Hello,

I'll post this here, since I think this might be the best place.

Can anyone tell me if the new Cross-County Metro-Link crosses Des Peres Ave at grade or if it's in tunnel or some other seperation?

If it's at grade are there gates and such?

Thanks,
Nate

Hello,

I'll post this here, since I think this might be the best place.

Can anyone tell me if the new Cross-County Metro-Link crosses Des Peres Ave at grade or if it's in tunnel or some other seperation?

If it's at grade are there gates and such?

Thanks,
Nate
The MetroLink runs on separate, below-grade rights of way below Des Peres. There are very few at-grade crossings in the system.

I was looking at alignment maps on the website. The "big" map implied there was an open-cut tunnel-surface transition, but the section map showed completely surface.

I'm highly impressed. This is one of the best LRT's in the country. Too bad I hear plans for N/S lines to run in mixed-traffic. I think the riders and the City will be quite disappointed with the results after experiencing their current system.

Thanks for the info,
Nate

Pinnacle Casino St.Louis has their web cam showing the current progress on the new hotel and casino... Looks like about 15 stories high now. Sorry I don't have the link.

http://2766039110071305139yRuayK_fs

"Wachovia to buy A.G. Edwards for $6.8B
Bank and financial services company say they will merge to create a retail brokerage firm; deal values A.G. Edwards at $89.50 a share.
May 31 2007: 9:25 AM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank, said Thursday it will buy A.G. Edwards Inc. for $6.8 billion in cash and stock, creating the second-largest U.S. retail brokerage.

Shares of A.G. Edwards (Charts) jumped 13 percent in premarket trading, while shares of Wachovia (Charts, Fortune 500) fell 1 percent.

With so many signs pointing to more mergers, are lofty share prices masking problems? CNN's Jim Boulden reports. (May 8)
Play video
The combined brokerage would have about 14,784 brokers, ranking behind Merrill Lynch & Co. (Charts, Fortune 500); and $1.15 trillion of client assets, ranking behind Merrill and Citigroup Inc. (Charts, Fortune 500), Wachovia said. It expects to command a 14 percent market share, and employ more than 31,000 people.

Why the M&A boom has legs
"Brokerages are demographically attractive with the anticipated graying of baby boomers and increase in retirement assets," Joseph Dickerson, an analyst at Atlantic Equities in London, said in an interview. "Wachovia is also acquiring the advantage of more scale. It can squeeze out a lot of costs, and boost revenue by making brokers more productive and increasing the proportion of fee-based assets."

Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia expects to fold A.G. Edwards into its Wachovia Securities brokerage, pushing deeper into 48 of the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas.

The combined brokerage would be based in St. Louis, home of A.G. Edwards, which was founded in 1887. Wachovia has 8,166 brokers and $773 billion of client assets, while A.G. Edwards has 6,618 brokers and $374 billion of client assets.

"Long-term growth opportunities of the brokerage industry are extremely compelling to Wachovia," Wachovia Chief Executive Ken Thompson said in a statement.

A.G. Edwards shareholders will receive 0.9844 of a Wachovia share and $35.80 in cash for each of their shares.

The terms value A.G. Edwards at $89.50 per share, a 16 percent premium over their Wednesday closing price. A.G. Edwards shares had already risen 22 percent this year.

Thursday's transaction comes nearly eight months after Wachovia bought California thrift Golden West Financial Corp. for $24.2 billion, significantly expanding its mortgage operations.

Adding scale
Prudential Financial Inc. (Charts, Fortune 500) has a 38 percent stake in Wachovia Securities, and said it supports the merger.

"It's a good deal for Wachovia," said Mark Batty, an analyst at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia. "In retail brokerage, scale is key, and Wachovia will be able to distribute more products more broadly."

Wachovia Securities Chief Executive Daniel Ludeman will retain his title, while A.G. Edwards Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Bagby will be chairman. Bagby, reached at his St. Louis office, declined to comment.

The transaction values A.G. Edwards at about 21.5 times expected 2007 earnings, according to Reuters Estimates. Atlantic Equities' Dickerson called that valuation "fair."

Wachovia expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter, and result in $860 million of charges over 18 months and $395 million of annual cost savings, including closing up to 230 offices and eliminating at least several hundred jobs.

It expects the transaction to boost earnings per share, excluding items, in the first year and generate a 24 percent internal rate of return.

Credit Suisse, Wachovia Securities and the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP represented Wachovia. Goldman Sachs & Co. and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz represented A.G. Edwards. "

What do you all think about this? St. Louis will now be the headquarters for the 2nd largest brokerage firm in the US. I work at AG Edwards and although I think some St. Louis employees will lose their jobs, this is great news for ST. Louis and AG Edwards. Just wanted to get everyone's opinion

My first reaction to this is ... not good. I have always loved the fact that Saint Louis was the home of 2 large financial companies in Edward Jones, AG Edwards, and smaller companies like Scottrade. I hate to lose another corporate headquarters.

On the other hand...it is good to hear Wachovia is not just going to make Saint Louis a regional branch. At least it will be the headquarters of something. The problem I see is that Wachovia is a bank first and a financial services company second. If times turn bad, the cuts will probably come first to the financial services people.

I don't really understand enough of AG Edwards' business to know which services will be lost to Charlotte and which will stay based in Saint Louis. My feeling is that there will probably not be any additional jobs in Saint Louis, but we will probably not lose any either. So, if that is the case, it sucks to lose a corporate headquarters and the citywide benefits that entails.

Hello everybody. I've been lingering around these urban forms for about a year now(especially urbanstl...when are they going to fix that frickin "invalid session" thing during registration) and thought I'd jump in.

Enough with introductions. I know there's been a lot of talk of how the new casino doesn't look all that great and how the illuminated arch thing is going to look cheesy. I felt this way for awhile too, but as I was coming home from the Muny last night and glancing over, I can see how this is really going to help the skyline. It may not be skyline altering, but it will definately help it. Just the construction lights on the casino really lit up that part of downtown so I can't wait to see it when it's finished.

Also, I know the contractor for Ballpark Village pulled out to focus on the Bottle District, this lead me to get excited that there would be something stirring, but has there been any news since? And I have to admitt, I don't think I ever really took the Bottle District that seriously, at least at the grand scale, but I hope I'm proved wrong.

Hello everybody. I've been lingering around these urban forms for about a year now(especially urbanstl...when are they going to fix that frickin "invalid session" thing during registration) and thought I'd jump in.

Enough with introductions. I know there's been a lot of talk of how the new casino doesn't look all that great and how the illuminated arch thing is going to look cheesy. I felt this way for awhile too, but as I was coming home from the Muny last night and glancing over, I can see how this is really going to help the skyline. It may not be skyline altering, but it will definately help it. Just the construction lights on the casino really lit up that part of downtown so I can't wait to see it when it's finished.

Also, I know the contractor for Ballpark Village pulled out to focus on the Bottle District, this lead me to get excited that there would be something stirring, but has there been any news since? And I have to admitt, I don't think I ever really took the Bottle District that seriously, at least at the grand scale, but I hope I'm proved wrong.


Good point about the UrbanSTL board. I tried to get in a while ago and had the same problem. I still read it, but it would be nice to participate. I think JiveCity is a member over there. Jive, maybe you could inform the mods that their board is malfunctioning.

Yeah, I think the casino won't hurt the skyline as some people are predicting. It is going to stand out, especially when coming from the Illinois side, but I guess that was the point. At least it will widen downtown's skyline a little. Also, the wavy light thing will not be that bad and people will get used to it over time. The thing I like about it (if there is anything to like about it) is that it ties the river theme into the buildings. Also, I think the light will reflect off the river for a cool effect as you are crossing the PSB.

Who knows with the bottle district. I know ClayCo joined forces with them, but that might just be as an excuse to get off the BPV project, which also seems to be going no where fast. I do think something will get built on both of these sites, but I don't think it is going to be the highrise condo and office buildings we hoped for. Actually, since they are waiting with the Bottle District, I would not mind seeing them wait a few more years. Once BPV is up and running, I think it will do well. Because I do not think the high rise condos (phase III - which is not required) will be built, I do think there will be a need for some additional housing that the Bottle District could fulfill. Also, it will be a lot easier for TBD to convince business to sign up if BPV was already a success in downtown STL. So, I actually am hoping they continue to do nothing with that site instead of build some crap that would prohibit future development.

