ST. LOUIS & CLAYTON | Project Rundown

[Arch City]

Sep 7, 2012, 5:00am CDT
Out-of-state investors purchase Chemical Building for $4 million
Evan Binns
St. Louis Business Journal

The Chemical Building, one of the largest vacant buildings in downtown St. Louis, is off the sale block following its purchase by a group of real estate investors from New York and Indiana.

LandWhite Developers LLC closed on the purchase of the 167,000-square-foot Chemical Building on Sept. 4, according to industry sources. The asking price for the building, which was marketed by Cushman & Wakefield/Gateway Commercial, was $3.9 million.

In November 2011, LandWhite was named as the proposed developer behind a $34 million project to transform the Chemical Building into street-level retail and 120 apartments, St. Louis Alderwoman Phyllis Young said at the time.


photo, eridony/flickr.com

[Arch City]

Between the Robert Tower apartments (132), the Arcade-Wright Building's apartments (254) and the Chemical Building's apartments (120) downtown's Old Post Office district is about to see 500+ apartment units - if all of these projects are developed.

[Arch City]

The construction fence is now up around the Sun Theater, which is about to receive a $12-million dollar renovation. The theater is to be a performing arts hall for the nearby Grand Center Arts Academy.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

The Chemical Building is gorgeous. Wow.

[Arch City]

Groundbreaking for the $100-million Phase I of this proposed $700-million project is tomorrow morning. Below are new Phase I renderings released on Twitter today.
___________________________________

Ballpark Village groundbreaking set for Friday
6 hours ago • FROM STAFF REPORTS

A groundbreaking for the long-awaited Ballpark Village development next to Busch Stadium is set for tomorrow morning.

Cardinals executives and executives from their Maryland-based development partner, Cordish Cos., are scheduled to be on the construction site in downtown St. Louis Friday at 11 a.m, in addition to Mayor Francis Slay. The first phase is set to be completed by Opening Day in 2014.

The Cardinals released new images of the $100 million first phase of the planned development Thursday, showing a Budweiser Brew House and Live! at Ballpark Village entertainment area. The initial phase also includes plans for Cardinals Nation, a two-story restaurant, Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum and a 300-plus seating area with views into the ballpark.

The project received $17 million in state and city incentives and stalled during the economic slowdown. Cardinals executives said last month that they had financing in place to begin construction.

[Arch City]

Here's progress on St. Louis University's new Law School in downtown St. Louis. The new law school is expected to add about 1,200 students, faculty and staff to downtown's daytime population. The building was donated to the university, which decided to turn it into a new law school.

The new law school is conveniently located near St. Louis' primary civic center district where the federal courthouse, City Hall, state and city courts, police headquarters/crime lab, St. Louis Justice Center, etc. are located.


photo, pasa47, flickr


photo, pasa47, flickr


photo, pasa47, flickr


photo, pasa47, flickr

____________________________________________

A general reminder of how the project's exterior will look after completion.

[STLgasm]

^The building would look a lot better without that stupid overhang on the roof.

[Arch City]

Originally Posted by STLgasm

^The building would look a lot better without that stupid overhang on the roof.

The rendering graphic makes it look like an "overhang" or a canopy of some sort, but it isn't.

It's actually an LED ribbon.

Perhaps you can tell more clearly from these renderings.

[Arch City]

Over at nextstl.com, flipz posted this latest progress photo of St. Louis University's new downtown law school. Work is progressing fast on this structure. I'm really beginning to dig the modern additions/touch to this structure.

I'm very eager to see the impact of the LED ribbon lighting on the skyline.

[Arch City]

Work set to begin on $80 million Loop project
January 31, 2013 12:30 am
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Tim Bryant





The apartment complexes will house between 550 and 600 people. Demolition of two small buildings is set to begin Monday on the site of Washington University’s $80 million project of apartments and stores in the Delmar Loop.

The project, announced nearly a year ago, is intended to add as many as 600 university students as Loop residents and increase the amount of retail space on Delmar Boulevard.

The site, already owned by the university, is bounded by Delmar and Eastgate, Enright and Westgate avenues.

Dubbed the Loop Student Living Initiative, the project will include three apartment buildings on Enright and two buildings of stores and apartments on Delmar.

