Looking back on another amazing year of development in St. Louis, there are plenty of reasons for optimism looking toward the future city becoming more densely populated and retaining it’s amazing architecture and built environment.
Filling in holes, eating up surface parking lots and suburban mistakes, continuing our historic rehabs, bringing mixed uses, there were plenty of projects to choose from.
I’ve been making these lists for several years now.
One of my main sources of information over the last few years was NextSTL. Sadly, that website has gone inactive in 2019.
One of the St. Louis bloggers/writers to step in and help fill that void is Chris Stritzel, owner of CityScene STL.
So, in a year where I’ve found myself increasingly absorbed in other aspects of life, I will admit I just haven’t paid as much attention to St. Louis issues and development as I did in the past.
So, I decided to reach out to Chris, who has done an excellent job tracking and following the various St. Louis and inner-ring suburb developments. If anyone knows what’s going on in St. Louis development, it’s him. And, he’s willing to share his knowledge with the general public on his well-done website.
Unfortunately, Chris and I were unable to properly meet in person and discuss our favorites of 2019, but we worked online to share lists.
So I asked Chris what his top ten projects were for 2019. I made my own and compared. One is shared, and I changed one of mine to not be duplicative. So I feel that makes a pretty good list of 20 to discuss. Roughly half from Chris and the other half from me.
Chris’ list spurred thought and a couple of these I hadn’t even heard about.
CityScene STL 2019 Year in Review:
Chouteau’s Landing - Downtown
The Moxy - Downtown
4915 Laclede - Central West End
Crossroads Senior Living at Bevo - Bevo Mill
Green Street Unify & Swan - Forest Park Southeast
4545 Laclede - Central West End
Iron Hill at Prospect Yards - Midtown
Chemical Building - Downtown
Rock Spring School - Forest Park Southeast
Mill Creek Flats - Midtown
Thanks Chris, great list! Here’s some of his commentary on each project in descending order. The photos or renderings were added by me for context.
10. Mill Creek Flats
In January, a lot of people were surprised when Pier Property Group announced that they would demolish the Owen Tuckpointing Building at 812 South Theresa. It’s an odd move but one made for the long term goal of creating an entirely new neighborhood to the Northeast of the Grand and Chouteau intersection. At 6-stories, this 96-unit apartment building will perhaps be the most visible project in the Steelcote Square area. The thought of new construction apartments and retail in this industrial area seems odd to the common reader on my website, but just imagine how normal men and women will feel when they see a brand new building rise in the area.
While I wasn’t too wild on the design at first, it has since grown on me. There is a vision for this area so it’s nice to see street level retail and sidewalks included. They appear to show a sign of things to come. Another interesting feature is the fact that Gratiot will be connected to Steelcote Square from Theresa, creating a new connection in the neighborhood. Primarily, Gratiot between Steelcote Sq. and Theresa will be used as an access way for the Mill Creek Flats parking garage and the Steelcote Lofts parking lot.
The site is currently a dirt field with foundation work expected to begin in early 2020.
9. Rock Spring School
Another Pier Property Group project, this development will see the redevelopment of the long vacant, Ittner designed Rock Spring School in the Northeastern section of the Grove. Located at 3974 Sarpy, the school is highly visible from Interstate 64. The decaying roof and overall present look of the school is an embarrassing sight from one of the region’s busiest highways. The renovation into 30,000SF of boutique office space is surely welcome as it will brighten up this building and will give the appearance of a cleaner section of the Grove.
Rock Spring School will also be a spot for small companies to call home but not be far away from larger companies in Cortex. A quick walk, bike, scooter, or car ride down Clayton Avenue brings you into Cortex.
8. Chemical Building
When it was announced in March that Restoration St. Louis, headed by Amy and Amrit Gill, would pursue a $53 Million redevelopment of the Chemical Building, I was thrilled. They have a track record of getting things done, so I wasn’t skeptical of this project. Planned to be converted into 84 additional hotel rooms for their neighboring Hotel Saint Louis, 72 luxury apartments, a restaurant, rooftop lounge, and a ballroom, it’s the redevelopment plan the building deserves.
The Henry Ives Cobb designed building stands 17-stories proud over the Old Post Office district and is the last major vacant building surrounding the Old Post Office. With it’s red brick and terra cotta, bay windows and street-level detailing, it will be great to see this building activated again.
Construction is set to begin at some point in 2020, but I can assure everyone out there who is skeptical, Amy and Amrit get things done. Give them some time, they do it right in the end.
7. Iron Hill at Prospect Yards
When SLU issued an RFP (Request for Proposals) for the large vacant parcel to the Northwest of Grand and Chouteau, people didn’t know what to expect. After receiving multiple applications, SLU announced Cullinan Properties’ “Iron Hill” as the winner of the RFP. The project is liked by others and loathed by some due to the overall design of the project. While it will be the densest development in St. Louis City built to date (due to the Floor to Area Ratio), it attracted widespread criticism for the large green space in the center of the development along with a less than attractive overall building design.
Ultimately, Iron Hill will fill in the heart of the Midtown-Prospect Yards neighborhood and will act as a link between the SLU Hospital complex and the actual University. Most people don’t even notice the parcel because nothing is there, but with this project, perceptions will change.
The overall design is almost certainly being worked on since most of the buildings seen in the master plan rendering looked like variations of other projects designed by the LJC (formerly BatesForum). Cullinan sent out a hotel RFP in June and a decision on the hotel operator will be made soon. The first phase of the development is supposed to start in the Spring, but I assume that has since been pushed back some.
