The True Lofts

The history of lofts is fascinating. Not a SOHO History expert, past reading talks of the starving artist--unable to afford residential apartments--rents out "space" in the largely abandonded structures zoned and equipped for commercial use. So began the attraction of the loft. A subversive element. A Soho Lofts website had this to say about the original lofts, "Most of these spaces were also used illegally as living space, being neither zoned nor equipped for residential use, but this was ignored for a long period because the occupants were using space that would probably have been dormant or abandoned..."

The beauty of these spaces involves personality.

In the mid 60's and into the 70's, getting a loft space in soho took on the personality of the occupant. The challenge was to make the space "yours" without having to add traditional building of walls and halls. Creativity and unconventional style was born and nurtured. The concept in various forms has spread and evolved.

Most of today's lofts from St. Louis loft builders don't have as much in common with the spaces in Soho. Here, the developer is the main source of creativity. Modern elements are produced in mass. Most loft dwellers today don't have the time for the creative lifestyle. The mostly open large spaces are being carved up into classy apartments with more conventional 2 and 3 bedroom units. The loft concept has evolved into the mainstream here and in many other towns.

Enter the King Bee Building. Located at 1709 Washington, the building resembles a converted commercial structure because that's what it is. Spaces rented out as office or artist studios were subdivided and sold as condos. The building and the lofts within are the closest thing to the Real Thing that downtown has to offer.

This weeks RFT highlighted a long brewing controversy within the building in its typical melodramatic and one sided approach. The article seemed to paint the "King Bee 9" as blameless victims. They may be. What seemed evident was the details conveniently left out of the story.

One thing that has been evident is that not everyone should live downtown. High density living favors people that can "play nice in the sandbox" with the patience and sincerity to work towards resolution. Various disputes in condo associations everywhere repeatedly confirm this fact.

Good luck to all at the King Bee for a amicable end to the story.

Urban Beauty

The Urban Roots planting days are today and tomorrow.

According to the Downtown St. Louis Residents website, meeting location for tomorrow is at the South sidewalk along Kiener Plaza. Show up at 8 and put in some time to make Downtown St. Louis a more attractive place to live, work and visit!

Another event set up to make downtown more beautiful is a fundraiser tonight at
Railway Lofts unit 901. For a long time, there have been various grass roots attempts at beautification of Lucas Park. One group was more or less dismantled after Pyramid (in its free time) was going to use MODESSA state tax credits to recreate the landscape of the park. The next group is fully active and organized to get things moving.

Lastly, yesterday the story broke that the National Park Service is beginning the process to re-evaluate the use of the Arch Grounds. The St. Louis Business Journal article discussed the process in the most detail. Most importantly, the public is being asked for its support and guidance throughout the process. Meetings will be held and input is being solicited. As has been said all along, good public support will go a long way into turning the riverfront into a world class destination.

If you love downtown, now is the time to remember we're in the "Show Me" state.

The Calmer Tour

This year's loft tour was 'right sized.'

Each year it seems the loft tour is more and more hyped, with more and more new projects to see. Gimmicks, promotions, and lots of hooplah surrounded the fact that a neighborhood is being built. This year was calmer, except for the street level tension of having so many misguided cubs fans walking our streets.


According to Matt Schindler at the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, 900 people officially registered for the tour. My guess, based on the number of wrist-bands and blue bags full of information, was that about half the people "touring" had registered for the tour. Many people were just down, walking around, and trying to hit all the open houses. The overall experience is that as each year passes and downtown surges forward, more of the attendees are seriously considering a move downtown. I guess now that there's a Schnucks, its not such a novelty.

Also shared was that the fall tour will most likely be a 1 day event. Welcome news.

This year, my take on the tour changed slightly after being more actively involved with the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. The tour represents a big welcome mat, even for Cubs fans, to see what our downtown living in St. Louis has to offer. I take for granted that people know how great it is to be downtown and what urban living is like. In reality, people judge "what downtown is like" based on experiences they might have had decades ago. Just like being born a Cubs fan, that's just not fair.

St. Louis Loft Sales in April

Lately it seems like things have really been picking up. Downtown is buzzing, sidewalk cafe's are going, foot traffic is increasing, the Cardinals are playing. All the things I love about Spring in Downtown St. Louis.

Loft sales may have been a drop off from last month. More will be revealed as the next few days go by.

Speaking of the next few days.....The Annual Spring Downtown Living Tour is being held this Saturday and Sunday. It should be a great tour this time. Weather will be ideal for long walks and downtown will put its best foot forward.

We hope to see lots of friendly faces this weekend!