Construction of a five-story building at Delmar and Eastgate is scheduled to begin in April after the two 1920s apartment buildings in the 6200 block of Delmar are razed.

Work on two new buildings on Enright will start this spring after excavation for underground parking is completed, university officials said Wednesday.
Construction of the second building on Delmar is scheduled to begin in September; no firm date has been set for the third Enright building. Paric Corp. is the general contractor.

A sliver of the project’s 4.4-acre site is in the city of St. Louis. The rest is in University City, where the City Council voted Monday to approve the mixed-use development.

“I am extremely pleased with Washington University’s commitment to University City and this neighborhood, as shown by this multimillion-dollar development,” University City Mayor Shelley Welsch said in a statement Wednesday. “This project along Delmar is a big plus not only for this neighborhood but the whole city.”

When completed, the project will have as many as 265 apartments. Some apartments will be ready for occupancy in August 2014, university officials said.

Chancellor Mark Wrighton said the development was a result of “a strong partnership” with University City and St. Louis officials.

The project — designed by William Rawn Associates of Boston and Tao + Lee Associates of St. Louis — will incorporate “green” features, including bicycle storage, solar panels, rain gardens and 125 new trees to replace 58 trees that will be removed. Lumber from one of the trees, a bald cypress, will be used in a rooftop deck and in a trellis above Delmar, the university said.

_________________________________________

The WU Loop Living project will resemble this Northeastern University project.

^ quick correction: 3 buildings are being demolished. 2 facing Delmar and 1 facing Eastgate. i'm saddened by the Eastgate demo as it's an extremely attractive and well-maintained little urban building. i appreciate what Wash. U. is doing here, but it seems like other cities make more of an effort to integrate their old buildings into new construction (D.C. comes to mind in particular) while in St. Louis it's hardly, if ever, considered.

[Arch City]

^

#1. I think you are exaggerating. St. Louis has saved thousands of old buildings and many of them integrated old with new. The Moonrise and Renaissance Grand hotels are perfect examples among countless others. St. Louis is nationally-respected for its preservation efforts. Nonetheless, not every old building in St. Louis can be saved.

#2. Some of you preservation geeks in St. Louis go a little too far and don't know when to turn it off. Stop sabotaging threads. We (I) get the point. While I understand the passion, some of you guys belabor every single demolition permit.

#3. Last, no "correction" was needed because the information I posted was from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

[Arch City]

As previously noted, the new SLU Law School (Joe & Loretta Scott Law Center) is moving fast. Below are two new photos.

Here's an up-close view from the west.


photos, pasa47, flickr.com

Here's a view from the east, overlooking Citygarden, Gateway Mall and Market Street.


photos, pasa47, flickr.com

Originally Posted by Arch City

^

#1. I think you are exaggerating. St. Louis has saved thousands of old buildings and many of them integrated old with new. The Moonrise and Renaissance Grand hotels are perfect examples among countless others. St. Louis is nationally-respected for its preservation efforts. Nonetheless, not every old building in St. Louis can be saved.

#2. Some of you preservation geeks in St. Louis go a little too far and don't know when to turn it off. Stop sabotaging threads. We (I) get the point. While I understand the passion, some of you guys belabor every single demolition permit.

#3. Last, no "correction" was needed because the information I posted was from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

I already went through all this and our posts got deleted, so here it is again:

3) I'm aware that you were quoting the PD, and I didn't say I was correcting YOU, so settle down. Whether or not you consider it a "necessary" correction, the fact is FOUR (one more than I realized previously) buildings are being demolished for the first phase (read about it here). That is a fact which is separate from my opinion. Period.

2) I don't particularly care if you think I'm a "geek" or that I "don't know when to turn it off." I think your characterization of my comment as "sabotage" is laughable hyperbole. And I happen to think (based on your post above, the one that got deleted, and your lack of composure in previous Pevely discussions) that you sometimes respond like a child when people disagree with you. As I said in my deleted comment, this is a public, urban forum. You could argue that 90% of the comments here are "belabored". If you don't want the public to comment then call your bestest friend on the phone, tell them all about it, and don't post it here. I was going to leave it at my previous post, but then you started throwing insults. If anything you're sabotaging your own thread.

