So, it's been about a week since the big announcement came that John Steffen of Pyramid Construction is purchasing the St. Louis Centre and the attached One City Centre office building and has the old Dillards building next door under contract. The plans for these buildings sound great in theory. Renovations to begin this summer and will include 120 luxury condos with a center open air atrium with swimming pool. The ground floor will hold 6-12 restaurants and stores, with Borders and Whole Foods as prospective tenants. The best part is that the building will look completely different. The ugly green and white skin on the exterior will be gone as well as that AWFUL skybridge over Washington Ave. Plans for the Dillards building have not yet been released but Steffen was quoted saying that it is best suited for "mixed use."
With all that said, the question is whether St. Louis can support additional loft spaces. I am very excited about the renovation of historic buildings in downtown St. Louis, however I don't think that St. Louis has the market to keep all of these loft spaces full. I'd rather them do something to it then let it sit and rot even more. What do you think...good idea to build lofts or bad idea to spend the money on a questionable market?
2 comments:
Good idea but only if the needs of the potential renters and potential buyers are met. A grocery store should be maintained downtown, along with a gas station that isn't in the ghetto. I also think that clean up on Washington Ave, the Landing, Cole Street to name a few is needed. There is so much trash around that anyone with half a brain would not want to expose themselves to that, not to mention the unfortunate problem of perpetual drunks and homeless people that roam every park or park bench near such said lofts. In order for this to succeed, we need action not empty words and promises of potential this and that.
The night my district met for dinner at 1111 Mississippi, I was amazed at the number of lofts, row houses, condos, and rehabs in the area. Every other car parked on the street was a BMW, Audi, or Acura, and all the gentry folk were out enjoying the evening. Really wild for an area of the city once known for crack houses and gangbangers.
At the same time, Carrie has a good point that a lot of basic services are few and far between around downtown. I guess time will tell, but for now, even astronomical prices don't prevent these properties from selling.
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