Here are the current sales for April. (Updated 5/5)


210 N 17th St #308------------427-----79,900
210 N 17th St #1408------------------82,400
210 N 17th St #1106------------------139,140
1123 Washington #710-----------------144,000
2020 Washington Ave #307---1198----155,000
2020 Washington Ave #413---1300----157,000
721 N 17th St. #405------------1285----182,500
2201 Washington Ave #302---1358----192,635
314 N Broadway #1108-------968-----239,900
901 Washington Ave #411-----1711----242,500
1619 Washington #201-------2268----267,000
1611 Locust #703-----------2062-----312,000
1015 Washington #702-------2532----558,535

"Did You Hear....."

The month of April 2008 will henceforth be known as the "Did you hear about Pyramid?" month. I must have been asked that question 500 times in 3 days, followed of course by "What do you think?".

There are a whole lot of bad things about Pyramid closing. I can go on forever. Seeing so many really good people with such dedication and vision finding themselves out of work in these times is terribly depressing. I hope and pray that they all land on thier feet.

Aside from the personal side, I can't help but say that the whole thing happening wasn't a big suprise. How it happened yes. Anyone following downtown development was skeptical about their ability to pull off so much work. My thought all along was that they had a good "poker face" and that they would eventually shelve or change plans. The way things were going was just too wierd. It didn't make sense.

When John Steffen was quoted in the St. Louis Business Journal, saying that he was just doing deals because banks wanted to work with him, I was confused. Banks are always wanting to do deals with me. I get 20 credit card offers per week it seems. When I bought my first multi-family apartment building, I was approved to buy 6 of them. That would have been a recipe for disaster for sure.

As far as downtown real estate goes, despite the way things happened, its a good thing for these projects to slow down or go away for a time. Getting more focus on improving the quality of life downtown and attracting more businesses is best for downtown and the region. Getting more residences is needed, but not yesterday. Having hundreds of vacant condos sitting around won't help anyone.

Yesterday I was working with a buyer wanting to live downtown. We spoke of the advantages to living downtown as we walked into the Printer's Lofts building. As we walked in I saw a medical transport van from Mt. Vernon Missouri parked out in front. "Steve must be coming back home!" I thought. Today I read his blog post. Hearing his simple endorsement of downtown living is a wonderful focal point to consider regarding downtown development. That's what is important to me.

Propaganda Dispatch

The biggest failure downtown is the continued failed attempts at journalism coming from the Post Disgrace.

The old saying, "maybe if we ignore them, they'll go away" seems apropos here.

Down By The River

Talk has gone on about the state of the riverfront, but not enough.

The topic that sporadically comes up in the news was brought up again a few weeks ago on the Mayor's Blog Hoping to wrest control over some of the 91 acres in order to establish a better landmark that, in the words of Former Senator Danforth, "We want something that transforms our image of ourselves and transforms the rest of the world's image of St. Louis."

Presently, the Gateway Arch grounds are controlled by the National Park Service. Most St. Louisan's have been there at some point or another. The Museum, a trip up to the observatory. The visit would normally take a few hours. Without sounding too critical, it doesn't really transform the image of St. Louis much.

A tremendous landmark, the Arch can become the focal point of so much more that it presently is.

Currently, local Mayors and the Danforth Foundation are calling for more local control of the arch grounds. Even the ability to control and enhance a fraction of the arch grounds could benefit the city and our central focal point. Gaining this local control of the Arch grounds won't be easy.

According to the article from the Post Dispatch, gaining local control will require broad level support from the community, not just a few in power.



William Lacy ClaySt. Louis City office:
625 North Euclid Street, Suite #326
St. Louis, MO 63108
Phone: (314) 367-1970
FAX: (314) 367-1341
Office Hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Contact

Out Like a Lion

As busy as things were in March, it was looking like the monthly sales were not going to reflect the newly active market. Seven lofts closed on the last week of the month.

So things are starting to pick up; most notably in the price column. Sales in the range of $250,000 to $600,000 accounted for eight of seventeen sales last month.

Maybe all the flooding is starting to encourage vertical moves. Here are the St. Louis Loft Sales from March 2008

210 N 17th St #1410----------427----------$84,890
210 N 17th St #210------------419----------$87,650
507 N 13th St #209--------------------------$131,000
210 N 17th St #912--------------------------$135,400
1501 Locust St #501-----------980---------$139,000
2201 Washington #307--------911---------$140,203
2020 Washington #307-------1198---------$155,000
1511 Locust St #302----------1235---------$160,000
1501 Locust St #903----------1053---------$161,000
1511 Locust St #106----------1343---------$190,000
721 N 17th St #502------------1236---------$202,000
1015 Washington #309-------1499---------$211,372
1635 Washington #312--------1105--------$229,000
2201 Washington #310--------1442--------$248,306
1123 Washington #513----------------------$255,000
1619 Washington #604--------1595--------$260,000
314 N Broadway #1602-------1126--------$285,000
1015 Washington #604--------1965--------$325,000
507 N 13th St #410-------------2700--------$395,000
1015 Washington #701--------2109--------$459,825
1015 Washington #703--------2523--------$486,604
1015 Washington #702--------2532--------$558,535