I believe that BPV will be built to its fullest extent. Though, I understand how you won't believe Phase III will get built considering the history of STL(wasn't there originally suppose to be towers on the Keiner garages?). But this is some of the most primed real estate in the Midwest, I can't believe that Cordish wouldn't cash in on the condos as I believe they would sellout almost instantly. I also believe that Cordish said that they had received a lot of interest in office space at BPV. So, we'll see.

Though, I think you're right in that maybe the BD would be better by waiting until BPV and Lumiere are built out so it can find a nich to fill.

I believe that BPV will be built to its fullest extent. Though, I understand how you won't believe Phase III will get built considering the history of STL(wasn't there originally suppose to be towers on the Keiner garages?). But this is some of the most primed real estate in the Midwest, I can't believe that Cordish wouldn't cash in on the condos as I believe they would sellout almost instantly. I also believe that Cordish said that they had received a lot of interest in office space at BPV. So, we'll see.

Though, I think you're right in that maybe the BD would be better by waiting until BPV and Lumiere are built out so it can find a nich to fill.

That is just my opinion on BPV - I mean look at it now. It is a dirty little urban pond - which is horrible. If Cordish and the Cardinals were serious about selling that place out, they would have as much built as possible in time for the All-Star game. Instead, they will be lucky to have anything built by the summer of 2009. Also, why ask for an exception (which they did, and which they were granted for some reason) for Phase III unless you plan to use it? I don't think Cordish has any intention whatsoever of building condo towers there. I think many would sell, but they have to sell at a profit and with plenty of available housing on the market right now it will be hard to get buyers to pay a lot extra just to have a view of an empty stadium most of the year. I would like to see what they could do with office space, maybe even an office tower. KC got HRBlock or whatever to locate in the Power & Light District and it would be great if we could get a similar company (or a local company like Scottrade) to put their headquarters in BPV. That would be what downtown really needs, a reason to be there for lots of different kinds of people.

But, other STL posters would certainly call me the pessimist, so take it with a grain of salt.

Anybody here have any updates on the Pinnacle casino/hotel project? I believe the plan was to have an opening in November 07. Does it look like this will happen?

I am not sure if they are still on schedule, but they are in the hiring phase right now. I would assume they are still on track.

This is their new website. http://www.lumiereplace.com/ and it says "Opening Fall 2007."

Here is a link to their webcam: http://www.oxblue.com/pro/open/?webPath=pinnacle/stlouiscity

It looks a though they have completed most of the construction. On the tower they are cladding with windows. On the casino they still have to put in windows and some of the facade. I assume they still have to complete all the interiors on both the hotel and the casino.

How many casinos in St. Louis? Plus, are they all riverboat? I don't know the laws there as far as gambling is concerned.

Pinnacle has 2 under construction... downtown and a new 300+million plus casino on the south side of the county. Ameristar is building a 20+ story hotel in St.Charles... Harrah's is right down the river in St.Louis county. Two "riverboats" on the mighty Mississippi... That's all I can think of now..

:cheers:

Pinnacle has 2 under construction... downtown and a new 300+million plus casino on the south side of the county. Ameristar is building a 20+ story hotel in St.Charles... Harrah's is right down the river in St.Louis county. Two "riverboats" on the mighty Mississippi... That's all I can think of now..

:cheers:

Is the one in Alton still there? I think there was a name change, but I think it is still there, so what is that 6-7? That is pretty many casinos for Saint Louis. I wonder if other cities have that many.

^^ Biloxi has a decent amount I believe

I think this is the current status on STL casinos...

Ameristar casino - St.Charles... Alton Belle casino - Alton "riverboat"
Casino Queen - E. St.Louis "riverboat"
Harrah's casino - W. STL county
President casino - downtown STL "riverboat"
Pinnacle casino - downtown STL (U/C)
Pinnacle casino - S. STL county (U/C)

Seems like the Casino side is still due to open in November while the hotel portion is expected in early 08.

St. Louis development firm Pyramid Cos. is aligning itself with Chicago-based General Growth Properties to develop a new retail district in downtown St. Louis to be known as The Mercantile Exchange. The project is expected to cost more than $600 million and is slated for completion in 2010.

The district will be anchored by some of Pyramid's latest developments including the Laurel condominium, hotel and retail project to be built in the old Dillard's building on Washington Ave.; its conversion of the now-closed St. Louis Centre mall into condominiums with street-level retail; the soon-to-be refurbished One City Centre office building; and the Mercantile Library building. The district would also include Macy's department store on the south and the Edward Jones Dome and St. Louis Convention Center on the north.

John Steffen, Pyramid's president, said he developed the concept with the help of urban planner and designer Kiku Obata of St. Louis. He envisions a concentrated area of upscale street-level retail, including fine dining and entertainment, that will attract the growing number of residents, office workers and visitors downtown.

"The appeal here is natural," Steffen said. "We are going to make this the window dressing, the place to shop. It will be a big step for St. Louis."

The deal with General Growth closed Sept. 21 and Pyramid's public announcement planned for Wednesday morning follows on the heels of Centene Corp.'s announcement Sept. 23 that it will relocate its headquarters to Ballpark Village, the mixed-use downtown development the St. Louis Cardinals and Baltimore-based Cordish Co. plan to build immediately north of Busch Stadium.

The Mercantile Exchange district will sit about four blocks north of Ballpark Village and about four blocks south and west of Pinnacle Entertainment's Lumiere Place hotel and casino development just north of Laclede's Landing.

"When people say, 'Can St. Louis handle all of this?' we say, 'This is what the doctor ordered," Steffen said. "We have enough people here already to support a downtown retail district. There is no end to this. We just have to keep up with ourselves."

General Growth, a real estate investment trust which also owns and operates the Saint Louis Galleria, will be responsible for attracting tenants and managing the retail properties to be developed and leased by Pyramid. General Growth's portfolio is dominated by more than 200 regional shopping malls and urban mixed-use centers in 44 states. It does business with dozens of national and international retailers, including Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Ann Taylor, Victoria's Secret, Apple Computer, Sharper Image, Williams-Sonoma, Cheesecake Factory and Crate & Barrel.

Pyramid also is partnering with Connecticut-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners LLC, a national developer that has led downtown projects elsewhere, including Portland, Ore., and on Long Island Sound in Connecticut.

When complete, The Mercantile Exchange will include 175 condominiums, 120 luxury apartments, 525,000 square feet of new or redeveloped office space, and 1,200 new parking spaces. Steffen also plans a 216-room full-service hotel, which he said could be an Embassy Suites, within the old Dillard's building.

Pyramid also plans to redesign and landscape the streetscape to make it greener and more pedestrian-friendly with wider sidewalks and better lighting. The plans include the demolition of the skybridges that currently connect the St. Louis Centre building to the old Dillard's building and to Macy's.

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2007/09/24/daily29.html

This has been a great week for Downtown!

Centene to move downtown
By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/24/2007

http://www.pbase.com/stlouis_314/image/86163720.jpg

In a move that local and state leaders touted as "historic" and proof of continued revitalization in downtown St. Louis, Centene Corp. said Sunday it will move its headquarters to Ballpark Village. GRAPHIC
Plans for Centene Centre

The company has agreed to purchase two blocks where it will develop a $250 million office and retail complex.

The project will consist of two buildings — including a 27-story skyscraper — with up to 1.2 million square feet of office space, 1,750 parking spaces and 50,000 to 75,000 square feet of retail (about half the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter).

Centene plans to add 1,200 jobs on top of those already in the Clayton office, where it will maintain a "significant presence," company officials said. Advertisement

Centene, which manages Medicaid contracts for several states, will receive $78 million in tax incentives from the city, with the promise of more from state and federal programs.

The company sent out 60 requests for development proposals after its attempts to

create a similar mixed-use project in Clayton fell through this summer, said Michael Neidorff, chairman and chief executive of Centene, and received 90 proposals back.

