Downtown Sculpture Park

More green space is coming to downtown St. Louis. According to an article by the post dispatch the city’s Preservation Board gave unanimous approval for the 20 Million Dollar sculpture park that will be created on the gateway mall. A group called the Gateway Foundation, a private agency that has placed art installations around the region, is paying for the project. This project will help create another aesthetically pleasing outdoor space in downtown St. Louis. It will be near the new Old Post Office Plaza.
Investment in green projects, such as this sculpture park are useful ways to attract business and residents to the region. St. Louis has a special taxing district called the Great Rivers Greenway District which, according to its website, uses a 1/10th of 1% sales tax to work“for a clean, green, connected St. Louis region. To deliver its mission, Great Rivers Greenway is spearheading the development of The River Ring, an interconnected system of greenways, parks and trails that will encircle the St. Louis region, enhancing the quality of life for residents and visitors." The Chouteau Greenway

My take on the tour

The Downtown Living tour seems to be like taking a drink off a fire hose; both for the participants as well as the workers. According to the Downtown St. Louis Partnership's Matt Schindler, there were over 1200 people registered. There was many more not registered, just walking the route looking at open houses.

One thing that those in my profession look for is the number of people who want to buy (or rent) downtown. They gauge the success or failure of the tour based on the number of true "prospects."

I disagree.

The best thing about the downtownt living tour is that it gives so many of the people who don't want to live downtown a perspective on living that they may not experience otherwise.

Getting the general public to see what downtown living is all about is important! Occasionally I hear about people wanting to live downtown and getting flak from parents, co-workers etc. The tour is for these people. We need to continue to encourage people to check out the urban lifestyle whether they are ready to climb aboard or not. So many people in St. Louis still
look at downtown living as such a novelty. It's scary how slow some people are at accepting changes.

As for the prospective buyer's, I'm more afraid than happy for them. The loft tour really is like getting a drink from a firehose. Many of the people we met were overwhelmed this weekend. Overwhelmed and caught in the hype is not a good position to be in when making such an important decision.

One positive note though, the loft district is finally looking like it's growing up. Most loft districts start out with the young and creative class building up and preserving the city, followed by the more mature owners coming in behind to add stability and clout. If this tour was any indication, the more mature buyer has found out about downtown. My guess is that they'll be coming soon.

Tea For Two

So I am really excited with the changes I see along Washington Ave. I was told that I must stop by The London Tea Room located on the 1st floor of the Ely Walker Loft @ 1520 Washington. I was impressed with the friendly staff & selection of drinks & foods. The teas are unique and have a true European flair & there is something for everyone, even the non tea drinkers. I also enjoyed a very tasty sandwich & a chocolate molten dessert that melted in your mouth!

This is a fresh concept down in the loft district. It feels like home and a place that downtown residents will love.

Attached to the tea room they have a huge furniture showroom. This store was ironically located out in West County and they moved to the city. In speaking with one of the designers they stated they have a large list of clients from all over including Central West End, the Loop, and Even Illinois! The furniture concept is unique and has a strong European edge. You really don’t expect this fresh surprise to be located in the heart of St. Louis’s Loft district. It is great to see that the stores are catching on & they feel that their growth lies on Washington Avenue.

If you are down around town stop in to this unique addition to the loft world! It’s certainly an enjoyable experience!

Help Your Neighbors!

We will be participating again this year in the Downtown Living Tour on October 13th and 14th and we need help!

In the past, downtown residents have helped out by working with the Downtown Partnership to staff developer's showrooms. Help Your Neighbors! We're looking for people willing to spend a few hours talking with tour attendees about downtown living and the awesome community that we have in the urban core. There can be stories written about how supporting the existing loft market will do more for downtown area now.

Drop us a line! We'd love to have you!

