There's Little Hope in Sight For Treasures of St. Louis (1997)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/02/us...pagewanted=all

Interesting article. Dozens of buildings have reopened Downtown since 1999. It's amazing to see the progress.

I'm glad the city's officials have changed their attitudes about Downtown.

[JivecitySTL]

Wow. I suppose it's good to know that all of the buildings mentioned in the first paragraph except one are today shining examples of successful rehab/reuse. The Arcade/Wright building is awaiting a new developer after its previous rehabber went out of business during renovations. It is not going anywhere though, and several interested parties are taking a look. Sadly, we did lose the Ambassador.

It's also interesting to note that since this article was printed, St. Louis has become THE leader in historic preservation in the United States. Missouri has BY FAR the most progressive historic tax credit legislation in the country, and that has done wonders for STL. Prior to the collapse of the economy, this city was in a rehab frenzy. Any and everything that qualified for credits was getting new life. It has slowed down since the gravy train stopped rolling, but it's still happening left and right. I repeat: St. Louis is THE leader in rehab/reuse of historic buildings.

[desertpunk]

Originally Posted by JivecitySTL

Wow. I suppose it's good to know that all of the buildings mentioned in the first paragraph except one are today shining examples of successful rehab/reuse. The Arcade/Wright building is awaiting a new developer after its previous rehabber went out of business during renovations. It is not going anywhere though, and several interested parties are taking a look. Sadly, we did lose the Ambassador.

It's also interesting to note that since this article was printed, St. Louis has become THE leader in historic preservation in the United States. Missouri has BY FAR the most progressive historic tax credit legislation in the country, and that has done wonders for STL. Prior to the collapse of the economy, this city was in a rehab frenzy. Any and everything that qualified for credits was getting new life. It has slowed down since the gravy train stopped rolling, but it's still happening left and right. I repeat: St. Louis is THE leader in rehab/reuse of historic buildings.

And Buffalo, with several major downtown rehabs is not far behind!

[STLgasm]

Wow, how things have changed! Thank god Bosley is no longer running the show-- he was part of the problem. Anyone who hasn't been to St. Louis in the last 5-10 years would not even recognize downtown today. It is a completely different city, thanks to historic preservation.

I am proud that St. Louis, once the shining example of decay, is now the shining example of restoration.

[The Urban Politician]

I haven't been to downtown St Louis in perhaps 5 years.

I'll have to come and take a look again.

[Nuclear_Art]

I was just downtown last weekend and really like the vibe going on in the city. Of course there are a lot of homeless but they are pretty cool and not overly crazy like in some places. Loved the City Museum and enjoyed a few good restaurants like Mosaic

[MplsTodd]

I was fortunate to visit Downtown St. Louis twice in 2007 and came away very impressed. The amount of residential conversions in the northwest side of downtown was amazing. I walked down Washington Street probably 6 or 7 blocks and it was lined with great old offices and/or loft warehouses that were mostly converted to housing.

If the city's downtown population of 3200 in 1999 (from the NYT article) is accurate, any idea how many new units have been created from all the conversions?
And, how are they doing now, given the current economy?

[JivecitySTL]

^Downtown St. Louis now has 12,000 residents. As in most places, the pace of development has slowed down with the economy, but conversions and even new construction continues to take place. Case in point:





^This building (Roberts Tower) is topping off as we speak. It is a 25-story, LEED-certified condo building in the heart of downtown.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

I was fortunate to visit Downtown St. Louis twice in 2007 and came away very impressed. The amount of residential conversions in the northwest side of downtown was amazing. I walked down Washington Street probably 6 or 7 blocks and it was lined with great old offices and/or loft warehouses that were mostly converted to housing.

If the city's downtown population of 3200 in 1999 (from the NYT article) is accurate, any idea how many new units have been created from all the conversions?
And, how are they doing now, given the current economy?

5,000 residents were added from 2000-2008.

4,561 total residential units added since 2000 (as of the 2008 Downtown Housin Report). 65 residential properties added since 2000 (as of 2008)

Residential Occupancy:
88% for all units
82% for sale units
90% for all rental units
88% for market rate rental units
92% for below market rate rental units

Downtown St. Louis Fast Facts states:
$1.4 billion spent on 67 new residential properties (4400 units)

110 new shops, restaurants, and services (400,000 square feet) open or committed since 2003. 400,000+ square feet of additional street level retail space in development and planned to open by 2011.

11 million square feet of Class A and B office space

1,700 businesses
Government services (17.8%), Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (15.3%), Finance and Insurance (13.2%), Hospitality (10.7%) and Information (10.2%)

80% of Downtown offices have 25 or fewer employees

Residential population - 11,854
Worker Population - 88,000
Downtown Hotel Guests Annually - 2.2 million = 6,000 daily
Event/Attraction Visitors Annually - 25+ million = 27,400 daily.

I'm not sure the links for this exact info, but various reports can be found here:
http://www.downtownstl.org/Home.aspx?ContentID=30

[Cincinnatus]

^ I'm going to bet that the 88k worker population is a little lower than it actually is. Don't you guys agree?

[MplsTodd]

Thanks for the info and the link to the www.downtownstl.org site--they have lots of interesting info. I don't think the Mpls DT Council has anywhere near that level of info on our city.

[perilouspete]

Yeah milwaukeedowntown.com definitely doesn't have all those stats, wish they did.