As the word spread, more offers came in "from across the state and around the country," Neidorff said. "But even though we looked at (many) locations around the country, we will keep the headquarters of Centene in the St. Louis region."

The complex will be developed in two phases. The developer is BW Development, a company formed by Centene and its development partners, Overland-based Clayco and Chicago-based U.S. Equities. Clayco recently withdrew from consideration to be the general contractor for Ballpark Village. The company's involvement in Centene's project does not affect that decision, said Bob Clark, Clayco's president and chief executive.

"Being involved in Centene's development falls in line with our policy of being involved in projects where we can be equity partners," Clark said. "We will be equity partners in this project."

Construction will begin on both blocks in the summer of 2008, but completion will be in two phases.

The 27-story building, at the corner of Broadway and Walnut Street, will have 700,000 square feet of office space. Centene will occupy 400,000 square feet and lease out the remaining 300,000 square feet until it needs the space. The building will include two stories of retail.

The second building also will have two floors devoted to retail and 1,750 parking spaces. It will be designed so that up to 550,000 square feet of additional office space can be added as needed. When complete, the building will be in the "20-story range," said Barb Geisman, deputy mayor of development for Mayor Francis Slay.

A third building, to be developed by Baltimore-based Cordish Co., developers of Ballpark Village, will include a 180-room hotel, which Centene anticipates will be used by its guests, clients and employees. The hotel was not part of Cordish's original plan for Ballpark Village.

The retail portion of the two buildings developed by BW Development will be sold back to Cordish at cost and count toward the company's commitment to 360,000 square feet of retail in the first phase of Ballpark Village. But it may not be ready in time for the July 2009 opening targeted for the first phase of the $387 million project.

Centene expects to complete work by 2010, Geisman said.

"I am very confident that every effort will be made to open all the retail in phase one of Ballpark Village in time for the All-Star Game," set to be held here in July 2009, Geisman said. "But if it is off by a couple months, it's not going to have a major impact."

The project and its incentives still must be approved by the city and various state bodies, including the Missouri Development Finance Board.

"While there are plenty of t's to cross and i's to dot, the most important decision has been made," Slay said. "This will open eyes and lead to greater milestones and open more doors." Centene's decision would draw other employers to the city, he said.

That sentiment was echoed by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and downtown leaders.

"We support Ballpark Village wholeheartedly and want to keep the momentum of downtown revitalization going," Kinder said.

Bringing a major employer into the city continues the natural progression of revitalization that started with drawing residents back into the city, said Jim Cloar, executive director of Downtown St. Louis Partnership. The next step was to bring in restaurants and services. Adding a corporate headquarters will help support and accelerate growth in both fields, he said.

Geisman said: "This is a real coup for the city, for everyone in the city. We have worked really hard to not only keep what we have but attract other key and notable businesses to downtown."

Centene will be the largest employer to move its corporate headquarters into the city in decades, maybe as long as 50 years, Slay said.

Clayton Mayor Linda Goldstein expressed disappointment that her city wasn't able to find a suitable location for Centene, but she said the company's decision to stay in the region is a benefit for all. "If they were going to choose a different location, we are glad they stayed in the region," Goldstein said. "We are glad it will remain a significant presence in Clayton."

To encourage Centene to make the move to downtown St. Louis, the city will give the company a $48 million tax abatement and other incentives, for a total of $78 million in incentives.

Centene will receive $24 million through a federal incentive program for underdeveloped business districts. The company will get $1.9 million from a special one-cent addition to the hotel sales tax through the formation of a special tax district.

The city plans to request more funds from the state's downtown economic development program.

These tax breaks will be in addition to about $116 million in incentives already allocated to Ballpark Village.

rtstclair@post-dispatch.com | 314 340 8206

The Casino Pinnacle started testing it's Lumiere (lights) downtown on it's new 25 story hotel... Brilliant lighting and 500 million+ of construction is very noteworthy..! :):cheers:

About the Bottle District project, the land has been cleared, but I haven't seen any progress recently. I'm very sure the project may have been cancelled (Emporis listed the project as "never built" because of it).

I drive over the Chain of Rocks bridge daily and recently noticed a little bit of action on the riverfront, MO side. It looks like this land is being prepped for some kind of develpment. Any ideas?

^No, that's an urban legend.

What's an urban legend, the 71-story tower itself or the fact that nothing is supposed to exceed the arch in height? If you're thinking the former, then you're right. If you're thinking the latter, you're wrong. Every time I see my own quote, I sound like a little girl. I'm afraid I don't want this tower built at all. Why the hell would St. Louis need a 71-floor tower?

Great projects! :yes:

I'm not sure if anything is planned, but St. Louis needs more convention space to fill all the hotel rooms.

And apparently Mayor Slay is getting impatient with Cordish Co. to get the design for ballpark village ready. There's still no date for construction to begin.

I posted a thread about new developments and renovations going on in St. Louis here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/st-louis/252052-st-louis-development-projects.html

Wow, a long long time since anyone has posted in this thread. Guess I'll post a quick summary according to the Post Dispatch as of the beginning of April on the big projects in downtown:

DOWTOWN DEVELOPMENTS



BOTTLE DISTRICT

A $290 million, 16-acre mixed-use project that could include a high-rise
condominium tower as well as retail and office space.

Status: Marketing to start shortly


LUMIÈRE PLACE

Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.'s $507 million casino and hotel.

Status: Opened in December


MERCANTILE EXCHANGE

Pyramid Cos.' $400 million plan with 160,000 square feet of retail, a hotel, 525,000 square feet of office space, 175 condos and 120 luxury apartments.

Status: Construction on first building is set to begin in June; full completion from 30 to 42 months


PARK PACIFIC

Lawrence Group's 16-story, $60 million condo and retail development adjacent to the renovated former Missouri Pacific Railroad headquarters.

Status: Construction is set to start this summer


CENTENE CENTRE

Centene Corp.'s $250 million project at Ballpark Village, including up to 1.2 million square feet of office space, 50,000 to 75,000 square feet of retail and a 180-room hotel.

Status: Canceled


BALLPARK VILLAGE, FIRST PHASE

St. Louis Cardinals' and Cordish Co.'s $387 million plan includes 360,000 square feet of retail, 100,000 square feet of offices and residential units.

Status: City and developers negotiating


THE SKYHOUSE

A Chicago developer plans a $67 million, 22-story, 166-unit condominium tower.

Status: Demolition complete; other plans uncertain


ROBERTS TOWER

Roberts Properties is building a $50 million, 25-story condominium.

Status: Construction under way

Seems like an exciting place to be right now. It sounds like several projects are already under construction, so why does Emporis state only one high-rise construction?

WTF happened to the Centene Centre? Are they not moving downtown anymore?

No, Centene is no longer considering building downtown. They've went back to their original plan and have announced a $210 million expansion in neighboring Clayton. The first phase would consist of a 24-story office tower, and the second phase would be a 14-story office tower. (There are renderings of this project in another thread in the "projects and construction" forum.)

Now that Centene has switched to its original plan to expand its offices in Clayton, I guess the Ballpark Village will never, ever start construction.

Is University City, St. Louis a city? Because according to Wikipedia it is with a city hall, a mayor, and much more check it out. I never heard of a city with in a city, that really is a city.

I never heard of a city with in a city, that really is a city.

Norwood, OH

The dark black line is Cincinnati's boundaries. Norwood is completely surrounded by Cincinnati and isn't used in Cincy's stats:

http://www.norwood-ohio.com/map01.jpg

Does anyone have pix to share?


http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1178294245823&ssid=180

Marc Magliari, Amtrak (312) 880-5390
Ed Rhode, Mayor Slay Contact (314) 622-3479
John Farrell, Comptroller Green Contact (314) 613-7360

November 21, 2008
St. Louis Opens $26.4 Million Transportation Hub

Gateway Station Makes Multimodal Connections
ST. LOUIS – The City of St. Louis and Amtrak are pleased to announce the official grand opening of the Gateway Transportation Center (GTC), the city’s new $26.4 million multimodal transportation hub. Mayor Francis G. Slay, Comptroller Darlene Green, Amtrak Board Member Thomas Carper, Greyhound, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), Citizens for Modern Transit and other local officials dedicated the facility today. It is located at 430 South 15th Street.

