Drury Development Plans to Break Ground on 210-Room Hotel, Restaurant Project In Brentwood

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Drury Development Corp. is set to break ground on a new hotel and restaurant project in the City of Brentwood, Bola Akande City Administrator revealed.

Located on a 3.97-acre parcel of land at the southeast corner of Eager Road and Brentwood Boulevard, the project calls for the construction of a 135,000-square-foot 210-room hotel, which will include an 8,000-square-foot restaurant outparcel.

City officials have been collaborating with Drury Hotel, Saint Louis County and the Missouri Department of Transportation since 2008 on the project. Mayor Pat Kelly said he is happy to see additional progress.

Chuck Drury, president and CEO of Drury Hotels said: “As a St. Louis-based company, we are grateful for the opportunity to expand our presence in the area, and we look forward to providing travelers with a clean, comfortable, friendly place to stay.”

The City of Brentwood issued permits approving demolition and site clearance for a Drury Inn and Suites hotel and restaurant at the 3.97-acre site, which includes a vacated MoDOT maintenance area and the H.A. Rothman buildings. Site clearance is expected to start this month, and the building permit plans will be submitted later this year. The actual construction of the eight-story hotel is set to start in spring 2013, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for late summer 2014.

The City of Brentwood supports the project with public assistance in the amount of $5.75 million through a transportation development district. The St. Louis Business Journal reports a 1 percent sales tax on items sold at both the hotel and the restaurant will go to the city of Brentwood, together with a room assessment usage fee of $1 per occupied room night. The project was also awarded a property tax abatement of 100 percent of the value of the land for the next 10 years and 50 percent of all sales tax generated by the hotel for the next 25 years.

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Logo Courtesy of: www.druryhotels.com

First Phase of Cardinals’ $700M Ballpark Village Obtains Approval

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

The Missouri Development Finance Board has voted in favor of awarding $17 million in state and local tax incentives to help fund the $100 million first phase of the Cardinal’s mixed-use Ballpark Village project. The state of Missouri is expected to contribute around 25 percent of the bonds.

William DeWitt III, president of the Cardinals, said: “Today is a significant milestone in a long journey to make Ballpark Village a reality.”

The major league baseball team and their development partner, Cordish Companies, plan to complete the first phase of the project by Opening Day 2014. Chase Martin, development director of the Cordish Companies stated, “we are grateful for the consistent support we have received from city and state leaders. Ballpark Village will be worth the wait as it will be one of the premiere entertainment developments in the United States.”

The first phase of the project, expected to create over 750 construction and more than 430 permanent jobs, includes the construction of 100,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space along Clark Street, next to Busch Stadium. The project will also incorporate streets, parking and site infrastructure to support future phases. The entire $700 million mixed-use project will stretch over seven blocks.

The Cardinals venue, called Cardinals Nation, will anchor the first phase. With a total of over 30,000 square feet on three levels, Cardinals Nation will include a two-story restaurant, a 300-plus seat seating deck with views into Busch Stadium and a Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum. A second construction will house a two-story, 20,000-square-foot Anheuser-Busch venue with a festive rooftop party deck, which will also offer views into Busch Stadium. The two signature structures will be united by a retractable glass canopy covering the event space, dubbed as the “Live at Ballpark Village!”

The Cardinals began their investment in downtown St. Louis with the opening of the privately financed $411 million Busch Stadium in 2006. The master-planned Ballpark Village will be a mixed-use retail, entertainment, office and residential district developed in partnership by the St. Louis Cardinals and Cordish Companies, the developer behind the Kansas City Power & Light District.

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Renderings Courtesy of: www.cordish.com

Balke Brown Transwestern Plans 280-Unit Apartment Project at The Highlands

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

A new residential project is set to be added to the 26-acre Highlands mixed-use development, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Steve Brown, a principal at Balke Brown Transwestern, said site work is already underway for the new 280-unit apartment complex, known as Cortona at Forest Park. The project is situated at the southwest corner of the Highlands and will more than double the number of apartments at the mixed-use development.

Located on the site of the former Blues hockey arena and demolished in 1999, the Highlands features two office buildings, a hotel, a restaurant, medical offices and two loft-apartment buildings. Balke Brown is also planning a fourth office building.

Balke Brown appointed Dallas-based Humphreys & Partners as architect of the Cortona. The five-story building will feature approximately 200 one-bedroom apartments and 80 two-bedroom units. The development, which gets its name from a picturesque Tuscan town, will have an Italian villa-style exterior, with earth-tone panels. The project is slated to be completed in early 2014. Amenities will include a 7,000-square-foot clubhouse, an outdoor kitchen, a spa and a saltwater swimming pool. The residents will also benefit from a car-detailing service, a leash-free pet park and close proximity to the Forest Park Community College and the Forest Park Hospital. Monthly rents are expected to range from $1,000 to $1,750.

The $42 million project is financed by the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust, which in the past years also invested in other St. Louis projects such as Park Pacific and the Laurel.