Free Public Transportation

Commerce Bank and Metro are bringing free public transportation to St. Louis, at least for a day. Throughout the month of October you can pick up a free metro pass at any Commerce Bank location in St. Louis City, County, or the Metro East. The pass will allow the use of Metrolink and Metro Bus for a whole day, anytime throughout 2007. Don't know where to begin using Metrolink or MetroBus? Go to Metro's home page, they have a feature called "Trip Finder," which allows an easy search of the best way to get anywhere in the St. Louis Region, when you need to get there. Just plug in the origin point, the destination, and the time of departure. "Trip Finder" will figure out how to get there and how long it will take. Highway 40 will be shutting down soon. This is a good opportunity to see how public transportation in St. Louis works. While your using Metro, think about ways the system could be improved. How could it be more efficient? Where else, would you like downtown to be linked to via public transportation?

Downtown Residents, Unite!

Tonight at the Dubliner is the quarterly residents meeting of the Downtown St. Louis Residents Association.

When buyer's walk around downtown looking for a loft home, lots of questions come up. Is it safe? What development is going on? How stable is the neighborhood? What is the appreciation?

Participation in DSLRA is all about these questions and placing the influence of the residents on what happens downtown. Plus, the added benefit of involvement, is the benefit of being a part of the tight knit downtown community instead of just living in it.

The meeting starts at 7, but Two of the downtown aldermen will be present, so show up early. Help DSLRA help YOU!Flyer

Meeting Agenda

Corporate Relocation, Downtown Style

Centene Corporation announced its plan to move to Downtown St. Louis and into Ballpark Village.

In hearing about the original plans of Ballpark Village, it seemed that there was a missing piece. Cordish and Cardinals exec's talked about the site attracting people all year long, not just during baseball season. They also mentioned that the towers that seemed to excite so many were really optional, and that they would be built as part of the protracted development AFTER all the parking, retail and entertainment was established. At the time, it seemed as if we needed another element, like a corporate headquarters. Having a few, or maybe 1200 more people showing up for work, dining in the restaurants, using the space will undoubtedly help such a monumental project to really establish itself into the area.

There's certainly going to be those who agonize over the fact that approximately $102 million worth of subsidies are a part of the $250 million overall deal. I tend to agree with the mayor on this one. This move, assuming it comes together completely, is one big piece of the urban renaissance taking shape. The payoffs for the region and the city will surely outweigh the costs.

Now we can focus on getting pro-soccer and the NBA!

The Train, The Train!

Downtown has lots of meetings. One important one is scheduled for this week regards the prospective expansion through the city from north to south. At this point, we're just talking about a study. Community involvement is key. The meeting is in south city tonight and downtown on Thursday. Click Here for the Meeting Flyer

Show us and be a part of our strong steps forward as we establish a world class public transit system in St. Louis.

The Economic Web of Downtown St. Louis

Downtown St. Louis used to be a pretty dreary place. The places that I walk today with prospective loft buyers are the same streets I walked as a much younger college kid looking for a wild night out. When I walk downtown today, the first thing I see are, like many people, loft buildings with big banners and ads enticing people to embrace an urban lifestyle in St. Louis. Unfortunately, to many, only these lofts seem to stand out as a single lonely blip on the radar of what's new in town.

But wait, could there be more? Can St. Louis have more than just a few loft buildings and a big steel arch?

Fifteen years ago, with the population of residents downtown at anemic levels, the downtown economy pretty much boiled down to the 80-90,000 people commuting in to work daily, the St. Louis Cardinals, and a few late night clubs. Factories were mostly shuttered, and retail was pathetic. Tourism existed, but why? The entire downtown area folded up at 5pm.

Dramatic plus that our urban renaissance has created is that the glut of class "A" and "B" office space downtown has disappeared. Buildings once open at barely surviving capacity have been reinvented as lofts and hotels.

The ongoing increase in population downtown has prompted a new need for services and retail that doesn't close at 5pm. This need has been slowly changing the downtown streetscape to a blighted appearance to that of a trendy metropolis.

Some major key investments by the community was the building of Americas Center, Edward Jones Dome, and Scottrade Center. Despite having a world class convention center, most large convention committees try to assess the area surrounding the convention center as well. Conventioneers complained of no life, sparse restaurants, and very little entertainment.

Bringing both residents and retail into our downtown area has helped our convention bureau to generate a buzz about our town and to lure the type of large scale events that are coveted by cities across the country.