For nearly twenty years, a multimodal station to connect Amtrak, Greyhound, MetroLink and Metro Bus service has been an important concept in the overall design of St. Louis City’s transportation systems, but until recently, it was only a concept. When he was first elected Mayor in 2001, Francis Slay joined with other city officials to make the completion of this facility a top priority. This vision has now become reality, thanks to the cooperation of a variety of wonderful partners.

Today, the Gateway Transportation Center is the City’s state-of-the-art multimodal transportation hub operated by the City of St. Louis Comptroller’s Office, led by Comptroller Darlene Green. It is conveniently located in the heart of downtown St. Louis where Amtrak, Greyhound, MetroLink and Metro Bus service converge. This new facility provides passengers with a clean, safe and friendly transportation center featuring 24-hour operations staff, security and food service.

Since the March 2006 groundbreaking, the City of St. Louis worked in partnership with Bi-State/Metro, MoDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, Amtrak, and Greyhound to complete the new Gateway Transportation Center. Construction was managed by the City’s Board of Public Service and built in three phases.

Jacobs Engineering and Kennedy Associates were the primary designers for this $26.4 million project. Development Programming Associates provided coordination and oversight. K & S Associates served as general contractor for the $14.2 million terminal and concourse linkage project. R.V. Wagner, Inc. was the general contractor for the $4.5 million track package. RQC Quality Constructors was the general contractor for the $2 million Bi-State/Metro bus facility. The total project cost also includes design and other pre-construction expenses. The MetroLink portion of the complex was previously constructed as part of the original MetroLink alignment.

Amtrak Service

At St. Louis, Amtrak offers five daily round trips to and from Chicago via Springfield and Bloomington-Normal, two daily round trips to and from Kansas City via Jefferson City, and one daily round trip to and from Arkansas and Texas, via Little Rock, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio. Amtrak passengers also have access to a daily shuttle connecting St. Louis with Carbondale, Illinois, and a daily train to and from New Orleans, via Memphis. There were 272,000 Amtrak passengers last year in St. Louis.

The Gateway Transportation Center is just south of the Scottrade Center (NHL Blues) and a short light rail ride or walk to Busch Stadium (MLB Cardinals), America’s Center/Edward Jones Dome (Convention Center/NFL Rams), the Gateway Arch and riverfront casinos.

In addition to easy intermodal connections, the new St. Louis station has free WiFi access, a Metropolitan Lounge for Texas Eagle sleeping car passengers and a food court offering deli sandwiches, snacks and other foods and beverages.

The Amtrak ticket office is open from 3:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m. The first Amtrak trains from the Gateway Station operated on Wednesday morning, November 19.

Partially-covered short-term parking is available in front of the station at a lot operated by the City of St. Louis for $1 an hour (coins only), with a 12-hour limit. Long-term parking is available approximately three blocks away at the Hyatt Regency Union Station.

Most of the service to Chicago is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Both Kansas City round trips are sponsored by the MoDOT, which recently announced plans to rename the service. More information about the "Name the Train" contest is available at the Gateway Station or at morail.org. To learn more, read the history of Amtrak service between St. Louis and Kansas City.

Amtrak has relocated its trains and ticketing from a building at 551 South 16th Street, which had served as an interim station since 2004. Designed as part of this project, that facility will be converted into an operations base for Amtrak train, engine and maintenance crews.

Amtrak has posted six consecutive years of growth in ridership and revenue, carrying more than 28.7 million passengers in the last fiscal year. Amtrak provides intercity passenger rail service to more than 500 destinations in 46 states on a 21,000-mile route system. For schedules, fares and information, passengers may call 800-USA-RAIL or visit Amtrak.com.

Greyhound Service

From the Gateway Transportation Center, Greyhound offers 35 daily scheduled trips to destinations across the United States, including Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, New York, Kansas City, Denver, Springfield and Los Angeles. Greyhound also provides Greyhound PackageXpress (GPX) shipping from the St. Louis Transportation Center location.

Greyhound has been serving the St. Louis area for nearly 80 years. Greyhound is the largest North American provider of intercity bus transportation, serving more than 2,300 destinations with more than 10,500 daily departures across the continent. The company also provides GPX, as well as charters and shore services. For fare and schedule information and to buy tickets call 1-800-231-2222 or visit the Greyhound’s website at www.greyhound.com.

MetroLink and Metro Bus Service

The MetroLink Civic Center station (located immediately adjacent to the Gateway Transportation Center) offers daily arrivals and departures to destinations like Lambert Airport, Scott Air Force Base and Shrewsbury. The Metro Bus terminal (located just east of the GTC) offers daily routes to destinations throughout the St. Louis metro area. For a complete listing of all MetroLink and Metro Bus routes, visit www.metrostlouis.org or call 314-231-2345 from Missouri or 618-271-2345 from Illinois.

Sorry to hear about the A-B/In Bev layoffs. Take it from Milwaukee...who has lost Pabst/Schlitz/Blatz completely and the Miller HQ recently, you'll be ok!

Is University City, St. Louis a city? Because according to Wikipedia it is with a city hall, a mayor, and much more check it out. I never heard of a city with in a city, that really is a city.

University City is a suburb, as is Clayton. St. Louis city is only 62 sq. mi., so the city doesn't extend much farther west than Forest Park. From my understanding, Washington University is partially in the city and partially not. The city extends farther to the north, though. I think the southern boundary of the city is somewhere near the River Des Peres (pronounced Day Pear), but don't quote me on that.

St. Louis is working on getting a China hub. I'll try to gather up some links and post them.
Roberts Tower Downtown is still undergoing construction
The Arcade-Wright building I believe is currently stalled, as is the Metropolitan Building in Midtown. Victims of Pyramid's collapse, as well as the economic collapse.
The Statler/Renaissance Grande is still open, but in foreclosure. The bondholders own it now.
Skyhouse is dead.
There's a hotel going in Downtown. I believe the Mother's Fish restaurant, and the short, brick building next to it are scheduled for demolition.

That's all the updates I can think of right now.

^That's right about Washington University... just the easternmost edge of the school's Danford Campus (or main campus) lies within the city of St Louis. The rest is actually located in an unincorporated area of St Louis County and is not part of University City. U-City took it's name from its close proximity to the university.
However, all of the Wash-U medical campus is within the St Louis city limits.

I asked this in the Detroit thread (to no avail), but I'll ask this here too:

Chicago-St Louis may be the top midwestern route to get funding for HSR from the Stimulus package. What has the local press been saying about this (if anything)?

From the St Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/24/09:


"The new governors of Missouri and Illinois were in Washington over the weekend for the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. At the White House on Monday, President Barack Obama told them that strict accountability would be imposed on stimulus spending.

"The president defended the new stimulus package to the governors after a weekend of news coverage that focused heavily on criticism of the stimulus and decisions by a half-dozen Republican governors to reject some of the federal money for philosophical reasons.

"'If we agree on 90 percent of the stuff and we're spending all our time on television arguing about 1, 2, 3 percent of the spending in this thing... that starts sounding more like politics. And that's what, right now, we don't have time to do,' Obama said.

"Rather than turn down money, Nixon and Quinn say they plan to vigorously pursue any potential grant or federal award that might be available.

"Speaking separately and then jointly outside the White House, the governors said they hoped to work together to win a portion of the $8 billion in mass transit money to begin financing a high-speed rail corridor from Chicago to St. Louis.

"Detractors have ridiculed the mass transit provision as an effort by Western senators to underwrite a "Sin Express" train from Southern California to Las Vegas. But Midwesterners believe they have a strong chance to win a portion of the money, noting the presence of Obama and other Illinois natives in the White House and yet another Illinoisan, Ray Lahood, of Peoria, as the new Transportation secretary."

News on the Ballpark Village proposal:

By Jake Wagman
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/19/2009

ST. LOUIS -- When the Cardinals first announced plans to build Ballpark Village, they pitched an entertainment district that would rival any in the Midwest. Rows of boutiques and restaurants would accompany condos so close to game action they would provide a bird's eye view of home plate.
And it should be up and running, the team chairman said, by the time the city played host to the 2009 Major League All-Star Game.

