Gearing Up for the Downtown Living Tour

The month of June is upon us and what a month we are looking at! The annual Spring Downtown Living Tour will be June 10th & 11th and that is all I can think about lately. More and more lofts are starting to come on the market, sales seem to be picking up, and crews are working at a rapid pace to turn more and more space into gorgeous lofts. I am working hard to come up with ways of showcasing the great loft spaces that we have listed for that weekend.

What the Downtown Living Tour is to me is a snapshot of the progress this downtown has made since my college days--hanging out at clubs all over Washington Avenue and Delmar, going to parties in abandoned warehouses. I don't mean to sound sentimental, but with the Meridian, Bankers, and Moon Brother's lofts all nearing completion and so many more people looking to relocate into this fantastic neighborhood I get excited. With more people comes more business, more dollars, and more development.

In 2004, looking at the Downtown Living Tour, one still had to have a fair amount of vision to see the progress. Today you can't help but feel it. The downtown living bug is catching on and the loft tour (as I always call it) is the place to do our best to showcase the fantastic downtown neighborhoods so that the bug keeps spreading.

Lofts Properties on Display
Our loft listings on the tour

The No Spin Zone

Competition must be heating up between developer's lately.

Last week I visited several developments with prospective loft buyers. We visited one project and heard about one of its competitors and all of its drawbacks. Then we visited the freshly trashed development. After a brief summary, they started in on the other development. Hmmm.

Both loft projects can stand in their own light. They don't need to try to attack another building to make themselves look better. The more established builders don't seem to get caught up in that game.

I asked my client what they thought about the exchange. They agreed that it cast a negative spin on their process and would prefer to just hear the positives in whatever building they visit.

All the loft developments depend upon each other to transform this great city into something dramatically better. Can't we all just get along?!

What Grocery Dilema?

So ever since the first loft was built downtown, one of the major negative's I've heard from local media about urban living is the lack of grocery stores. Ask anyone that moved into 10th Street Lofts in 1999 and that was the case back then. But why do we still hear that question?

Last week at the launch party for Motor Lofts, Kevin McGowan talked about that issue. Currently there are 5 grocers downtown. These are the smaller sized grocer's like City Grocers & Lucas Park Market. There are imminent plans for a grocer at 15th and Lucas. If you want a superstore grocer like Schnucks, there are a few within a short drive (the link has the addresses and distance).

It would be great if a Straub's or Whole Foods Market would also open up downtown. I think that is likely as the population continues to rise.

As Kevin pointed out though, the average St. Louisan drives 1.8 miles to the grocery store. My parents in Ballwin have to drive 2.59 miles to get to the closest Schnucks.

So with 5 small grocer's and several more within a 5 mile radius, what's the problem?

Realtors Hit the Downtown Streets

Nearly 300 realtors attended a presentation today about the subject of lofts. It was good to see such a turnout. In order for this neighborhood to continue in its robust growth, the entire St. Louis metro area will have to adopt new attitudes about downtown living. A great place to start is with the people who assist in home buying and selling.

Once the development has moved on to some other part of the area, realtors will have to become familiar with the idiosyncrasy's of this urban market.

The New & Improved Washington Ave Music Fest

The Washington Avenue Music Festival originally scheduled for this Saturday was postponed until JUNE 24th! Washington will be closed from Tucker to 14th street. This is an event that is inclined to repeat itself if successful. BE THERE!

MOON PARTY TONIGHT!

Just in case this picture above isn't showing up, Loftworks is having a party tonight for the opening of the sales center and display at Moon Brothers. The party is from 5 to 7, and regrettably I can't be there. There are still some great 2 bedroom units available in the Moon.

The Residents

Someone from the Downtown St. Louis Residents Association recently mentioned that the organization had designed a new marketing piece and revised its website.

It's great that they are reaching out to the hundreds of people moving down here each month. Last summer, several buildings were completed around the same time. It felt like things changed overnight. Groups like DSLRA work to keep the neighborhood cohesive. This summer when Lucas, Meridian, Moon Brothers and Bankers all have move in's tentatively within days of each other, the neighborhood will be a different place fast. Hopefully the rush of new downtown residents get involved with The Downtown St. Louis Residents Association. By joining up, we ensure that downtown's residents voice is heard and considered in all that's being done to revitalize the area.

Don't Look Now.....