With residents, housing, retail, entertainment and tourism all on the rise, what comes next? The final piece of the puzzle is more commercial. Fifteen years ago, any merger involving a downtown business or even lease renewals seemed to have a familiar tone. Businesses and jobs were abandoning the city for St. Louis county, or worse yet, outside of the region completely. With a more positive environment and housing among the most affordable in the nation, companies can begin to eye downtown St. Louis as a strong contender to start or move their business in. Just within the past 6 months, St. Louis is experiencing the obvious benefits of our improving community. Currently AG Edwards and Wachovia are merging and instead of another St. Louis based corporate headquarters leaving town (TWA, McDonnell Douglas, etc.) the retail security division of Wachovia is moving here. We have already experienced the influx of more new residents into the St. Louis community. Another possible situation with Centene in Clayton, considering a move out of the region, is also considering a move Downtown.

The real gift is that this cylce can continue to repeat itself until our downtown is the thriving downtown that it once was.

Dinner and a ball game!

JBuck’s business is booming at the new downtown location! And what a better spot to open a place… only 400 yards away from the ballpark! What took so long?? The downtown location has many great features. The roof top dining area is great place to have a private party and can be rented for any occasion. The main dining room has many of the buildings original features such as original pocket doors and original flooring.

Here is a little fact about the restaurant named JBucks. Ted Geiger the owner of the restaurant approached Jack Buck many years ago with the idea of opening a Jack Buck “themed” restaurant. Mr. Buck at the time was not too keen on the idea, stating he felt he would have to be there all the time. Well Mr. Geiger did not take no for an answer. He went to Jack’s daughter Julie and asked her knowing a father could never say no to his daughter! Well Jack finally came around and said “yes” as long as it would be named “JBuck’s” J standing for Jack, Joe and Julie.

Now the restaurant is as well known as the name it represents one of the world’s best broadcasters! Kudos to The DSLP and Mr. Geiger for bringing yet another fine eating establishment to the ever growing downtown area!

Too Big For One

The vision for Lofts in the Lou was simple. To have a site that promotes the downtown renaissance, looks at pressing issues to the downtown community, and offers insight on real estate matters that one seeking to buy or sell in downtown St. Louis would find helpful.

Downtown's storied growth in the past few years is taking some pretty large strides right now. It's been overwhelming. Where can we even start?

My real estate team, consisting of Lisa Grus, Dean Ritchie, and Howard McAuliffe, decided that it was time for them to get involved in sharing their views and adding it to the vision of what this blog is about. Starting today, look for an expanded point of view and hopefully more useful information about the awesome downtown neigbhorhood.

Help the Balancing Act

According to the mayor's blog post, the city's TIF commission will be meeting soon to discuss whether new developments should receive the benefit of Tax Increment Financing.

I'm not sure why, but I tend to be a sucker for giving public money incentives to people trying to make better use out of our city and its property. I know the downside and I know some downtown residents that can think of better uses for their taxes.

I'm also a sucker for our civic responsibility and a good meeting (The city is hosting one next month). There may be lots of time to talk after the decisions are made, but the right time would be at the meeting. Show up!

Beauty and the Beast

Two subjects that often come up in my day to day work with loft buyer's in St. Louis: The subprime mortgage meltdown and the number of new construction lofts downtown.

Interestingly, the two subjects are related.

The beast is that loft buyer's that sign contracts for new construction often times have a significant wait before the finished product is available. The lending industry is always changing its guidelines. It's a daily thing, but lately it's become more dramatic.

When I reserved my loft at the Dorsa, I worked under the assumption that I would use 100% financing via a conventional loan and then a "piggyback" 20% loan. Who knew. Today, "piggyback" loans are part of the banking industry's steping away from the sub-prime lending business.

The positive thing, as a rule, is that most loft buyer's have exceptional credit and can still qualify for this type of lending. One lender I spoke to today that works a lot downtown said that some of the larger banks were offering incentive discount financing to counteract all the negative hype.

The beauty. Where do we start?

