By
Christine Imbs
Good things are happening in St. Louis. Just take a walk downtown
and you can’t help but notice the change. Buildings that were
once deteriorating and vacant have taken on new lives as condominiums
and lofts. The Old Post Office has not only regained its former
glory, but has sparked similar restorations in virtually all
its surrounding structures. On the Landing, a huge $430 million
casino and multi-use development is currently under construction.
And of course, there’s the new Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village,
home to the 2006 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Travel a little farther within the region and you’ll see that
downtown isn’t the only spot enjoying a surge in real estate
development. A new planned community of residences recently
named the best selling development by MarketGraphics continues
its expansion in St. Charles. The Central West End now boasts
the first multi-family high-rise in the City of St. Louis in
30 years. And in Edwardsville, expansion of the Gateway Commerce
Center makes it one of the largest warehouse facilities in the
United States.
“There’s no doubt. The St. Louis region is on a much sounder
footing than it’s been in a long time,” says Richard Ward, founder
and CEO of Development Strategies Inc. “We’re not booming. We
don’t boom here. It’s a slow, steady growth. But we’ve had a
steady well-balanced economic growth for a pretty long period.
I think everything’s just clicking right now.”
Richard Shepard, principal and founder of Real Estate Strategies,
says he’s seen the number of significant real estate deals taking
place throughout the region increase considerably over the past
year.
“The size and number of major deals is truly amazing,” he says.
“What surprises me is the dollar size of some of these projects.
They’re huge compared to what we used to see. It’s encouraging
and sends a very positive message about the St. Louis region.”
A poll was recently made of the senior members of the St. Louis
RCGA Economic Development team, along with Richard Ward and
Richard Shepard, to determine the top real estate deals in the
region over the past year. What follows is a list of “the Sweet
16” that were chosen, but not without some difficulty.
“Selecting the projects to highlight on this list was indeed
very challenging,” says Shepard. “Since 2006, St. Louis has
been blessed with an abundance of large and significant deals.
They all deserve recognition. But what is important, is that
they all present a very positive image for the St. Louis region.”
Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village – Downtown St. Louis
Stadium Cost: $387.5 million
Developer: St. Louis Cardinals
Status: Completed in 2006.
This new retro-style ballpark and home to the St. Louis Cardinals
was constructed on the former south end of the old Busch Stadium
and on the former bus parking lot to the south. It has a total
capacity of 46,861 including the 2,886 standing-room-only tickets
for the general public, the suites and party rooms. Busch Stadium
will host the 2009 All-Star Game.
Ballpark village cost: $650
million
Developer: The Cordish Company
and The St. Louis Cardinals
Status: The $387 million
Phase I construction is scheduled to begin Spring 2007.
Ballpark Village will be a mixed-use residential, retail and
entertainment complex that will complement the new Busch Stadium,
add a new level of quality retail and entertainment to downtown,
and link the ballpark with other parts of downtown. The first
phase of the project includes 360,000 square feet of retail,
restaurant and entertainment venues, and 100,000 square feet
of office space.
Express Scripts HQ – UMSL Campus
Cost: $50 million
Size: 320,000 square feet
Idea Originator: George Paz,
president and CEO, Express Scripts
Developer: North Park Partners
ESI
Status: Broke ground September
2005. Completion expected in 2007.
Express Scripts is one of the leading managers of pharmacy benefit
plans and the first Fortune 500 firm to locate corporate headquarters
on a public university’s campus. The collaboration between Express
Scripts and the University of Missouri-St. Louis aligns two
key institutions for the benefit of the greater St. Louis region.
Federal Reserve Bank Expansion – Locust Street
Cost: $80 million
Developer: Federal Reserve
Bank
Status: Completion expected
in September 2007.
The St. Louis Fed’s project includes the construction of a materials
screening facility, a block-long pedestrian plaza, a new high-security
visitor entrance, the purchase and renovations of an existing
parking garage, and a new multi-story addition for offices and
an unloading facility.