If the Locust Avenue Film Festival just begins to excite you about downtown street festivals, then the following day, May 20th be at the Washington Avenue MusicFest! I saw the ad in the Greensheet, and then looked online at the address. No luck there. There's only 8 days until the event so I would guess the website should be up and running by now. There wasn't any contact number either. The print ad says that its from 10am to 10pm and will include Food, Music, dancing, games, art showings, dog park and adoptions. All this will supposedly take place on Washington between Tucker and 14th.

If, like the web address, you get there and nothing happens....don't blame me.

Loft District Hosts Film Festival and Street Party

On May 19th, I plan on attending the Locust Avenue Film Festival.

I've been seeing these little blue cards all over the downtown area of late and finally picked one up. It sounds like a great time. There's music, food, games, and shopping.

It sounds like an event that should be held every month during the summer. Presented by one of my favorite shops downtown,UMA I'm hoping to get more of these cards and spread them around town myself, especially outside of the loft district. This sounds like a great opportunity to showcase the neighborhood.

St. Louis Lofts sold in March & April

What a fantastic time of year! They say that the numbers don't lie. In this case they can. There were'nt really very many re-sale options for buyers in the months of February and March in the loft district. Depending upon price range and other factors, it seemed like there were times when nothing was available downtown and buyer's had to look elsewhere....or to reserve a pre-construction unit. Of course, new construction can be wonderful, but most of my buyer's that have been contacting me lately aren't interested in more than a 90 day wait. Call it baseball season or the fear of Highway 40 traffic intensity, but people want to be downtown NOW!

We can speculate all day, but here are the sales for the months of March and April:
507 N 13th St. #606------------------------$135,000
1720 Choteau #106-------------------------$138,400
1612 Lucas #409----------------------------$149,000
507 N 13th St. #208------------------------$150,000
2020 Washington #602-------------------$152,000
507 N 13th St. #407------------------------$154,000
1511 Locust #301----------------------------$162,750
1501 Locust #303---------------------------$174,000
1501 Locust #603---------------------------$177,900
2020 Washington #405-------------------$185,000
1612 Lucas #205----------------------------$199,900
1720 Choteau #201-------------------------$203,600
1709 Washington #602--------------------$205,000
1511 Locust #707----------------------------$229,250
1010 St. Charles #503----------------------$246,000
1612 Lucas #410----------------------------$249,900
1501 Locust #204---------------------------$269,000
1611 Locust #703----------------------------$291,000
1611 Locust #604---------------------------$299,900
701 N 15th St. #503W---------------------$387,500
1619 Washington #902--------------------$420,000

Awesome 2 Story Loft!

The artistic spirit of creating a living space out of an industrial space is exemplified in this 2 story Jack Thompson Square loft. Located on the 6th & 7th floors, this loft has 3 bedrooms and large amounts of living space. Two stories of windows let in plenty of natural light. The location at Tucker and Washington is second to none. Visit our web site for more information or to schedule a showing.

My Blogging Hiatus

The past month has been a blur. We have listed some awesome lofts and been really really busy. I feel like this spring will be a great time for the loft district. For anyone wanting the March loft sales, I will be posting all that information next week along with all the lofts sold in April.

I took some time to do a few things that I hadn't ever done like tour the Campbell House Museum and visit the Missouri History Museum. They have a small exhibit on the Moon Brothers Automobile that I have wanted to see. Part of the scope of this blog is to highlight what makes the neighborhood special downtown. I'll have to post about some of this stuff soon.

One major thing that has been a year long distraction has been resolved recently. As a result of a settlment with another real estate company, we will be changing our company's name soon. We still aren't sure about what to call ourselves, but helping people sell their loft or find an awesome place to live is what we want to do. Getting an expensive course in intellectual property law is not.

The New Gateway to Downtown West

My St. Paddy's day gift today was getting some semi-concrete information on the new construction project planned for the Southwest corner of Tucker and Washington. The information was listed this morning on the MLS. As soon as it popped up, I called to interrogate the listing agent about all the details.

The pricing appears to start out around $198/square foot for the base price non-penthouse, which is hard to.
justify without more details about base plan and upgrades. Overall it sounds like an exciting project and a better use of such valuable space.

There are going to be 17 units, five of which are 2 story penthouse units on the 6th & 7th floors. Pricing on those ranges upwards to around $248/square foot.