But Wednesday, less than four months before the big game, team officials revealed what All-Star fans would actually see at the Ballpark Village site next to Busch Stadium. A softball field and a parking lot.

Ballpark Village is not dead, team officials insisted. But with the economy in crisis, fans will have to make do with a temporary version for now.
The additions announced Wednesday are "fan-friendly enhancements" that will occupy the property until the team can secure construction approval and financing for the $320 million first phase of the six-block shopping and business district, the team said.
The softball field will be ready around opening day for groups and events.

Cardinals brass stressed that the latest plan is only a stopgap as the team weathers a sour economy and a woeful credit market. Still, the news marks another turn for a project that has seen more ups and downs than a day-night doubleheader.

State and city officials — who have already reworked a deal to give the team millions in tax dollars — greeted Wednesday's announcement with disappointment but not surprise. The mayor and others have stood by Ballpark Village as stalled negotiations and economic troubles have forced delays. But Mayor Francis Slay said he's not happy that Ballpark Village is so far from fruition. "I don't like it. I can tell you that the Cardinals are not happy with it either," Mayor Francis Slay said. "But I think what they're doing, under the circumstances, is the best we can expect."

About four years ago, the Cardinals forged a partnership to build Ballpark Village with Baltimore-based Cordish Co., which has put up urban entertainment districts around the country. In 2005, the company's vice president said Ballpark Village would be "one the largest developments in the Midwest."

But a development plan announced amid the team's 2006 World Series championship run was ultimately thwarted by failed attempts to include a new headquarters for Centene Corp., the benefits administration firm in Clayton. Differences over financing and the mix of residential units in the project also were sticking points.

City aldermen recently approved a new agreement that will be up for state approval next month. The team then will seek to sell bonds, a tall order in a market where even securing a home loan could be difficult, let alone hundreds of millions for a retail venture.

Still, Cardinals President Bill DeWitt remains bullish on completing the full project. "Nothing about what we are doing today changes our approach to the larger project," DeWitt said Wednesday. "What we are doing right now is making the absolute best of the situation for the All-Star Game. I honestly don't understand why there would be negativity."

The softball field will offer fans the chance to swing a bat on the grounds of old Busch Stadium. A Cardinals' spokeswoman said the field will have a movable fence to accommodate young players and adults according to Amateur Softball Association standards. Many adult soft-pitch fields have fencelines about 225 feet from home plate, meaning that the softball field — not including area for team benches and concessions — would take up about 40,000 square feet of prime downtown real estate.

DeWitt said the team is still "vague" on how the field would work. It will probably be available before games to groups and charities. While the Cardinals rent out scores of party rooms and suites for groups to watch home games, the softball field wouldn't necessarily be a profit center, DeWitt said.
"We'll price it to move — we're just looking to recoup our operating costs," DeWitt said.

The team also did not yet know the cost of spaces in the parking lot, which would be converted to event space during the All-Star Game. Scott Cummings, a professor of public policy at St. Louis University, called the softball-parking plan "a very inexpensive solution to a political problem."
"They're obviously under a lot of pressure to do something," said Cummings, who specializes in urban development. "It may keep the wolves at bay, but it's a pretty poor political substitute."

Gov. Jay Nixon, who was at Busch Stadium on Wednesday for an unrelated announcement regarding tourism funding, offered a more rosy view. He applauded the Cardinals for providing a short-term use for the site until the nation's credit crunch eases. "I am not going to end my tenure as governor with a softball field over the left field fence," said Nixon, who took office in January. "I'm optimistic that as we move forward we will strike a deal that the state, the city and this region will be proud of for generations to come."

The city does not have any public money directly at stake in Ballpark Village. The Cardinals are seeking a series of complex public financing tools that will allow them to direct tax revenue generated by Ballpark Village customers to build and improve the site.

Last year, the Ballpark Village site was a muddy crater that slowly filled with water, creating an eyesore and earning the moniker "Lake DeWitt." In August, under pressure from the city, the team began draining and filling in the site.
With such a history, lawmakers may grow impatient if the team comes to the city with its hand out yet again. "It just doesn't surprise me that nothing is happening," said Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, one of few aldermen who have expressed misgivings about the project. "It seems when it comes to the Ballpark Village, we just continue to jump through our hoops with false hopes."

I don't see how they'll get it done, either...

We have dozens of bulldozers and men working along with cranes all over the place and they're not even talking about tenants moving in until 4/2010

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j231/jmecklenborg/bankspanorama.jpg

^What's that a photo of?

The St Louis Metro area is also getting a seventh casino. "River City" is currently under construction and will certainly be a welcome addition to the area, particularly the southern portions of St Louis.

From the St Louis Business Journal:
"At River City, Pinnacle’s $380 million casino project in Lemay in south St. Louis County, the company said it has erected about 90 percent of the building’s structural steel and now expects to open it in early 2010 instead of the end of 2009. "

By the way, gross revenue of the St Louis gaming market ranks as one of the top 8 in the nation.

^What's that a photo of?

That's the Banks ... a 20+ acre (only phase I is in that photo though) mixed development area (condos, apts., office space, retail, and bars/nightclubs).

Oh yeah ... it's in Cincy.

^That seems similar to our Ballpark Village proposal. At least your project has broken ground. Ours has been continuously delayed, much to the dismay of St Louis.

I'm glad St. Louis City didn't back up bonds for Ballpark Village, though.

I've heard that KC did back up the bonds for the Power and Light District, and now the city's having to pay for it.

I posted this somewhere else also:

Thought some of you preservationists may enjoy this video:
http://www.fox2now.com/ktvi-kiel-ope....worldnowvideo

Some more info on it. http://www.builtstlouis.net/opera.html
http://www.eco-absence.org/stl/kiel/

Blues owner Dave Checketts owns it and he's spending $40-$60 million to restore it. It was built in 1934. It previously had an auditorium, but when Scottrade Center was built, the Auditorium was demolished. As part of the deal to demolish the Auditorium, the Opera House was supposed to have been been restored (this was 1990). That didn't happen.

Looks like the target date for the Kiel Opera House is December 2010. There's this theater Downtown and also the Roberts Orpheum Theater.

What a beautiful building. I'm excited to see it restored.

Developer Paul McKee announced a massive $5.4 billion redevelopment plan for the near-north side of St Louis. This is a project of epic scale! It includes 10,000 new homes, one million square feet of retail space, and is supposed to create 22,000 jobs. Read the details here:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/9630DCEBFAFF4847862575BD000FAB38?OpenDocument

That redevelopment plan is so radical. 10,000 new homes, plenty of mid-sized office buildings, and lots of retail space that should equal the size of a mall. I hope this project becomes reality.

^Don't be too naive. While this sounds very exciting, I fear that it will obliterate the existing fabric of the neighborhoods in which it is built. McKee says he will rehab every building that is salvageable, but who determines what is "salvageable"? Why such a large project for only one developer? A truly visionary project would open up opportunities to numerous developers large and small to work together to create a really diverse urban development. This could be the city's largest single development project in its history, yet only ONE developer? Is that progressive?

The major problem I have with this whole thing is the fact that Paul McKee touts this as being the salvation of neighborhoods which have declined dramatically over the past decade. What we don't hear is the FACT that the neighborhoods have declined while he has been buying buildings and letting them rot for years and years. McKee himself and his companies have only accelerated the decline he refers to. Who would want to renovate a home next to a McKee-owned burned out house? What developer would want to build on a lot next to a McKee-owned flophouse, full of drug and prostitution activity? Why hasn't McKee renovated any of the homes he owns? Why hasn't he rented them out to families (many had been occupied when he bought them and were inhabitable)? Why did he let them fall into such disrepair? I can only imagine it's because he'd like to deem them "unsalvageable" down the road. What are McKee's real motives, and why isn't he including other developers in his vision?

I have learned that you don't take proposals like these at face value. There are always many more moving parts to consider. I'd love to see these neighborhoods revitalized, but there is more to the story than what we see in the paper. McKee has been an awful steward of the North Side for a long, long time. He has been an abhorrent landowner and his buildings have been frightening neighbors. I look forward to the next phase of this proposal...very cautiously.