As a rule, traditional bank underwriting says, "If it makes sense, do it." That type of conventional wisdom gave way to the lending mantra of the new millenium, "If it doesn't make sense, do it--or else our competition will". This overindulgence by banks seeking growth and profits is not just about home buying as the news media may have us thinking. Easy money has been a big part of the business world as well, especially in the world of merger's and aquisitions and development.

In development, getting financing is viewed that the plan provided has been reviewed and is acceptable. That it will be a good project since the bank approved the idea and is giving the money. In our era though, banks overly eager to lend has put developer's in some places where they have inventory that they can't sell. The plan just didn't live up to its vision.

Prior to the recent media outrage over subprime mortgages, lenders quietly started tightening up on their standards. Developer's used to require only 25% of the building to be reserved before construction lending began. Now developer's are faced with having 40% UNDER CONTRACTS. Hopefully along these lines the contracts will be scrutinized a bit more carefully as well. Having the developer sell units to themselves or their dead relatives shouldn't fly.

In last weeks St. Louis Business Journal, a decent article described the supply and demand of lofts downtown. The only problem with the article, was that it played to they hype, and it failed to recount the recent history of developments in St. Louis.
Out of the 1528 units projected to be completed between 2008 and 2010, how many of these projects will succeed with the tighter lending practices? How many will be delayed by 1-2 years? How many will be revamped into a more marketable Class A office space?

Looking at the city's development website, or past copies of the "Downtown Report" published by the Post Dispatch, we see lots of projects that are slated to be completed but due to the market, are pushed off or cancelled all together. Pyramid principal John Steffen was quoted as saying that "the final decision (on whether a project is residential, condo, commercial, etc.) will be based on market demand."

The bottom line is that the so called credit crunch is a GOOD THING! It may sting for a bit, but the result is financial responsibility and sanity, and that's just what the doctor ordered.

A Good Shortlist to Make

I got a call from a telemarketer today. When asking about business questions, he commented that he was interested in becoming a real estate investor. Currently in LA, he asked what the local market was like.

Apparently it's not that bad.

Forbes magazine published their list of top seller's markets and based on thier criteria, St. Louis made the top 5. Not bad at all.

Of course, a buyer's or seller's market can be as specific as a single block. St. Louis has generally been a good safe bet in terms of real estate investment values.

Thoughts on homelessness?

The mayor's blog has a mini poll that may be of some interest to the downtown community.

Of interest to me was that a majority of people didn't favor a "crackdown" on charities that feed homeless in public places.

It seems that this question may be handled differently by the majority if the public park in question was one they took their kids to, or was located across the street from their home. Also the wording, "cracking down on charities", that just sounds wrong, doesn't it?

The rennaisance downtown will recieve a substantial boost when the city finds a way to move the public feeding at Lucas Park. After all, we may not be able to completely eliminate homelessness, but should we be showcasing it?

Participate in this poll though. The voice of downtown should be heard.

St. Louis Downtown Living Tour and Kayak Extravaganza

Some people like rain. They say that it helps things grow. After the downpour and intense wind destroyed our display tent, we thought about throwing in the towel. Who would still be around?

Yesterday's tour seemed to go into hyperdrive after the rains. We moved inside the Jewel Lofts entry at 1511 Washington and went to work.

This year I was impressed by the number of boomers that were wanting to be downtown. The Jewel Loft Condominiums, just being released, seemed to have a large collection of people with serious interest. More to follow on these spaces, but in general, the size and quality of finish of these "soft lofts" stand out from what else is available downtown.

The tour seems to be less and less about the neighborhood and the completed lofts than it used to be. I remember when the partnership had to ask residents to be a part of the tour--which is what many other areas still do. Now the tour is more like a jaunt through the many showrooms looking exclusively at new construction.

One comment that stuck with me from yesterday was from a downtown resident that said that many of the participants knew only of thier project but virtually nothing about downtown St. Louis. That may be the case, but this tour I'm seeing that there is less and less being put into "window dressing" for the area and more and more that downtown is standing in it's own light. Plastered pictures covering up board ups has been replaced by new restaurants and retail and, of course LOFTS.