Of course, since plans are still in the works, any details here are certainly subject to change, but contact us to get reservation information. Most definately, these 17 units will quickly sell long before the scheduled Spring 2007 completion date.

February Loft Sales Stay Strong

It seemed as if the intense rush of loft buying that was going on in late December / Early January tapered off a bit in February. Lots of the closings took place in February.

The market is still very strong. For a brief period this winter the area experienced a bit of a seller's market. There were limited choices for many of the buyer's in the market in December - February.

Summer is just around the corner. New lofts are coming on the market every day. We're getting into the busiest real estate time of the year soon.

We're getting ahead of ourselves.... Here's the downtown sales that took place in February.

1700 Chouteau #311------$116,060
1700 Chouteau #209------$119,200
1700 Chouteau #303------$143,200
1627 Locust #704--------$144,000
1700 Chouteau #206------$170,180
1511 Locust #408--------$184,175
1612 Lucas #205---------$199,900
1511 Locust #802--------$202,350
1709 Washington #801----$209,000
1511 Locust #202--------$210,575
1612 Lucas #405---------$217,500
1619 Washington #303----$229,000
1511 Locust #407--------$231,500
1511 Locust #606--------$235,000
1501 Locust #209--------$235,000
1501 Locust #905--------$264,900
1501 Locust #705--------$278,000
1611 Locust #303--------$285,000
703 N 13th #308---------$331,000

Click here for the loft mls listing details for these sales.

Stadium Issue of the STL Business Journal

It was great reading the business journal this morning with a great deal of focus on the new Busch Stadium and also all of the development that seems to be targeting the areas growth relating to the new stadium and ballpark village. For someone that spends lots of time reading about and studying downtown development, it's rare that I get really overwhelmed with excitement. Today was one of those days.

Of the articles that grabbed my attention the most, cover story about the work going on around Gratiot Street and 4th was interesting. I had heard this development area being dubbed, the "icehouse district" about a year ago. It seems that it will really round out the downtown area and break away at the void between downtown and Soulard.

As soon as this weeks paper is placed online, the stories will be linked here.

Happy 38th Birthday Bob Ray!

Stop by the Washington Ave Post today to wish Bob a happy birthday.

Feng Shui of Loft Design

I was reading this article in the Arizona Republic and thought it was worth a read (Note: unless you've visited the Arizona Republic online before, you will be asked to complete a brief survey before viewing the article....sorry). One of the best things about working downtown is being able to see the great designs and creativity used in decorating lofts once a buyer moves in. Of course, that can also be a difficulty, because due to the unconventional styles, sometimes people can not visualize themselves in a more modern environment. Click here to see some lofts decorated by Better Homes and Gardens online.

The loft shown here is a relatively small space that, when decorated, was a fantastic living space. It sold in just a few days on the market. Its eye-catching design and great layout probably had a hand in its quick sale.

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Art Loft Theater was a Blast!

Back in January, I posted about the Art Loft Theater at, where else, The Art Lofts.

On Friday we experienced the play Batboy. It was a hit!

I don't know what my expectations were, but they were exceeded. The acting, singing and story were tremendous.

There were two suprises though: one was that the bathrooms were "uni-sex" which to me, means one either sex can go in at a time. These were more like, everyone goes in at the same time with only a bathroom stall seperating men & women. A little strange.

The second suprise was that I didn't see anyone I knew there. Neither did my better half. It seems like there were few downtown residents that knew much about it.

Based on the webpage of the Art Loft Theater, they do say that they "Bringing 17,000 People a Year Into Downtown St. Louis." Maybe now that there are already some people downtown, they can get some home grown support. It's definately a great evening out!

Order Batboy tickets on Metrotix.

Action is good!

A few weeks back, there was a meeting at the Downtown St. Louis Partnership about the traffic patterns downtown and what needs to be done. It was a good meeting with some good ideas.

In a brief meeting with the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, I asked about implementation of those ideas. They said that it was in the works. I've noticed a few improvements, like driving down 14th Street, the lights seemed like they were all in synch. Also, a couple weeks ago Locust Street was changed to two way (west of 14th Street--it is still one way going west east of 14th).

Ideas thrown around about how things can be improved are always good, but its fantastic to see that the city is really serious about taking action to improve downtown. Could that have something to do with more voter's in the city elections are living downtown?