Adding Class(es) to Downtown

The Arcade Building Downtown has secured its needed ancor commercial tenant as Webster University has chosen to expand its presence downtown.  

The St Louis Business Journal reports that increasing classrooms, adding a cafe, an auditorium and more office space will be the anchor tenant, but declined to state how much of the commercial space will be used by the university.

The upside of this move is big for the city in that it will allow development of a historic gem to be completed and backed financially by a credible institution in St Louis.  Nice too that Webster will be increasing its activity downtown, despite not really knowing what extent that will be. Completion is scheduled for 2016.

My hopes are that the actual arcade within the first two floors will allow for additional commercial development and public use of those amenities.  That seems to be what the first two levels of the Arcade building is designed for, rather than a secured entry with more lower level offices and classrooms.  The remainder of the building is still going to be used for downtown apartments and artist lofts which will add to the density of the area, but retail establishments will be needed to attract tennants and fullfill the needs of downtown.   

Arcade Building: Round 3

For Downtown St Louis, few buildings could have as much impact on our city as the Arcade Building at 8th and Olive.   

The project made the news again yesterday with the SLDC being presented with a plan from out of state Dominium Development.

Sharing a block with the Paul Brown Lofts, this high rise has a fantastic arcade running through the building from Olive to Pine.  A well thought out and managed commercial development could really compliment the area and  surrounding downtown buildings such as the Syndicate and the Old Post Office.   
The added residential and retail density would be a welcome addition to the area. 

The project described the first 3 floors as commercial / retail, artist lofts in the middle, and the remainder of the building being high end residential rental homes.

Last weekend, I was in Omaha Nebraska.  Between events we were able to get out and check out their downtown area.  We asked around and heard that Howard Street was the place to be, so we headed that way.  What they were talking about was the part of downtown Omaha known as the Old Market District. Even though it seemed more like Soulard Market than our downtown, it seemed like a very successful implementation of concentrated urban retail and restaurants in a downtown area.

           

Another St Louisan commented about it being great to have that in St Louis.  Knowing that we have so much more to offer in our own downtown, we talked about it.  Our friend, being less familiar with urban St Louis, was an example of what many St Louisans don't know about downtown St Louis. 

Old Market did have some advantages. It was a concentration of destination restaurants & shops, many with protection from the elements,  with stylish lofts and plenty of parking.  They also had a nice advantage in that there wasn't nearly the competition in the surrounding areas like we have in St Louis.  This place was a catch all.  

Our downtown retail districts are spread out, can be isolated, and also compete with Soulard, Lafayette Square, Grand Center, Central West End, South Grand and more urban centers in the burbs. (Kirkwood, Maplewood, etc.).  An "anchor destination" like one created inside the Arcade Building could serve as a great starting point for shoppers looking for a better shopping experience than what we have now.

Benefits of Foreclosures

Right now, I've had just about enough of foreclosures! Hearing that the Arcade Building is being foreclosed on was somewhat of a relief though and I'm not sure why.

Maybe its because of what felt like a big "land grab" back in 2004-2006 as rival developers postured to see who could stake out the remaining gems downtown. Prices for abandoned buildings rose as high as $30/square foot. This surge in buying somehow seemed to force development downtown much too quickly and at to high a cost for the then market to support. By itself, completing the Arcade may not have posed a monumental challenge at that time, considering that the Syndicate Trust underwent a similar conversion. Going back to that time though, Pyramid was unable to sell out the remainder of the Banker's Lofts and had 50% of the Dorsa Lofts to sell also. Both of these projects were priced at less than $150/square foot(base price) while the the Arcade shows a price of just over $200/ square foot for a unit that included parking.

The Post Dispatch article announcing the foreclosure blames the "nationwide housing collapse" for the foreclosure. That's as close to the truth as if the Culinaria purchased 4 times the amount of bananas it normally sells in a week and bumps the prices up 46% then blames the economy for the not selling. Ridiculous! I won't even touch the "housing collapse" comment except to say that a 20% drop in prices is hardly a collapse.

Like so many people following this buildings history and future, my hope is that someone with a viable plan can step in once the building is priced right. This foreclosure just might be the first step in seeing that process move forward. Map of 800 Olive shows the location in the heart of downtown adjactent to the Old Post office and Metrolink Station. My take isn't more condominiums, but rather a custom build out for a corporate headquarters along with a slight mix of retail and possibly some apartments or corporate housing. With such a phenomenal building and perfect location, who could resist?