1) I was specifically talking about INCORPORATING existing buildings into new construction rather than clearing them and starting over, NOT just rehabbing stand-alone buildings. Please give me a few more of the "countless other" examples around St. Louis. Yes, St. Louis is nationally recognized for it's progressive historic tax credits. It's also nationally recognized for unprecedented land clearance, its dysfunctional decades-old zoning, and its obsession with parking lots and garages. So forgive me (or don't as I don't really care) for wincing when I see more sound, attractive, and irreplaceable (in terms of material quality and craftsmanship) buildings (609 Eastgate and 6236 Enright in particular) wasted while so much already-vacant land around the city languishes. And at the risk of another assault for offering information, the original funeral home was not incorporated into the Moonrise, a facsimile of its facade was rebuilt using new and salvaged material.

0) I even said that I APPRECIATE what Wash. U. is doing with this project. I LIKE THE DAMN PROJECT. I simply expressed my sadness that 609 in particular is getting wrecked. If anyone overreacted it wasn't me with my 2-line post. It was you with your diatribe and insults. At any rate, you're more than welcome to ignore my occasional, brief comments rather than get derailed by my supposed attempts to "sabotage" "your" thread.

P.S. How'd that whole Pevely thing turn out?

[Arch City]

1) I was specifically talking about INCORPORATING existing buildings into new construction rather than clearing them and starting over, NOT just rehabbing stand-alone buildings. Please give me a few more of the "countless other" examples around St. Louis. Yes, St. Louis is nationally recognized for it's progressive historic tax credits. It's also nationally recognized for unprecedented land clearance, its dysfunctional decades-old zoning, and its obsession with parking lots and garages. So forgive me (or don't as I don't really care) for wincing when I see more sound, attractive, and irreplaceable (in terms of material quality and craftsmanship) buildings (609 Eastgate and 6236 Enright in particular) wasted while so much already-vacant land around the city languishes. And at the risk of another assault for offering information, the original funeral home was not incorporated into the Moonrise, a facsimile of its facade was rebuilt using new and salvaged material.

I knew what you were suggesting. That’s why I pointed out the Moonrise and Renaissance Grand. And come on with the Moonrise, you are cherry-picking. Nonetheless, there are countless others, including one recently announced in Clayton regarding a church. There are some very prominent ones, in fact. While St. Louis may not be a leader, don’t act as though it is not done in the region. I know of plenty, however, you have to figure out the rest to satisfy your appetite because I am tired of feeding you.

Further, in most regions where there are sprawl issues there are issues with parking garages and lots in their center cities. St. Louis is no more famous for this than any other city. It’s the same with zoning. St. Louis’ zoning is being updated. The city started updating zoning ordinances/laws in 2005. You are eight years late. The plan is not static. Despite changes, zoning could use some tightening. Nonetheless, St. Louis, unfortunately, doesn’t have the luxury of being as rigid in zoning as Chicago or New York or Boston. It’s a double-edged sword. For me, some of you all magnify the problem when it comes to St. Louis instead of looking at the bigger picture.

Land clearance. Okay…Mill Creek Valley, Pruitt-Igoe and the Riverfront for the Gateway Arch. What else? A lot of other properties scattered throughout St. Louis have been cleared because they were deemed unsafe or uninhabitable. If people and businesses hadn’t left the city, maybe many of the precious structures would be around still. Despite some hard fought battles by preservationists, there are a lot of old buildings still left St. Louis with lots of potential. LOTS. Many cities would kill for the old building stock St. Louis has. Nevertheless, I am not going to cry over demolitions. I'll leave that to you all.

2) I don't particularly care if you think I'm a "geek" or that I "don't know when to turn it off." I think your characterization of my comment as "sabotage" is laughable hyperbole. And I happen to think (based on your post above, the one that got deleted, and your lack of composure in previous Pevely discussions) that you sometimes respond like a child when people disagree with you. As I said in my deleted comment, this is a public, urban forum. You could argue that 90% of the comments here are "belabored". If you don't want the public to comment then call your bestest friend on the phone, tell them all about it, and don't post it here. I was going to leave it at my previous post, but then you started throwing insults. If anything you're sabotaging your own thread.

