ST. LOUIS & CLAYTON | Project Rundown

[Arch City]

Construction could get underway soon on the BJC North project, which is a part of a $1.5-billion multi-phased transformation of the BJC HealthCare/Washington University Medical Center.

Land is being cleared for Phase I of the project.

The project will accommodate expansion of the following:
2 12-story towers.

*Barnes-Jewish Hospital – a new inpatient tower will consolidate obstetrics and gynecological services, expand clinical care at the Siteman Cancer Center, expand other surgical programs and create new space for faculty practice clinics and diagnostics.

*St. Louis Children's Hospital – new construction will substantially increase the number of private beds and expand diagnostics and treatments services, outpatient clinics and support services.

[Arch City]

Central West End City Apartments Phase II has topped out. The development will add 82 luxury units to the sprawling apartment complex - owned and managed by Village Green.

The complex sits across from Forest Park and borders Forest Park Parkway and MetroLink.


Looking west to downtown Clayton skyline and Skinker Blvd. towers.


The topped-out new addition.


An aerial rendering of the Central West End City residential complex.


An aerial rendering looking east to the Central West End and downtown St. Louis.


Along Union Boulevard

[Arch City]

St. Louis is about to have a world-class music museum designed by Gallagher and Associates.

The National Blues Museum will have lots and lots of cool exhibits and galleries at the downtown (Washington Avenue) museum.

The museum will include a theater for films and live music.

Funding is in place and construction will be starting soon now that the museum's exhibits, galleries as well as exterior designs are 95% complete.

The final concept will be presented within the next six weeks. This milestone is the point at which they will identify aspects of the design that may need to be changed prior to the completion of the design and development phase.

Below are a few exhibit renderings, two of which include a salute to Chicago Blues.

[Arch City]

After years of abandonment and neglect, St. Louis' Grove/Manchester Strip continues its resurgence with yet another new project.

Here's a small, but neat, modern infill planned for the Manchester Strip/The Grove area.

The re-surging Grove/Manchester Strip is often seen in St. Louis-based Reality TV shows such as OWN's 'Welcome To Sweetie Pie's' and Lifetime TV's, 'BAPS'.

Contemporary architecture coming to the Grove
July 04, 2014 6:50 am
By Tim Bryant
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


Developers plan to build this mixed-use project at 4321 Manchester Avenue, in the Grove. (the image is courtesy of UIC)

ST. LOUIS • Add contemporary architecture and apartments to the ingredient mixture of the Grove food and nightlife district near Forest Park.

Construction of a three-story building with street-level commercial space and 20 apartments at 4321 Manchester Avenue could begin in October. Completion is projected for October 2015.

Behind the $3 million project is Kyle Miller, head of Paramount Property Development, and Sean Spencer, executive director of the Tower Grove Neighborhoods Community Development Corp.

Urban Improvement Co., or UIC, is the project’s designer.

Paramount previously developed the Lacassian Lofts, which opened last fall at 2200 Locust Street downtown. Miller said this week that all 27 of its apartments were leased.

For the Grove project, he and Spencer are working with UIC, which has done several residential and commercial projects along Tower Grove Avenue, north of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Miller said he believed the Grove, part of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood, was ready for some contemporary architecture.

Completion of financing is just weeks away, said Miller, adding that the city’s rental market is strong and that the Grove appears able to support commercial ventures in addition to the restaurants and clubs that have enlivened Manchester in recent years.

“There’s a young, hip vibe in that area,” he said. “We would like to see a professional tenant, whether it be a law firm or some sort of retail.”

UIC’s design calls for glass and first-floor brick to blend in with current buildings. The design’s modern styling comes from the upper portion’s gray zinc panels.

“It will patina with age and have some character and style to it,” Miller said.

Brent Crittenden, UIC’s managing principal, said the zinc would give the building “more of a textured look.” All 20 apartments — 15 one-bedroom and five two-bedroom units — will have balconies and high ceilings to increase interior daylight. The design includes a rooftop deck and hallway skylights.

Read More
Read More #2

[Arch City]

One of the last vestiges of St. Louis' once mighty automobile industry is about to meet its final fate with the wrecking ball. No word on what will be developed on the site once it is cleaned up.

Aug 5, 2014, 11:08am CDT UPDATED: Aug 5, 2014, 12:35pm CDT
Erasing an eyesore
Cleaning the Carter Carburetor site to transform a neighborhood


The old Carter Carburetor plant in North St. Louis.

When Flint Fowler decries the “long, dark shadow” the Carter Carburetor Building casts on the surrounding neighborhood, he is speaking literally and metaphorically. The decrepit four-story former factory looms over the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis where Fowler, as executive director, said he has worried for years about its impact on the community.

It’s not just the massive pollution problem, the building also has been home to drug dealers, wild dogs and vagrants, Fowler said.

