urbanSTL

Is it just me or does it look like all new construction? Maybe they decided that building at the SE corner of the complex was unusable?

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

May 20, 2022

dweebe wrote: ↑

May 20, 2022

Is it just me or does it look like all new construction? Maybe they decided that building at the SE corner of the complex was unusable?

Looks like the "L" shaped building at the corner will be fully replaced with the Kimpton.  The Staybridge looks to be a combination of new construction and renovation of the building connecting to the stepped tower.  You can still make out the brick accents from the circled building in the background of the Staybridge rendering.

Thanks for the overhead shot. And that seems like a good guess with the Kimpton being all new and the Staybridge using that middle building. 

^Yeah, but it's not really functional today. As @dweebe mentioned a little up from this post, this L-shaped section of the HQ is pretty much functionally obsolete, especially for the home of one of the largest broker/dealers in the US. Recognizing all the new buildings built on their campus just west of Beaumont, Wells Fargo has a bunch of excess capacities right now. Redevelopment of this corner of their campus has been a long time coming (first heard of a hotel coming here 5+ years ago), and I'm glad to see it's as good looking a proposed development as it is. 

STL Biz Journal: Hotels planned at corner of Market and Jefferson downtown

Idea: When these hotels open, the Pear Tree Inn's full redevelopment will start. 

Reasoning: For quite a long time, Wells Fargo Advisors had their new hires from their retail brokerage sites nationwide fly into STL for training sessions. These training sessions are for everyone on the Financial Advisor scale, from veteran IAs changing firm affiliations to green rookies fresh out of college. Some of us may have noticed the signs for Wells Fargo Advisors University Training Center, along Market west of Beaumont. Training programs at the STL HQ go back to the AG Edwards days. 

Wells Fargo Advisors is the third-largest brokerage firm in the US. Many thousands of people come to STL for training at 1 North Jefferson every year. 

Now, these Financial Advisors receiving training at the STL HQ have historically stayed at the Pear Tree Inn, east of the Jefferson campus. For the Pear Tree Inn, the WFAU Training Program is a solid revenue generator, keeping the lights on and the steady money coming in throughout the year. It's quite reasonable to think that, when these new hotels are completed, the FA Training Program will have their new hires stay here - right across Beaumont from the WFAU Training Center - instead of at the Pear Tree Inn, preferring their trainees staying on-campus at their brand new on-site hotels rather than at the old hotel that definitely needs modern updating. The two brands make perfect sense, too: rookie FAs will be booked at the Staybridge Suites, and the major corporate guests (and maybe monied rookie FAs) will stay at the Kimpton. 

The likely loss of this business would break the Pear Tree Inn's current business model of guaranteed WFA revenues. It will compel the hotel to adapt if it is to survive. Meanwhile, considering that their site footprint is right next door to the new MLS stadium, I think they'll be all right in the long term. 

Therefore, once the steady revenues from the WFAU Training Program are gone and no longer coming back, I anticipate the Pear Tree Inn will then progress on their major redevelopment, whether a hotel modernization or a full teardown & reconstruction to best capitalize on working with their new soccer stadium neighbors. 

RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑

Sep 19, 2022

That has been the case for a while now. 

I don't know if it's posturing or if something is actually about to happen.