No offense, but you can be a buzzkill. Apparently you haven’t figured out that this thread is about CONSTRUCTION – not your persistent preservation rants. All you have done on this thread - for the most part - is crept over here to complain. You have only contributed to this thread, for the most part, complaints and rants. I went back 10 pages and all you ever do is complain. I could see if you posted a project or two from time-to-time to balance things out, but all you do is whine.

And Child. Smild. Get a life. The buildings are gone forever. Apparently there were no uses for them anymore. While you are entitled to your opinion and freedom to post here, it would be nice if you contributed more than just complaints here and there. Take up your concerns with University City, Washington University and the City of St. Louis or whatever entity or jurisdiction. I understand the need for preservation, but you tend to take it to whole different level.

3) I'm aware that you were quoting the PD, and I didn't say I was correcting YOU, so settle down. Whether or not you consider it a "necessary" correction, the fact is FOUR (one more than I realized previously) buildings are being demolished for the first phase (read about it here). That is a fact which is separate from my opinion. Period.

Well the way you replied, it appeared that way. So next time YOU need to be more concise in your replies. I don’t care that four structures are being demolished. You should be able to deduce that by now. I am not a geeky hardcore obsessive preservationist who cares about buildings that I don’t own. This is a construction thread. Not a thread for you to always make PRESERVATION PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS everytime a demolition permit or demolition occurs in St. Louis.

With the exception of the corner building or whatever it is, what is being gained is greater than what is being lost - 500-600 students living on The Loop. Move on.

0) I even said that I APPRECIATE what Wash. U. is doing with this project. I LIKE THE DAMN PROJECT. I simply expressed my sadness that 609 in particular is getting wrecked. If anyone overreacted it wasn't me with my 2-line post. It was you with your diatribe and insults. At any rate, you're more than welcome to ignore my occasional, brief comments rather than get derailed by my supposed attempts to "sabotage" "your" thread.

First you said that you "appreciate" the project. Now you "like" the project. Good. Stop complaining about it. And for the record, I have ignored your "occasional, brief comments", but grace can only be extended for so long, which is why I unleashed the wrath. While we are trying to build St. Louis up on this thread, you come sabotaging the efforts.

Point is, I don't dislike you. I don't even know you. But contribute more than complaints. Present a balance. I'm done.

[Arch City]

St. Louis University's Law School relocation is leading to development speculation. In what I call, SLU Alley (Pine Street), new projects are proposed such as a restaurant, residential development, a smoothie shop as well as an ice cream bar.

See SLU Alley (Downtown) on Google Streetview here.

_____________________________________________


Feb 15, 2013, 5:00am CST UPDATED: Feb 15, 2013, 10:41am CST
Real Estate Play: Veteran developers Rothschild, Smith see potential behind Mike Wolff’s move downtown
St. Louis Business Journal

Nearby, developer Pete Rothschild, who owns a four-story building at 1115 Pine across the street from SLU, was looking to sell the property until SLU announced plans to move last year. Rothschild said he bought the building several years ago only because it was part of a package of non-performing properties that included two more attractive parcels. “When the SLU announcement came, it was a glorious day,” Rothschild said.

SLU’s new law building was donated in January 2012 by Joe Scott, owner of Scott Properties, and his wife, Loretta. Clayco Inc. is the general contractor on the project, which is expected to wrap up by June.

Rothschild said he’s betting on a need for student housing, and he’s considering studio apartments that would appeal to students seeking a short commute. “They could just roll out of bed,” he said.


Photo from nextstl.com. Potential residential development in studio apartments right down the street.

Originally Posted by Arch City

No offense, but you can be a buzzkill. Apparently you haven’t figured out that this thread is about CONSTRUCTION – not your persistent preservation rants. All you have done on this thread - for the most part - is crept over here to complain. You have only contributed to this thread, for the most part, complaints and rants. I went back 10 pages and all you ever do is complain. I could see if you posted a project or two from time-to-time to balance things out, but all you do is whine.

Point is, I don't dislike you. I don't even know you. But contribute more than complaints. Present a balance. I'm done.