Gateway Commerce Center Expansion – Edwardsville
Acquisition Cost: $14.2 million
Size: 450 acres
Developer: CB Richard Ellis
Status: Available first quarter
of 2007.
This new acquisition will initially house two distribution facilities
(Westway I and Westway III) totaling more than one million square
feet with expansion possible. Gateway Commerce Center is one
of the largest warehouse facilities in the United States.
Marquette Building – Downtown St. Louis
Cost: $53 million
Size: 250,000 square feet
Project leader: Steve Smith,
managing partner, The Lawrence Group
Developer: The Lawrence Group
Status: Construction began
2005. Currently about 90 percent occupied.
Restoration of 250,000-square-foot historic building into a
complex of 80 condominium units, 40 apartment units, commercial
and retail space, and the YMCA.
Maryland Walk - Clayton
Cost: $80 million
Size: 277,000 square feet
Idea Originator & Project Leader:
Bob Saur, Conrad Properties
Developer: Conrad Properties Corporation
Status: Completed in November
2006 and is currently about 75 percent full.
This 17-story building in Clayton includes 100 luxury condominiums
and 8,000 square feet of commercial space at street level. This
is the highest dollar investment in residential property in
the region.
New Town at St. Charles
Size: 747 acres
Idea Originator & Project Leader:
Greg Whittaker, president of Whittaker Homes
Developer: Whittaker Homes
Status: Broke ground in October
2003. Build-out is estimated to take 10 to 15 years.
New Town is a planned community of residences and self-contained
services aesthetically designed to blend old styles with new
functionality around a set of canals almost European in character.
New Town was recently named the best-selling development out
of 17,280 communities in 16 states by MarketGraphics.
Old Post Office Renovation – Downtown St. Louis
Cost: $77.7 million
Size: 242,000 square feet
Idea Originator: Mark Schnuck,
The DESCO Group; Steve Stogel, DFC Group
Project Leader: Gwen Knight,
vice president Development, The DESCO Group
Developer: The DESCO Group
and DFC Group Inc.
Status: Completed March 2006.
As a result of this project, ten surrounding buildings—seven
of which were previously vacant, deteriorated historic buildings—have
either been renovated or are in various stages of redevelopment,
making the Old Post District a very large and significant project.
Lead tenants in the building include Webster University’s downtown
campus, Eastern Division of the Missouri Court of Appeals, the
St. Louis Business Journal, the St. Louis Public Library, Pasta
House Pronto and Teach for America.
One AT&T Center - Downtown
Cost: $204.9 million
Size: 1,226,000 square feet
Idea Originator: Gary Bohler,
regional manager, AT&T Corporate
Real Estate Brokers: Kevin
Bittmann and Mark Palmer of CB Richard Ellis
Status: Deal completed December
2006
AT&T Center was the largest office building sale ever in the
State of Missouri in terms of dollars.
Park East Tower – Central West End
Cost: $55 million
Size: Site 20,000 square
feet
Idea Originator & Project Leader:
John Pitcher, Opus Northwest
Developer: Opus Northwest
L.L.C, St. Louis
Status: Completed October
2006
The first multi-family high-rise in the City of St. Louis in
30 years. It includes 89 condominium units, 8,000 square feet
of street-level retail, and five levels of enclosed parking
for residents. Opus received the Developer of the Year Award
in 2006 from the City of St. Louis for this project.
Pinnacle Developments
Lumiere Place at Laclede’s Landing:
Cost: $430 million
Idea Originator & Project Leader:
Dan Lee, chairman & CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment
Developer: Pinnacle Entertainment
Status: Construction began
in 2005 and completion is expected in fall 2007.
