Curtain goes up on plans for arts district condos
By Tavia Evans
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/23/2005
A large sign put up by Pyramid Construction on the Metropolitan Building at Grand and Olive announces the company's plan to convert the building into condos.
Grand plans are in the works to convert vacant buildings in Midtown's arts and entertainment corridor into the next crop of condominiums.
The old Metropolitan building, 500 North Grand Boulevard, will be the first candidate. Parking for the condos may be built on a grassy lot on the southeast corner of Olive Street and Grand currently owned by St. Louis University.
Grand Center Inc., the development and promotional arm of the arts district, on Friday announced an agreement with Pyramid Construction to refurbish the property.
And more housing is on the way, said Grand Center President Vince Schoemehl Jr. "We would like to add upwards of 300 housing units for sale in the next four years," he said.
Schoemehl said he hopes to increase residential presence in the arts district, home to several galleries and the Fox Theatre.
"We've got rental in the area with the Continental Building and the Coronado with mostly students, but at Christmas and during the summer they're gone, and we don't get the residual effect of having year-round tenants."
Built in 1907, the Metropolitan was laid out as a typical office building, with offices near the windows, an elevator core and interior corridors.
The building will be converted into 63 condominiums on its eight floors. The units will be "more luxury versus lofts" with hardwood floors, plaster walls and drywall ceilings, said Matt O'Leary, senior vice president for Pyramid.
Street-level retail will occupy 16,000 square feet of space on the first floor. Two national restaurants already have signed on, O'Leary said.
With 100,000 total square feet, it's a smaller project for Pyramid Construction, which recently converted the Paul Brown Building into 222 apartments. Pyramid and developer Robert Wood also converted the old Sporting News building at 2020 Washington Avenue into 103 lofts.
The Metropolitan building could be among their most difficult buildings to resurrect. The nine-story structure has been mostly vacant and open to the elements for about 20 years. A retail tenant on the first floor left earlier this year.
Asbestos tiles, trash and broken fixtures are strewn throughout the building. Structural problems have been the biggest surprise for the firm, raising the project's price tag to $27 million. Developers said they hope to have the building ready by late 2007.
The project will take advantage of federal and state historic tax credits, along with Missouri brownfields credits. Grand Center Inc. will add $2.5 million in city tax increment financing. Bryan Davies from National City bank said financing is nearly complete on the project.
As older buildings in the city's core are recycled for new uses, property in Grand Center, with several vacant and aging buildings, may be the next rehab corridor. It's the next logical area for redevelopment, Davies said. "With development pushing west from downtown and recent projects on Locust Avenue, the area is ripe for potential in the next few years," he said.
tevans@post-dispatch.com
314-340-8159