Fowler and others complained to authorities for decades, but nothing was done even as a renaissance of development revitalized Grand Center and Saint Louis University, just more than a mile to the south.

The 10-acre Carter Carburetor Superfund Site sat untouched, an unattractive nuisance that no one seemed to know how to fix.

This neighborhood was once one of the most popular spots in St. Louis. Sportsman’s Park played home to the St. Louis Cardinals and the Browns in 1915 when Carter Carburetor opened its doors across the street on the corner of Grand Avenue and Dodier Street.

The plant was still a thriving enterprise when the Cardinals moved downtown in 1966. The original building had expanded into a 480,000-square-foot complex of manufacturing, office, warehouse and testing facilities.

But within a decade, with the growing popularity of fuel injection engines, the need for carburetors dwindled. The plant closed in 1984.

Shortly after that, pollution — such as asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and trichloroethylene (TCEs) — was identified across most of the property. And by 1993, it was declared a Superfund site. The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 authorizes the designation of Superfund sites, giving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authority over facilities where immediate cleanup action is necessary.

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[Arch City]

^Footnote:

It should be noted that Carter Carburetor's art deco corporate offices in Midtown Grand Center were converted into Grand Center Arts Academy (GCAA) - a public charter middle and high school performing arts school - in 2010. The school is a valued anchor in the Grand Center Arts and Entertainment District.


GCAA, formerly Carter Carburetor's world HQ's.

[Arch City]

Here's the ribbon-cutting for The Lofts at Washington University - a 240-265 residential apartment complex that will house 550-600 occupants and underground parking for residents in the Delmar Loop. Build-out for the some of the bigger retail spaces are underway.

An international grocer called, United Provisions, will open on August 11th. Read about it here.

And the Peacock Loop Diner will be opening soon.

[Arch City]

Below is an in-depth video on the completion of Phase I of The Lofts at Washington University - an $80-million project in the Delmar Loop.

Great looking, modern project.

A great addition to The Loop. Next up for The Delmar Loop is the 2.5-mile The Loop Trolley. Pre-construction is underway.

• Video Link

[Austinlee]

Such a sexy picture.

[Arch City]

More snaps from the newest project along The Delmar Loop - The Lofts of Washington University - an $80-million two-phase project being erected for Washington University students. Phase I cost $69-million.

Washington U set to open Loop project
9 hours ago • By Tim Bryant

Students with book bags are about to replace construction workers in hardhats as Washington University opens the first phase of its apartment and retail project in the Delmar Loop.

Planning began nearly four years ago. Now off the drawing board and turned into five floors of concrete, brick and steel are The Lofts at Washington University. The $69 million project in the 6200 block of Delmar Boulevard has beds for 414 undergraduates, a supermarket and an all-night diner owned by Loop businessman Joe Edwards.

The project’s second phase, which university officials said will be completed on Enright Avenue within three years, will add apartments for 186 students and raise The Lofts’ final cost to $80 million.

Together, the two phases represent a dramatic shift of student housing away from the core campus six blocks south of Delmar and establish the university as a significant commercial developer.

Hank Webber, the university’s executive vice chancellor for administration, said “quality of life” developments such as The Lofts help the school compete with other elite universities in attracting top students. The University of Chicago and Penn, the Ivy League school in Philadelphia, are among other colleges doing projects similar to The Lofts.

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140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0262 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0117 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0134 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0246 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0197 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0159 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0072 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0154 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0081 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0214 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr


140805_jaa_lofts_loop_0137 by Washington University in St. Louis, on Flickr

[Arch City]

Another aged and historic building on St. Louis's North Riverfront is being transitioned into a manufacturing and touring chocolate factory.

Bissinger's Chocolates is one of the largest chocolate producers in the Midwest.

The building is undergoing a $15-million renovation. The 103-year-old building was purchased for $4 million and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ninety people will be employed initially at the new plant, adding he expects the number of workers to increase by 100 more within five years.

Bissinger's is the chocolate purveyor to Whole Foods Markets, Neiman Marcus and other big retailers.


Bissinger's Chocolate by pasa47, on Flickr

[Arch City]

Aug 8, 2014, 4:06pm CDT
Arcade construction begins
Jacob Kirn
Digital Producer-
St. Louis Business Journal


Arcade-Wright Building, photo from NextSTL.com

Paric Corp. has started construction on the 18-story Arcade Building at Eighth and Olive streets in downtown St. Louis.

A Paric spokesman said the firm has begun covering holes and putting up handrails in the Arcade, which has long been vacant.

U.S. Bank, which is heavily involved in the financing, and Paric, which had 2013 revenue of $303.8 million, will hold a press conference at the building Monday.