Located next to Laclede’s Landing with a great view of the Gateway
Arch, Lumiere Place will feature a large casino, a 200-room
luxury hotel tower, spa, business center, fine restaurants and
12,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. The project
will help further revitalize the downtown St. Louis area by
serving as a catalyst for additional development and providing
pedestrian access from Lumiere Place and Laclede’s Landing to
the Edwards Jones Dome and the Convention Center. Future plans
also include luxury condominiums.
River City Casino & Hotel - Lemay
Cost: $375 million
Idea Originator & Project Leader:
Dan Lee, chairman & CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment
Developer: Pinnacle Entertainment
Status: Broke ground in November
2005 and is expected to open in 2008.
This project will create an estimated 7,000 jobs and provide
environmental clean up of long-abandoned former National Lead
site. When completed it will feature a large casino, a 100-room
hotel, full-service spa, a 280,00-square-foot retail center,
an indoor ice rink, multiplex movie theater, a boutique bowling
alley, a night club and a public park with athletic fields and
a hatch-shell music and entertainment venue.
Plaza in Clayton Office Tower
Cost: $93 million
Size: 325,000 square feet
Idea Originators: Michael
Staenberg, Marian Nunn and Alan Bornstein of THF Realty
Brokers: Joe McGauley, Chris
Fox and Dennis DeSantis of Gateway Commercial, a member of the
Cushman & Wakefield Alliance.
Developer: THF Realty
Status: Ultimate sale in
September 2006
The Plaza in Clayton is recognized as one of the most successful
office developments in the Midwest. It sold for over $290 a
square foot, an all-time record high for investment real estate
in the St. Louis region.
Premier 370 Business Park – St. Peters
Sale Price: $49.6 million
Size: 1,600 acres
Idea Originators: Jerry Crylen
of Duke Realty and Mike Hejna of Gundaker Commercial Group
Land Sale Coordinator: Tom
Glosier of Kaplan Development
Developers: Duke Realty and
Gundaker Commercial Group
Status: Approved for purchase
April 2006. Official groundbreaking scheduled for fall 2007.
Premier 370 will be a master planned business community similar
to Earth City with an adjacent 300-acre public park and a 140-acre
lake. The project will be developed over a 10 to 15 year period
and will bring an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 new jobs to the
area.
SLU’s Edward A. Doisy Research Center
Cost: $80.5 million
Size: Nine-acre lot with
206,000 square feet of new construction.
Idea Originator: Rev. Lawrence
Biondi, S.J., president, Saint Louis University
Developer: Saint Louis University
Contractor: Clayco Corp
Status: Construction began
summer 2005. The building is expected to open in fall 2007.
The $67 million, 10-story Doisy Research Building is part of
an $80.5 million project that also includes renovation of existing
laboratory space in the CORTEX district. This is the largest
single building project since the University’s founding in 1818.
Solae at CORTEX
Cost: $60 million
Size: 160,000 square feet
Idea Originators & Project Leaders:
John Dubinsky and Lewis Levey
Developer: Clayco Inc.
Status: Completion expected
in 2008.
Following the development of the CORTEX I Building, a 165,000-square-foot
R&D building for Stereotaxis and Washington University’s Consortium
for Translational Research in Advanced Imaging and Nanotechnology
(C-TRAIN), Solae announced its corporate HQ and R&D building
on a full block adjacent to CORTEX I. Solae is a world leader
in food ingredient innovation and manufacturing.
St. Louis Business Center – Hall Street
Acquisition Cost: $18.5 million
Size: 850,000 square feet
on 56 acres
Idea Originator: Philip G.
Hulse, Principal of Summit Development Group
Developer: Summit Development
Group
Status: Completed fall 2006
The former site of St. Louis Car Company, the Hall Street area
was in a steady decline losing tenants to more modern business
parks on both sides of the River. After an extensive renovation,
14 companies employing approximately 600 people now reside in
the complex and over 800,000 square feet of space has been leased.
In 2005, this project was presented with the Developer of the
Year Award by the City of St. Louis.