You're full of it. You apparently only looked for what you wanted to see, so I did a more thorough job for you. Here are ALL of my posts from the previous 10 pages, minus our most recent exchanges. You'll notice that most of them are positive and only a few are critical, and even in those I've tried to balance it with "but I like this other aspect." I'll let them speak for themselves. In any case, this is a waste of time. I don't need your attitude and you don't want my readership, and luckily I can get all this info elsewhere. Take care. (Sorry to "sabotage" your thread trying to defend myself against your exaggerations, but this will be the last time.)

page 15

Just wanted to let you know I'm still reading, Arch City. Thanks for posting these!

^ the Metropolitan project is looking amazing! residential here is REALLY going to increase the level of activity in Grand Center and the Locust Ave Business District…
it was indeed in the Metropolitan, DeBaliviere. there's a great 1960 aerial shot of the intersection from the roof of the Continental Life Building -- showing a fully built-out intersection before SLU demolished the entire southern half -- on page 35 of Streets and Streetcars of St. Louis: A Sentimental Journal (highly recommended by the way). i much prefer Walgreen's vintage neon signs to the current strip mall du jour.

well, just to be clear i'd rather not see another Walgreen's at this intersection. pretty soon we're going to have nothing BUT Walgreen's, CVS, etc if they keep expanding at their current pace. the last thing we need is for CVS to come along and level some building a block away from this intersection in order to compete with a Walgreen's there (like they're trying to do on Lindell with the AAA building).

^ i'm excited about the zoo improvements!!!

page 16

^ this is a ridiculously awesome project. one question though: what is a "multi-purpose hallway"? how many purposes can a hallway have?

page 17

SLU's main campus is in Midtown, while the law school is moving downtown. no, they're not intentionally anti-urban (although they have indeed pitched the pastoralness of their campus in at least one commercial that i've seen). as Arch City mentioned in another thread, SLU is an institution working to ensure its future growth and success, and part of that is trying to lure suburban prospectives. in the process they've saved and renovated a good number of historic buildings, but they also have a penchant for razing buildings and land-banking (especially on prominent corners, which they then dress up with grass and fountains), as well as building some very anti-urban new construction with large setbacks and poor siting that prevents anything else from being built nearby. they are not anti-urban, but they are not necessarily operating with an urban sensibility either.

not soon, but there are only a couple of big buildings left to be rehabbed, and so far the residential rehabs have been filling up about as quickly as they come online. office space is another matter, but as the DT population continues to grow i think we'll see new residential construction and a related filling of office space. recently, Teach for America announced plans (financing already secured) to rehab and occupy one of DT's largest buildings, the Jefferson Arms (see earlier in this thread). now SLU law is occupying another big one. it all bodes well for DT.

I just got chills!
"Work could begin next summer if McGowan Brothers Development meets its timetable for getting federal new markets tax credits and other public incentives..."
I thought I read somewhere that the financing had been worked out already... oh, well. hopefully everything will stay on schedule.

is this rehab finished? in progress? the article is from May of last year... and the "building information" link advertises $0\month. just wondering if you know.

page 18

^ i just wish it weren't so ugly. their color "palette" (i.e. tan or beige or whatever that is) is pretty abominable.

yeah, i do agree that STL could use some brighter colors. i guess i just don't like the particular color they've chosen to run with. i do like glass as well, but i like a balance between flat surfaces and decorated ones. too many modern buildings, IMHO, are comprised of large, flat, featureless surfaces that lack texture and detail, making them uninteresting (to me, anyway). so, agreed about the "simple and flat" part. at least the ground-level retail section is an improvement over that of the Ettrick building in terms of function (although i still think the Ettrick was a far cry more attractive). I don't mind uniform architecture (a la Wash. U.) so long as it's quality, and Wash. U's new construction recreates the materials, textures, details and decorations on the older gothic buildings quite convincingly i think.

awesome. the more people living downtown the better. hopefully the other two soon-to-be-or-maybe-already-foreclosed-upon roberts-owned buildings on locust will follow shortly.

ah, thanks for the correction and links. i was pretty much talking out of my butt - i thought i had skimmed something somewhere that mentioned some Roberts real estate in foreclosure. i've got nothing against them. it seems they're in over their heads lately, but i think they've been good for the city.

page 19

^ cool! i didn't even know that place exists.

page 20

damn! those hi-res 360 views are incredible! they REALLY knocked the opera house out of the park, right down to the plaster details. just beautiful. and, although i DESPISE vinyl siding in any amount, especially mixed with brick, north sarah is looking great. can't wait for those storefronts to start filling up.

page 22

hmmm... Amazon, perhaps?