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Dominium Proposes $100M Mixed-Use Conversion of Landmark Arcade Building

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Dominium Development is offering $6 million to the city’s Land Clearance For Redevelopment Authority (LCRA) for Arcade Building, one of the biggest vacant structures in downtown St. Louis that has not been occupied for decades.

A city selection committee unanimously voted to negotiate with Dominium on a redevelopment agreement for the Arcade, which is owned by the LCRA. The project, which is expected to cost over $100 million, plans to transform the 500,000-square-foot, 18-story, Arcade and the adjoining Wright Building into 254 one- and two-bedroom apartments.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Gothic-Revival landmark constructed in 1918, located at 800 Olive Street, could become the third project for Dominium in St. Louis. The company recently completed the transformation of the Metropolitan Building, a former office building, into 70 artists’ apartments with street-level artist studios space. Last year it opened at 1604 Locust Street the Leather Trades an 86-unit artists’ loft building which the company said is now fully occupied. The Leather Trades, Metropolitan and Arcade developments were had all been projects of Pyramid Construction, which went out of business in 2008 after the nationwide housing crash.

Dominium’s plan calls for 69 market-rate apartments, which will be located on the building’s top four floors, and 185 affordable artists’ live-work units. The lower three floors of the Arcade, including the iconic two-level shopping arcade, will be renovated as commercial space. The project will also feature 143 parking spaces in the basement of the Arcade and will use an additional 250 spaces at the nearby Ninth Street Garage.

Dominium and city officials will now negotiate public incentives which could include tax-increment financing, property tax abatement, Brownfields tax credits for asbestos removal, Low Income Housing Tax Credits and tax-exempt bonds. The company also intends to seek federal New Markets Tax Credits.

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Photo Courtesy of: publichall via Wikimedia Commons.

Raven Purchases Foreclosed Northwest Plaza Mall, Plans $106M Redevelopment

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

The Northwest Plaza shopping mall in St. Ann is set to get a new lease on life as an entity formed by Raven Development closed on the purchase of the nearly vacant property, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Bob Glarner, a principal of Raven Development, announced a $106-million redevelopment plan for the 1,829,000-square-foot asset.

The 122-acre foreclosed property was acquired for around $5 million by Raven Development affiliate NWP LLC. The property was sold by St. Ann Shopping Center LLC, which is owned by Wells Fargo Bank. The listing price was $10 million.

The Northwest Plaza, built by the Zorensky family, was at one time the largest shopping mall in the world but has been neglected in recent years after several changes in ownership. Raven Development, led by brothers Bob and David Glarner, has closed on a financing deal with Great Southern Bank to redevelop Northwest Plaza and has secured approval for $33 million in tax increment financing assistance from the County TIF Commission and St. Ann aldermen.   

Bob Glarner said the company plans to tear down most of the shopping center, renovate the 12-story office tower and construct big box stores, restaurants, offices and possibly a technical college. The redevelopment plan also calls for the complete renovation of the J.C. Penney building and the Macy’s and Burlington Coat Factory stores. Eau Claire-Wisconsin based Menard has been contracted to buy around 18 of the 122 acres.

The developer announced that NAI Desco will broker the retail portion of the property, while it is interviewing several brokerage offices for the leasing of the office tower. The company already has a letter of intent from a national retailer and is also discussing with a second anchor tenant, Glarner said. The first store is expected to open in the fall of 2013 or the spring of 2014.

According to a recent report released by Marcus & Millichap, approximately 950,000 square feet of retail space is currently under construction throughout the St. Louis metro area. Several projects which have been stalled during the recession are expected to come online in the coming years, and a further 3 million square feet are planned in the metro. By year end around 450,000 square feet will be delivered, increasing the stock by 0.5 percent.

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Photo Courtesy of: Caldorwards4 via Wikimedia Commons.

Chart courtesy of: Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc.

St. Louis Design Alliance Starts New Construction, Renovation Project

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Locally-based architecture and development firm St. Louis Design Alliance is renovating a 1920s apartment hotel and building a mixed-use building at the eastern end of the Delmar Loop, stltoday.com reports.

Site work has started for a new three-story building at the vacant lot, located at Delmar Boulevard and Hamilton Avenue. Interior demolition work on the six-story Gotham building at 5900 Enright Avenue, adjoining the site to the north, has started as well.

The new building, to be called the Gotham Annex, will feature 5,900 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and 18 apartments on the upper floors. The historic Gotham building, which originally featured 72 rooms, will be renovated and will offer 54 market rate apartments. Both Gotham buildings will incorporate energy-efficient elements such as insulated glass and heat-reflective roofing.

The $11.4 million Gotham project will benefit from the Loop Trolley, a $43 million street car line which will link the Loop and Forest Park. Construction of the rail link is set to begin towards the end of this year or by early next year.

The renovation of the Gotham building will benefit from $2.2 million in financing from state and federal historic tax credits, as it is located within the Hamilton Place national historic district. The project will be financed mainly through an $8.64 million HUD-backed loan from Washington-based Love Funding.

Jeff Mugg, Design Alliance’s vice president, who has worked on several apartment projects in the Hamilton Place area, believes the Gotham project will lead to more development in the historic neighborhood.

Rendering Courtesy of: www.stlda.com