^Should we be skeptical of a proposal of this magnitude? Yes. But you have to admit, the very idea of someone who's wanting to invest billions in this run-down part of the city is mighty enticing. I mean, how many other people are clamoring to turn around this area? Without drastic change, this part of town will continue to die. I say, let's give McKee a chance. After all, if even a portion of this plan ever comes to fruition, it will still benefit St Louis.

^Should we be skeptical of a proposal of this magnitude? Yes. But you have to admit, the very idea of someone who's wanting to invest billions in this run-down part of the city is mighty enticing. I mean, how many other people are clamoring to turn around this area? Without drastic change, this part of town will continue to die. I say, let's give McKee a chance. After all, if even a portion of this plan ever comes to fruition, it will still benefit St Louis.

Agreed, but we mustn't forget that these neighborhoods declined at a much more rapid pace during the time McKee was amassing hundreds of properties throughout St. Louis Place and JeffVanderLou. Had McKee instead rehabbed these buildings, we would have seen an influx of more small developers looking to do the same as well as constructing infill. What McKee did was allowed these buildings to rot, which led to an increase in crime and abandonment, further squelching any potential for the neighborhoods to improve on their own like so many have across the city.

Don't get me wrong-- I think this vision is highly progressive, very impressive and it demonstrates the very ambition this city needs more of. I am just a little reluctant to give my balls-out blessing to a single developer who stands to gain, while not allowing other developers to get a piece of the pie. As we all know, the most successful urban revitalization projects are those that occur organically, with multiple developers, businesses and residents participating in the rebirth. I would love to see this vision become a reality, but only if existing infrastructure, housing stock and most importantly, residents, are part of the plan. I do not support mass urban renewal-like clearance of entire neighborhoods. That is a redevelopment model that has never worked in any city.

It is very easy for those who are not intimitely connected to the neighborhoods in question to not fully understand the stakes. For an insider's view of what is happening, please read this blog post:

http://curiousfeet.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/destruction-not-development-a-look-at-the-history-of-terror-and-disrespect-in-paul-mckees-plan-for-north-st-louis/

Despite McKee's seemingly good intentions, he has not approached this in a sensitive manner. He has contributed to plummeting property values, which made it less expensive for him to continue buying various parcels to increase his portfolio. Throughout this destructive process, McKee has been the sole benefactor. Certainly those who lived in the neighborhoods were not seeing an increase in their quality of life.

Impoverished E. St. Louis hopes park, overlook facing Gateway Arch lead to riverfront renewal
5 June 2009

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/3596846150_c359a146f3_m.jpg
Source : http://www.flickr.com/photos/meprd

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - The panoramic view of the shimmering Gateway Arch and St. Louis skyline is stirring. But for this struggling city, the debut of a new riverfront park offers a vision of far bigger things.

Decades in the making, the 34-acre Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park opening Saturday transformed a once-scrubby patch of riverfront land into a thing of beauty. It's also what architect Eero Saarinen wanted when he finished the arch 44 years ago -- a complement to his masterpiece across the Mississippi River and a vantage point from which visitors could marvel at it.

"We refer to it as the new jewel on the Mississippi," said Mike Buehlhorn, executive director of the Metro East Park and Recreation District. "This is a huge dream. It's just awesome, I don't know how else to say it."

And it couldn't have come at a better time for East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Jr., who hopes the park -- named for the man who pushed for it for years before dying in 2004 at age 91 -- draws tourists and precious development to the city and its riverfront.

"I am terrifically excited about what the development is ... it gives you the absolute best view of St. Louis as you will have anywhere on the planet," Parks said. Yet, "I think the greatest benefit has yet to be seen," through potential development such as condominiums and hotels.

East St. Louis, once a thriving home to glass makers and other industrial companies, withered into one of the nation's poorest cities after the decline of factories and the exodus of whites in the 1960s. It's a place where potholed streets resemble lunar landscapes, where more than 35 percent of the roughly 31,000 residents live in poverty.

The deed to City Hall once went to a man to cover a multimillion-dollar judgment over a jail beating before the city got the building back on appeal. In recent years, five locals -- including the head of the local Democratic Party -- were convicted of scheming to buy votes.

But the city also was the adoptive home of the late Katherine Dunham, a famed dancer and choreographer. Track legend and Olympic gold medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee was born and reared here, and a youth center now bears her name. Late jazz great Miles Davis grew up here, as did NFL Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow and Tennis Hall of Famer Jimmy Connors.

Now the park, with a four-story overlook and a mechanical geyser, represents a beacon of hope for urban renewal, supporters say.

Buehlhorn, from the park and recreation district, and others believe the overlook could draw several hundred thousand guests each year, perhaps many of them seeking a respite from the Casino Queen, which along with a Cargill plant are two of the park's neighbors.

Supported by concrete columns the size of a giant redwood trunk, the overlook amounts to a continuous, rectangular ramp, highlighted by stainless steel railing, winding its way to the observation deck 43 feet in the air. There, a statue of Martin takes up the edge of a stone bench, his leg folded as the likeness gazes at the arch.

On the park's other end, past the tiered seating for events including fireworks shows, is the 14-year-old Gateway Geyser, which a few times a day from April through October puts on a 15-minute show, shooting water skyward nearly as high as the 630-foot arch.

Days ahead of its debut, a walk to the top of the observation deck offers a glimpse of what awaits visitors. A tugboat pushes a string of barges lazily up the sun-drenched yet ruddy Mississippi, past the gleaming arch and the rest of the St. Louis skyline.

Below, pastel-colored walkways cut through and around the park sporting freshly laid sod and more than 100 light posts.

"I'm just amazed I have the honor to see this through," Buehlhorn said with a nod to Martin, the man who wouldn't let his vision die. "It was his dream to get this open. I'd like to think we did it in a good fashion for him."

------

On the Net:

Metro East Park and Recreation District: http://www.meprd.org.

St. Louis puts best face forward for All-Star Game
8 July 2009

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Baseball's All-Star Game on Tuesday will bring more than 200,000 visitors to St. Louis, which has worked hard in recent years to make its streets safer and re-energize its downtown.

The city has prettied up for the party, with red, white and blue banners and replicas of the Gateway Arch placed around town. A multimillion dollar sculpture park opened within walking distance of Busch Stadium this month, and a new outdoor plaza has been put in by the Old Post Office building.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, said the game is an opportunity to show St. Louis off to an international audience.

"We're really excited about it. I think with sculpture park in St. Louis, with the downtown, with the parade and literally the city being painted red, I think it's a very, very exciting time for St. Louis."

Adding to the attention, President Barack Obama will throw out the first pitch. Nixon, a Democrat, joked during a news conference at the Capitol that he would like to see what Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols could do with an "Obama slider."

But downtown St. Louis isn't one gleaming showplace.

A massive plan to build a Ballpark Village next to Busch Stadium with offices, shops and restaurants hasn't materialized. A loft district with upscale homes has drawn thousands of new residents downtown over the years, but there are still pockets of empty buildings and worries about crime from residents and business owners.

St. Louis has fought an image for too much violent crime -- albeit in neighborhoods not typically tread by tourists. Three separate homicide cases this year in the city's west downtown aggravated that "image issue," said Police Chief Dan Isom. One involved gangs, another was a planned robbery of a popular pub, the other a random car theft.

But the city has managed to reduce its homicide rate in the last year. The 62 murders so far this year are down 26, or nearly 30 percent, from the 88 recorded last year at this time.

City officials are confident tourists will feel safe, saying Wednesday that hundreds of police officers, both in uniform and undercover, will be on the streets in the days surrounding the game.

"If you look at the circumstances and crime overall downtown, the downtown is a safe place to be," Isom said.

FBI Special Agent in Charge John Gillies, one of the city's federal partners, predicted a safe All-Star Game and said it was a good opportunity for St. Louis, with the Arch and Busch Stadium as a backdrop, to showcase itself to the world.

Ann Chance, the city's special events executive, also noted that projects such as the sculpture park weren't developed for the game, and should yield benefits long after.

"Yes, we make the extra effort to make sure we're extra spiffy," she said, "but I think anyone does that when they've got a lot of company coming."

------

Associated Press Writer Chris Blank in Jefferson City, Mo., contributed to this report.