^ so glad to hear this is finally moving forward. I'm a big fan of Straub's and I certainly hope this doesn't effect them too severely, but WF is a regional draw and will attract additional residents to the CWE. I think we're going to see a few vacant corners (I'm looking at you, Euclid and Lindell, and you too, Kingshighway and Lindell) filled with residential and\or more retail in the near future.

page 23

^ nice looking building. the siting, however, is unfortunate. as is the "gated community" part. i do wish the new apartment complex going up in Forest Park SE looked as good as this one.

^ impressive! looks like they're really going to open the place up and take advantage of the windows. the views from the commons\rootf-top patio will be spectacular.

a couple of big'ns:
^ LCRA approves Dominium's Arcade redevelopment plan from the St. Louis Business Journal
^ Central West End to get new apartments and a Whole Foods grocery from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

page 24

^ so so so happy to hear this! was beginning to worry.

Except for the original stone columns, lintels, stairs, etc. that were unceremoniously chiseled right off the building. A million different ways that they could have connected the new wing to Gilbert's 110-year-old beauty (a glass atrium for example) and they chose to f*cking carve it up. Makes me want to punch a motherf*cker in the face.

I only know what I read here:
Vanishing STL: Disrespecting Cass Gilbert.
but c'mon, it's REALLY hard to believe there was absolutely no alternative. and actually i wouldn't be surprised if they didn't consider any. after all, everything that falls out of chipperfield's ass is apparently gold. (there's an interesting comment at the above link concerning Mrs. Pulitzer's affinity for chipperfield and her influence over the architect selection.)

I'm not saying I don't like the design (aside from the aforementioned travesty). I think it's sleek and subtle (in a good way), but nothing about it screams great architecture to me. I'm mainly just really really annoyed by the completely unnecessary disrespect toward Gilbert's building, like sawing the head off of "David" in order to fit it through the doorway and then being like "What are you griping about? You can still look at the rest of it!" And of course, the removed elements will never be restored.

[Arch City]

Maybe you feel my assessments are unfair, but they are just observations - just as you have made observations of me.

Surely you have had some positive comments, but even some of your positive comments are laced with subtle complaints moreso than other posters.

Like I said,

"All you have done on this thread - for the most part - is crept over here to complain."

Have a good day.

[Arch City]

This project is in addition to other projects already under construction in the Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Medical Center and CORTEX area. Also, new access ramps to the area from I-64 are under construction.
______________________________________________________

Feb 20, 2013, 1:51pm CST UPDATED: Feb 20, 2013, 2:33pm CST
Shriners unveils plan for $47 million hospital
St. Louis Business Journal


A rendering of Shriners new $47 million replacement hospital at 4400 Clayton Ave.

After years of setbacks, on March 20, Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis will break ground on the new $47 million replacement facility at 4400 Clayton Ave.

The new, 90,000-square-foot facility will be located on 3.75 acres of land on the BJC Healthcare campus purchased fromWashington University for an undisclosed price. Officials expect to move into the 12-bed facility by late 2014 or early 2015, according to Tammy Robbins, spokeswoman for Shriners.
The hospital will include three surgical suites, 18 clinic examinations rooms, and nine rooms for outpatient family housing.

Two local firms were tasked with building and designing the facility. Christner designed the hospital and S.M. Wilson & Co. was named the construction management firm for the project. S.M. Wilson & Co. expects construction to take 20 months.

Originally, the hospital was set to cost nearly $170 million, but the project was put on hold in 2009 and then again in 2011. In August 2012, the hospital downsized from 40 beds to just 12 beds, and from 270,000 square feet to nearly 83,000 square feet.

[Arch City]

More Shriners Hospital renderings. Although downsized, this one appears to be a go in March. Shriners-St. Louis works with St. Louis Children's Hospital, which is about to undergo a major expansion.


Visual from I-64


Visual on Clayton Road in the Washington University Medical Center


Visual on Clayton Road @ Taylor entrance in the Washington University Medical Center


Visual on Clayton Road @ S. Newstead in the Washington University Medical Center