The tour starts today at NOON. The weather should be clear. I hope to see you there.

St. Louis' Loss

St. Louis lost a friend yesterday. Marti Frumhoff, a colleague and part of the driving force of the St. Louis renaissance passed away.

She was one of my hero's, and will be sadly missed by all--whether we knew her or not. That's just the type of person she was.

Services will be held at Central Reform Congregation tomorrow (5/18/07) at 1pm.
5020 Waterman Ave.
Saint Louis, MO 63108
Phone: (314) 361-1564
Fax: (314) 361-2842

Virtual Memorial page

St. Louis Loft Sales in April

It's about time to start taking my carpal tunnel treatment. Sales have been a bit crazy in the past few weeks, rightfully so. There isn't a better feeling than spending time downtown in the spring and summer. Everyone wants a piece of the action. Of course, highway construction could have a bit to do with peoples buying decisions. As lane closures and gridlock continue to build, the "downtown living bug" could reach epidemic proportions. Either way, the spring selling season is upon us and home sales are on the rise.

Here are the loft sales for last month:

1709 Washington #502----------------------------$153,000
2035 Washington #407----------------------------$164,940
2035 Washington #408----------------------------$166,572
2035 Washington #202----------------------------$167,024
1136 Washington #208----------------------------$171,000
2035 Washington #308----------------------------$172,099
1136 Washington #712----------------------------$190,000
2035 Washington #208----------------------------$190,300 YEAH JH!
1136 Washington #400----------------------------$197,000
1136 Washington #410----------------------------$218,000
1136 Washington #704----------------------------$229,000
1123 Washington #503----------------------------$229,900
1123 Washington #508----------------------------$231,000
703 N 13th #404 --------------------------------$265,000
721 N 17th #401-------------------------------$278,500 WHO ROCKS THE PARTY?
1123 Washington #218----------------------------$290,920
400 S 14th #1218--------------------------------$391,500
1121 Locust #302--------------------------------$425,825

Average Price per Square Foot=$178.63

Dear Young Professional,

"I have a question for you - I'm a "young professional," as we are often called, and am considering buying a loft downtown. My main concern is that if I want to sell the place in a few years in exchange for a place in the burbs, there won't be a market for it with all the new lofts that are being developed and the limited sales at this point in time. As the closest thing to a resident expert, what are your thoughts?"

My thoughts are varied. First of all, the fear that downtown St. Louis will be developed beyond sustainable population levels is a misconception. Downtown development is market driven. While the real estate market has been slower in the past year, most developments that have offered a good product for a reasonable price have continued to sell. Developments that are over-priced or lack certain features have struggled. My primary thought is BUY SMART! A good value will hold up regardless of what the market is doing.

My second thought, as a real estate professional, is that home ownership of any kind generally doesn't usually yield a positive return on investment within just a couple years. Our lofts have been an exception to that general rule for the past few years, particularly if they are purchased as "pre-construction." The only problem in that scheme is that most 1st time buyer's are wanting to buy to have a place to live and can't wait the year plus time frame for a pre-construction building to be completed.

Overall, my thought may seem biased, but work with a specialist (buyer's agent). The development companies that build lofts almost always have a sales force that is more than willing to assist you in buying THEIR product from start to finish. A skilled Realtor will usually expose a buyer to all possibilities downtown including new construction. This is free, and as a process, it seems to educate the buyer about the entire market. I generally listen to a buyer and really try to get them to evaluate all areas too. We've worked with potential loft buyer's that end up using us to buy homes in St. Charles or elsewhere in the St. Louis area. Sometimes prospective buyer's decide that renting for another year will work.

Lastly, after living downtown, the thought of trading a loft for a place in the 'burbs will make you nauseous. You'll probably decide on a house in one of the other fantastic city neighborhoods instead.

Entertainment Tonight

Postcards have been popping up around downtown for the 10th Street Block Parties. It's been kind of low key. Since the weather was so bad, it's inception was rained out and pushed to tonight. It will be in the City Grocer's parking lot at 10th & Olive from 5-8pm. Stop on by.