Is there any information on the proposed MW Tower project? Is there a rendering of it floating around? 81 floors sounds like they intend to make a bid for adding some serious height to the St. Louis skyline.

How far away is this from being realized, and where is the planned location (if there is a known one).

Agreed, but we mustn't forget that these neighborhoods declined at a much more rapid pace during the time McKee was amassing hundreds of properties throughout St. Louis Place and JeffVanderLou. Had McKee instead rehabbed these buildings, we would have seen an influx of more small developers looking to do the same as well as constructing infill. What McKee did was allowed these buildings to rot, which led to an increase in crime and abandonment, further squelching any potential for the neighborhoods to improve on their own like so many have across the city.

Don't get me wrong-- I think this vision is highly progressive, very impressive and it demonstrates the very ambition this city needs more of. I am just a little reluctant to give my balls-out blessing to a single developer who stands to gain, while not allowing other developers to get a piece of the pie. As we all know, the most successful urban revitalization projects are those that occur organically, with multiple developers, businesses and residents participating in the rebirth. I would love to see this vision become a reality, but only if existing infrastructure, housing stock and most importantly, residents, are part of the plan. I do not support mass urban renewal-like clearance of entire neighborhoods. That is a redevelopment model that has never worked in any city.

It is very easy for those who are not intimitely connected to the neighborhoods in question to not fully understand the stakes. For an insider's view of what is happening, please read this blog post:

http://curiousfeet.wordpress.com/2009/05/21/destruction-not-development-a-look-at-the-history-of-terror-and-disrespect-in-paul-mckees-plan-for-north-st-louis/

Despite McKee's seemingly good intentions, he has not approached this in a sensitive manner. He has contributed to plummeting property values, which made it less expensive for him to continue buying various parcels to increase his portfolio. Throughout this destructive process, McKee has been the sole benefactor. Certainly those who lived in the neighborhoods were not seeing an increase in their quality of life.

Thank you for making your kind so easy to spot.

His kind? Is it really so despicable to be concerned about shady monopolies and a little conscientious preservation.

Skyking is a troll who usually shows up on Wisconsin related sites. In the last year he's degenerated into posting almost exclusively condescending, lame, repetitive insults to those who deviate from his doctrine. People have tried to coax more civil responses from him but almost always fail; the rare clearings in the algae of his pronouncements aren't worth wading through all the putridness to reach.
Do yourself a BIG favor and just skip past his stuff whenever you encounter it, and spare yourself needless and futile aggravation.

Some small updates
http://downtownstlbiz.blogspot.com/2009/11/arcade-building-in-need-of-developer.html

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/residential-real-estate/2009/10/developer-says-dillards-project-moving-ahead/#comment-2350

http://downtownstlbiz.blogspot.com/2009/10/larson-allen-moving-to-one-city-centre.html

http://downtownstlbiz.blogspot.com/2009/10/one-city-centre-renovation-plans-moving.html

Park Pacific gets $56 million HUD loan

http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/11/23/story6.html

Park Pacific project downtown to resume

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/residential-real-estate/2009/11/park-pacific-project-downtown-to-resume/

Some minor news
A half-cent sales tax in St. Louis county passes. It will fund MetroLink.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/C874357A1CDBF7D1862576FE0011CB85?OpenDocument

St. Louis Centre is being converted into a parking garage for One City Centre, which St. Louis Centre is wrapped around.
http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/residential-real-estate/2010/03/st-louis-centre-redo-about-to-begin/
http://downtownstlbiz.blogspot.com/2010/03/work-beginning-on-600-washington.html

NorthSide plan wins lawsuit
http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/residential-real-estate/2010/03/northside-plan-wins-lawsuit/

Some info about the Railway Exchange building. Macy's still occupies the first three floors.
http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/commercial-real-estate/2010/03/more-on-downtown-macys-project/

More on the China Hub
Midwest-China Hub Commission and Lambert Airport Reach Agreements in China for Joint Air Freight studies
http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/business/PR03301011163652

Park Pacific and the Laurel Projects Get New Funding

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/04/12/daily34.html

The Downtown Next plan attempts to build on successes of the last decade:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/columnists.nsf/davidnicklaus/story/4AED229947B32BD48625770E0003E214?OpenDocument

Most intriguing to me in this plan are these references to a suggested/proposed "new tall building" in downtown St Louis:
"Perhaps the most ambitious goal in the new plan is a call for filling 2 million square feet of office space."
"...the 2 million square feet has to include at least one large, new Class A office building. That's something downtown hasn't seen in more than 20 years."

So "what if" a new building were constructed with 2 million square feet of office space. How tall would it be? I did some quick calculations. A 2 million square foot office building-- if set on a similar footprint as, say, One AT&T Center-- would have to be at least 850 feet tall-- but more than likely would end up closer to 900'.
Immediately, this brings to mind the McGowan Tower proposal. Rumored height figures for that tower have ranged from 800 to 1,000 feet. Here's a link to a news article printed last year with more info on that proposal:
http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/residential-real-estate/2009/04/the-mcgowan-tower-idea-is-still-around/

Makes you wonder: Could the Downtown Next plan be referring to the McGowan Tower proposal? We can only wonder.

The Roberts Tower project is showing new signs of life:
http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/building-blocks/tag/roberts-cos/

Finally...groundbreaking for the new Mississippi River Bridge:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/F6A4A396006489188625770A00812306?OpenDocument

I was a tourist in your city last September. This was my first visit in about 20 years. I was so impressed with the great planning, features, and beauty St. Louis offered! The metro is spectacular to get around efficiently. Other cities should use your city as a model! The great statues, art venues, history, fountains, and preservation efforts are to be applauded.

I blogged about my trip and posted the photos for other travelers to see. Everyone needs to spend at least a few days enjoying the benefits of your hard word. St. Louis is a fantastic place to visit and I will be back this summer.

The Roberts Tower is looking great! I think it adds a very cool and sophisticated element to the St Louis skyline. See progress of the tower in a series of photos here:
http://countondowntown.com/?tag=roberts-tower

It's now down to five intriguing proposals; one of these plans will eventually be selected as the blueprint for improving the park at the Gateway Arch, as well as the riverfront in both Missouri and Illinois.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/collection_b0bd489e-a984-11df-9467-00127992bc8b.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_c41de456-928c-557e-a75e-5dc2ef594afe.html
The plan that is chosen Sepember 15 is to be completed in time for the 50'th anniversary of the "topping out" of the arch, in 2015.
I, for one, think this is one of the more exciting things to happen to downtown St Louis in recent years. :banana:

I though all of the Cochran Gardens highrises were to be demo'ed for lowrise townhouses. Why was one of them kept and converted to senior housing?

I though all of the Cochran Gardens highrises were to be demo'ed for lowrise townhouses. Why was one of them kept and converted to senior housing?

To meet the needs of the residents. You know they received a big government grant for the redevelopment project.

NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/realestate/commercial/09stlouis.html?ref=realestate)

Square Feet
Data Centers Offer Hope for St. Louis Office Market
By ROBERT SHAROFF
Published: February 8, 2011

ST. LOUIS — Several recent transactions are raising the possibility that this city’s downtown, a depressed office market with an overall vacancy rate of over 22 percent, may become a regional hub for computer software and data-center companies.

The deals include a decision by Unisys to locate a new software center in a century-old building a block from the riverfront and the expansion of several large data-center operations by other companies. The Unisys project in particular is seen by city officials and developers as a coup because St. Louis edged out the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and Salt Lake City to win the project.

Ted Davies, the president of Unisys’s federal systems business, said two factors were important in the choice of St. Louis. The first is proximity to the Rural Development agency at the Agriculture Department, which has a sizable office in the city and is expected by Unisys to be one of the new center’s main customers.

The second concern was the cost comparison between St. Louis and Reston, Va., where Unisys’s federal systems division has its headquarters. “We looked at labor and real estate and found the arbitrage to be about 25 percent,” Mr. Davies said.

The new center opened in November and occupies about 10,000 square feet at 555 Washington Avenue, a five-story former department store building with an elaborate ornamented facade. The center will eventually have about 300 employees.

“We wanted a ‘cool’ building,” Mr. Davies said. “We are hiring a lot of younger folks, and they like the look and feel of being downtown.”

