viability of their "STL operations" would have been in even greater peril.
The O'Fallon Citimortgage building while primarily a mortgage site, is also home to a number of bank employees and actually houses a trade desk there as well; in fact Citi has had traders and treasury employees in St. Louis for decades.
While the new building in the Progress Point business park is still a Mortgage building it's considerably less Mortgage-centric than it was six years or so ago when it was built. I'm not convinced they'd have moved all of Wachovia's staff to New York. But obviously this is all speculation now.
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While the new building in the Progress Point business park is still a Mortgage building it's considerably less Mortgage-centric than it was six years or so ago when it was built. I'm not convinced they'd have moved all of Wachovia's staff to New York. But obviously this is all speculation now.
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A shuttered campus in midtown would have been a crushing blow.
Interesting article out of SF Chronicle on Charles Schwab moving jobs out of San Fran, naming possible locations of Texas and Colorado. Not sure if they would consider St. Louis or not even with its strong financial service sector. I don't believe St. Louis has any major Charles Schwab regional offices. Unless I'm mistaken. But talk about a nice candidate for ATT One Center
So It got me thinking of another San Fran based financial firm with a much a bigger presence and why I picked this thread instead of starting a new one. I wonder and curious if any significant effort has been made to try and lure Wells Fargo back office jobs to St. Louis?
http://blog.sfgate.com/bottomline/2014/ ... sty-trail/
Charles Schwab is moving “approximately 1,000 jobs out of San Francisco over the next three to five years,” a spokeswoman for the investment company said this afternoon.
Texas and Colorado are reported to be among the possible destinations, but no decisions have been made. “We’re currently conducting an assessment to figure out which jobs will move — and to which other locations,” said spokeswoman Sarah Bulgatz.
Despite previous hints, including from Chuck himself, that the 42 year old firm might move out of the city lock, stock and barrel, San Francisco “will continue to be corporate headquarters,” said Bulgtatz
“The decision to reduce our concentration in San Francisco is based on many factors, a spokesman told the San Francisco Business Times. They include “the high cost of doing business and cost of living in the Bay Area, as well as our ability to recruit talent in this highly competitive labor market.”
So It got me thinking of another San Fran based financial firm with a much a bigger presence and why I picked this thread instead of starting a new one. I wonder and curious if any significant effort has been made to try and lure Wells Fargo back office jobs to St. Louis?
http://blog.sfgate.com/bottomline/2014/ ... sty-trail/
Charles Schwab is moving “approximately 1,000 jobs out of San Francisco over the next three to five years,” a spokeswoman for the investment company said this afternoon.
Texas and Colorado are reported to be among the possible destinations, but no decisions have been made. “We’re currently conducting an assessment to figure out which jobs will move — and to which other locations,” said spokeswoman Sarah Bulgatz.
Despite previous hints, including from Chuck himself, that the 42 year old firm might move out of the city lock, stock and barrel, San Francisco “will continue to be corporate headquarters,” said Bulgtatz
“The decision to reduce our concentration in San Francisco is based on many factors, a spokesman told the San Francisco Business Times. They include “the high cost of doing business and cost of living in the Bay Area, as well as our ability to recruit talent in this highly competitive labor market.”
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Both those states are right to work .. I find it interesting Wells fargo doesn't have any bank branches here in STL
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Even if the Mile High State were rtw, I don't think this issue is much a consideration in the financial services field.