6. 4545 Laclede
One of two projects from the Central West End on this list, 4545 Laclede is one that will significantly change Laclede Avenue East of Euclid. At 6-stories and 200 units, the $50 Million development will add to the already healthy Central Corridor neighborhood. KDG (formerly the Koman Group) is heading the project that will replace the 3-story, sprawling complex that is the Park East apartments. Plans are still moving through the pipeline but there is a strong chance that the development will be under construction at some point in 2020.
Remiger Design is leading the architectural services for the building, which has a bit more of a traditional look to it.
5. Green Street Unify & Swan
Part of the overall vision for the Southwestern portion of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, Green Street decided to go big with a development consisting of 7 new, modestly sized buildings that totals out to be 476 apartments. Besides this, major infrastructure enhancements will be carried out that includes better and new sidewalks, better sewage systems, better lighting and the reopening of Vista to Taylor avenue. All of these projects will begin next year and will fuel the ever growing “Grove” neighborhood.
The units will be mixed income to allow a grader range of residents to move in. It’s a big plus in a neighborhood where home and apartment prices are rapidly soaring.
JEMA and Rosemann & Associates are the architects on the projects.
4. Crossroads Senior Living at Bevo
Heading to South City now, the replacement for the Midwest Bank Centre at Gravois and Morgan Ford has my full attention. This project, while it is senior apartments, has the ability to kick off more development in the Bevo neighborhood. Planned to stand at 4-stories and be built up to the sidewalk, this project will transform this major intersection. A new building hasn’t been constructed in Bevo in years, so this is a big welcome.
Tower Grove CDC will be the developer of the project, which they hope to start sometime in 2020. Rosemann & Associates os the architect. As time goes on, more updates regarding this project will be made available, but until then, I'm excited for this.
3. 4915 West Pine
The second Central West End project on the list is one that is interesting to me. It will help create a strong street wall from the newly constructed One Hundred tower, at West Pine and Kingshighway, to Lindell and Euclid. This site is currently a large parking lot for the residents at the Forest Park Hotel. At 7-stories, the project will be large enough to be seen from Lindell and from Euclid. The 146-units featured in the building will all be one bedroom units. It’s a sign of the times for Central West End as the neighborhood's density increases.
Balke Brown is the developer for 4915 West Pine and Humphrey’s and Partners is the architect. The duo created the Cortona and Encore at Forest Park apartment buildings in the Highlands development. The $39 Million project will most likely begin construction in 2020.
2. The Moxy
It was a surprise to me when I discovered this project in the Spring. The renderings and information were floating around out there, so I decided to contact Hawkeye Hotels about the plan. I was surprised when they confirmed to me that they are in fact planning a 175-room Moxy Hotel in Downtown St. Louis, but I was also surprised that they let me have the honors of unveiling it for them.
Immediately after publishing, the project attracted a lot of attention since this was the first non-Ballpark Village related infill project in Downtown since the Robert’s Tower. People were and still are excited for the project. At 13-stories too, it will be noticeable from Washington Avenue and other parts of Downtown (if you look hard enough). At the street level, the reduction of one Downtown surface parking lot is a plus. The intersection that the Moxy will rise at, 11th and Olive, currently has 3 corners made up of parking lots. This project will not only help make the intersection feel better, but will brighten it up. Moxy Hotels always have a bustling first floor bar area, so this could be a big bonus for Downtown.
I recently contacted Hawkeye for an update on the project and everything is moving ahead steadily. They had a Conditional Use Permit hearing on December 19th and the tax abatement on the property was approved over the summer. The final cost for the development is set at $16,450,000. The hope is to break ground on the Moxy in Q2 2020.
1 Chouteau’s Landing
The project with perhaps the biggest potential of changing perceptions to travellers and locals alike is Chouteau’s Landing.
Located South of the Arch and Interstate 64 but East of I-55/44, the area is currently full of vacant and deteriorating warehouse buildings. Some have been heavily vandalized and offer a bad look for Downtown to travellers and locals in general. If the plans by the Apted Brothers and a yet to be named development partner come to life, the district will be cleaned up and occupied with a mix of office space, apartments, a hotel, retail and parking. New buildings will also be constructed along with major infrastructure projects that will improve the walking or driving experience in the district.
I hope you enjoyed reading about these as much as I! Thanks Chris.
Now I’ll add mine, a few were the same. In fact, I had the Chemical Building (top five favorite building) in previous years. I had the Bevo project on the list, but removed it when I saw Chris had it on his. I kept the Rock Spring School on my list because I have a soft spot for our school architecture from the boom times.
In years past, I posted my top twenty projects. I could have done that this year as well since there are many, many not included here that are worthy additions large and small. But, I chose to keep the list at ten for brevity. And personally, I tend to get more excited about residential home rehabs and infill on long vacant lots in the interior neighborhoods more than the big splash developments. But, I know those aren’t as striking to read about. And, who doesn’t love talking about the big projects. The multi-million dollar ones!
There is so much to love. So much reason for optimism. We continue to lead the charge on being the face of the region and a city that realizes its potential after so many years of decline and population flight. While small towns like Clayton, MO still try to surpass us, we’ve shown again in 2019 that St. Louis is the place to be….now and in the future.
My top ten from 2019 in no particular order:
With this added building density and grid-rebuilding, we are 10,000 new residents away from really seeing an increase in activity and city life.
I’ll do a separate post on each of the above ten with some photos and light commentary on why I’m looking forward to these additions.
Big thanks to Chris for sharing his list and thank you readers and most of all St. Louis citizens and boosters for caring and learning about the city we all know and love.