The building, in many ways, symbolizes the promise and the problems of the St. Louis office market.

Downtown St. Louis, a district of roughly one-and-a-half square miles that begins at the riverfront, has about 13 million square feet of office space, down almost a third from 20 years ago. (These figures omit single-user buildings.) Much of the remaining space is in buildings from the 1920s and earlier. The last major new multitenant office building went up over 20 years ago.

Which is not to deny the district its charm. There are blocks and even entire streets — like Washington Avenue — that are unchanged from the days of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The district has numerous landmarks, including Louis Sullivan’s 1892 Wainwright Building and Alfred Mullet’s 1884 Old Post Office building.

Over the last decade, many of these older buildings — more than three million square feet — have been converted to apartments or cultural uses. Indeed, for the first time in a century, St. Louis has a substantial downtown residential population — 12,500 according to the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, an advocacy group.

Still, there has been a steady outflow of office tenants, many of which moved to Clayton, a suburb six miles west of downtown where office towers have sprouted over the last decade.

Peter Krombach, a senior managing director of CB Richard Ellis here, said it was a challenge to attract tenants to the city’s many older properties. “There hasn’t been a new office building built downtown in a long time, and when tenants are looking for space they’re normally looking for new space,” he said.

New construction remains a distant dream. “You can count on one hand the sites for new office facilities downtown,” said Richard Ward, a development consultant and urban planner with Zimmer Real Estate Services here, but it turns out that the older buildings with their high ceilings and heavy construction function well as modern data centers.

The data-center business has a number of models. Some companies own their own data centers, while others use third-party providers to house and maintain their operations. And to ensure redundancy, most companies have more than one data center, with the additional centers usually some distance from the primary center.

The providers include companies that own buildings but not the equipment inside of them, and vice versa. There are also companies that own buildings and the equipment.

Brian Corde, a corporate site consultant with Atlas Insight in Fair Haven, N.J., said data centers were expensive to develop and operate. “It’s not unusual for a data center to have a monthly utility bill of well north of $1 million,” he said. “It’s a huge investment for a company.”

The reduced commercial presence in St. Louis is a major reason for its popularity with data-center companies. The city’s power grid remains from the time downtown was dominated by large warehouse and industrial companies, and has excess capacity.

“The base level grid that serves the buildings was put in years ago,” said Robert Guller, who has developed several data-center buildings downtown. “The big industrial users back then all required a lot of power, and now it’s not being used.”

Commercial electricity rates in St. Louis are 41 percent below the national average, according to Ameren Missouri, a utility company. It attributed that to strong regulation of utilities in Missouri, the use of inexpensive coal to generate power and lower costs in general in the Midwest.

Digital Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust based in San Francisco that specializes in data-center buildings and has operations in 21 American cities, has two centers in downtown St. Louis, at 210 North Tucker Street and 900 Walnut Street.

The company is expanding the larger of the two, on North Tucker, by adding 30,000 to 60,000 square feet of space and bringing in an additional 16 megawatts of electricity.

David J. Caron, the senior vice president of portfolio management at Digital Realty, declined to reveal the cost of the upgrade, but did say, “We’re spending millions to bring in the power.”

“We see the potential for growth here,” Mr. Caron said. “Aside from the local business community, St. Louis is an attractive market for a company that has a data center in its own city, but then needs a second location. St. Louis can provide a good operating environment because of the cost of power.”

When the expansion is complete, Digital will have about 400,000 square feet of data-center space downtown with a total of 30 megawatts of power.

Two other local data-center companies, Xiolink and Contegix, are also expanding.

Xiolink, a 12-year-old company that has owned equipment, but not buildings housing it, recently acquired a 100,000-square-foot building at 1111 Olive Street and is converting it to data-center space.

The building, which once housed printing presses for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has been vacant for almost a decade. Xiolink paid $2.25 million for the building and is spending $14.5 million to update it with the raised floors, enhanced power and cooling capabilities that are mandatory for data centers. The building will have six megawatts of power.

“The infrastructure is a prime draw downtown,” said Brad Pittenger, the chief executive of Xiolink. “We have access to more power than you do in most locations in the country and also to advanced fiber optic networks for carrier lines.”

Contegix recently added 4,000 square feet of space to the 20,000 square feet it occupies at Digital’s 900 Walnut Street, a century-old building that, like 1111 Olive, was built to house printing presses.

The new space is being used as additional room for the company’s 41 employees. “We’re projecting that we will grow by 65 percent in 2011,” said Matthew Porter, the chief executive.

“I always find this building very poetic,” he said. “One hundred years ago, it housed heavy machinery designed to distribute knowledge and information. Today, in a totally different form, it’s doing the same thing.”

^Funny that they call Clayton a "suburb where office towers have sprouted over the last decade". Clayton is more then just some suburb; it's the well-to-do county seat for St Louis County (pop. approx. 1 million). And its office towers have been "spouting" since at least the 1970's. Clayton's skyline is quite impressive for a city its size.
Clayton is one of the biggest reasons that downtown St Louis has struggled to fill its office space for years. The "two downtowns" have largely been competing for the same tenants.
But that will eventually change. One advantage that St Louis has over Clayton is that Clayton's CBD is compact and hemmed-in by an elevated parkway, residential areas, and a city park. Once Clayton's CBD runs low on office space, about the only way to add more is to build up. Meanwhile, downtown St Louis has plenty of unused office space, as well as available land. Plenty of room to accomodate new data centers or what have you.

I love STL, but in all honesty- downtown hasn't seen a decent skyscraper since federal court house. Come on, enough with the Cardinal Village, Bottle District, this and that. They just fix old warehouses on washington and don't count Pinnacle as skyscraper.

I love STL, but in all honesty- downtown hasn't seen a decent skyscraper since federal court house. Come on, enough with the Cardinal Village, Bottle District, this and that. They just fix old warehouses on washington and don't count Pinnacle as skyscraper.

--Well first, there is Roberts Tower. Granted it's largely empty, but it does count.

Give St. Louis time. There are plans to (finally!) build a tower in Ballpark Village, and others will come. What I would argue needs to happen first is renovation and re-occupancy of the Jefferson Arms, the Arcade, and the Alexa (Chemical Building). Once prospective tenants don't see large blocks of vacant space they will feel better about coming downtown.

Filling up all the existing buildings in downtown St Louis should always take priority over building new ones. When there's a demand for more shiny new office towers, believe me, they will come. But for now-- especially in these sluggish economic times-- we should be pleased that many unused buildings are being rehabbed and given new lives.

Case in point: One unoccupied downtown STL building will soon be transformed into a mixed-use complex, complete with a high-end movie theatre, a blues museum, and more. Gotta love it! Get the details at: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/movies/article_4d9c14e2-07c1-5345-a5d8-d44c822dbaf4.html

well such as very well.

Filling up all the existing buildings in downtown St Louis should always take priority over building new ones. When there's a demand for more shiny new office towers, believe me, they will come. But for now-- especially in these sluggish economic times-- we should be pleased that many unused buildings are being rehabbed and given new lives.

Case in point: One unoccupied downtown STL building will soon be transformed into a mixed-use complex, complete with a high-end movie theatre, a blues museum, and more. Gotta love it! Get the details at: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/movies/article_4d9c14e2-07c1-5345-a5d8-d44c822dbaf4.html

The railway building, St Louis Centre redo, and Laurel redo are all coming along quite nicely. The Park Pacific is open and leasing up, and I seem to recall there is a prospect for Ballpark Village (which is not my favorite project, but I'd accept a decent new building over a grassy field in the middle of downtown).

A big problem is the State is trying to kill the historic tax credit, which is what makes so many rehabs possible.We'll just have to see how things progress.

(Oh: I almost forgot: the 14th and washington ultra-modern tower site is now planned for a 2 story retail/office building. Make of it what you will):dunno:

There is currently a suggested proposal to turn Memorial Drive into an at-grade signature boulevard and remove a stretch of Interstate 70 between the New Mississippi River Bridge and the Poplar Street Bridge. Or if that particular stretch were a critical artery for traffic wanting to connect between the interchanges, the entire stretch may end up getting buried underground.