The whole rehab will cost $118 million, and involves a mix of federal and state historic tax credits and New Markets Tax Credits through U.S. Bank (about $78 million); loans (including one for $13 million from BMO Harris Bank); mortgages (including $4.2 million from the city of St. Louis and $4.2 million from the Missouri Housing Development Commission); and money from Webster University ($4 million).

Minneapolis-based Dominium bought the Arcade in June 2013 for $9 million from the city of St. Louis’ Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority.

Webster University will be the development’s main tenant once it opens in 2016. It has committed to a 20-year lease, and will occupy 54,000 square feet spread across the first floor, mezzanine and second floor. It will have room for up to 1,000 students, Webster President Beth Stroble previously said. Eighty market-rate apartments will also be included in this section.

Another part of the building will include 202 affordable artist lofts.

Read More

[Arch City]

The new bridges and exit lanes along I-64 into CORTEX - St. Louis' innovation district - are almost complete.


tg2014-06-27-18 by modot_stl_photos, on Flickr


tg2014-06-27-37 by modot_stl_photos, on Flickr


tg2014-06-27-31 by modot_stl_photos, on Flickr


tg2014-06-27-34 by modot_stl_photos, on Flickr

[Arch City]

Below is the urban IKEA-St. Louis (foreground) site under construction in St. Louis' Central Corridor.

In the far background is Clayton (looking west), Central West End, Cortex and Washington University Medical Center (near background).

The 380,000-square-foot IKEA store, at Forest Park and Vandeventer avenues, is on track for a summer 2015 opening.

[Arch City]

Progress on St. Louis College of Pharmacy nestled in the Washington University Medical Center. Oldest private College of Pharmacy west of the Mississippi River.

The new $50-million academic and research building and library is being built on the east side of campus along Taylor Avenue. There will be 213,000 square feet of floor space, which will include a large auditorium, several large classrooms, smaller classrooms, study areas, and 30,000 square feet of research space. The library will more than triple in size, and there will also be a welcome center for prospective students and their families.

The building set to open in May 2015. The project is being financed with the support of donors, including alumni and friends of the College.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

There's some exciting shit going on in St. Louis and some great architecture accompanying it, too. Thanks for being so diligent about keeping us updated.

[goat314]

Newsletter: One Year After Breaking Ground
August 29, 2014

On August 2, 2013, national and local leaders gathered at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in downtown St. Louis to break ground on the Park Over the Highway. This was the first component of the CityArchRiver 2015 project to start construction. A year later, 40 steel girders have been installed over I-44 (formerly I-70) and concrete has been poured over the entire structure. MoDOT has also replaced the Walnut Street bridge, opened a new off-ramp from I-44 to Washington Ave. and will open a new on-ramp to I-44 this fall.



Park Over the Highway construction seen on August 26 over I-44 between Luther Ely Smith Square and the Old Courthouse (right) and the Gateway Arch grounds.

Since its groundbreaking in November 2013, Great Rivers Greenway has made impressive progress on the new and raised Central Riverfront between Chouteau Ave. and the Grand Staircase. Concrete has been poured for many retaining walls and the base layers of pavement are being added now.

The new riverfront will have more lighting and security while the raised roadway will flood less often. It also features new paths for pedestrians and bicycles connecting the North Riverfront Trail, existing bike paths, and the new Circulation Loop around the Arch grounds.

In early fall, work will be complete on the south half of the Central Riverfront. This area of Leonor K. Sullivan Blvd. will reopen to pedestrians, bikes and cars. Then work will begin from the Grand Staircase to Biddle St. near the North Riverfront Trailhead.



Under the Poplar Street Bridge, new pedestrian and bike paths are taking shape on the Central Riverfront.



Crews on the Central Riverfront laying base pavement for bike lanes and pedestrian paths on August 15. Below, a rendering of the Central Riverfront when complete.



http://www.cityarchriver.org/2014/08...eaking-ground/

[goat314]

Residential Conversion in the Works for Clayton Seven-Up Building
August 21, 2014 Geoff Whittington



nextSTL has learned there are plans for another new residential building project in downtown Clayton. 100 units are expected to be developed by the Koman Group at 121 S. Meramec, site of the former World Trade Center and Seven-Up Buildings. According to nextSTL sources the commercial real estate firm has reached an agreement in principle with St. Louis County regarding the development site.

http://nextstl.com/2014/08/residenti...even-building/

[Arch City]

A 107-room $12.8M Hilton Home Hotel and infill office development are under construction in the Forest Park Southeast/Grove neighborhood. The area is near Washington University Medical Center, CORTEX and the Manchester Strip.

The two cranes, in background, represent WU's new Scott McKinley Research Lab and St. Louis College of Pharmacy's new multi-purpose research and educational facility. Notice one of the new auto/pedestrian bridges (left) connecting the neighborhoods over I-64.

[Arch City]

Although not quite finished, pre-leasing is underway at Village Green's Central West End City Apartments that has 88 brand new modern units near Forest Park.