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Collage
of photos taken from the Downtown Loft Tour with Ventana
Lofts (1635 Washington Avenue) in the background.
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LOFT WORKING, LIVING,
PLAYING
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By James Nicholson
Lofts are suddenly synonymous with the new urban lifestyle. They
provide a spacious expanse of open space, high ceilings and lots
of windows. They’re usually inhabited by committed new urban pioneers
who set the trend, rather than follow it. Maestro David Robertson
lives in a loft. So does Les Sterman, director of East West Gateway
Coordinating Council. Washington Avenue has moved from a street
of empty warehouses to anchor the burgeoning loft and club district.
The next step in urban loft and housing development is quite logical,
but may surprise you.
Tony
Thompson,
president and CEO,
Kwame Development |
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Tony Thompson, president and CEO of Kwame Development, looks out
the window of his office to the street below and muses, “We were
the first fully occupied building on Washington. When I moved the
offices here the street was empty. That was before the repaving,
too. Now look at it.” There’s street and sidewalk traffic in both
directions on view. “You should see it at lunch time,” Thompson
grins. “We’re very proud to be part of the future of St. Louis.
Thompson moved his offices from Clayton and admits his workers were
skeptical at first. They were quickly won over. “Downtown offers
more real estate for the buck,” Thompson explains while exhibiting
his office’s kitchen and lounge area. “There’s more open space to
work which provides for greater creativity. We’ve had receptions
for the Governor and the Mayor. It’s a very convenient space with
an ample work area.”
Oh, yes. It is a loft. The higher floors house eight residential
lofts. Business and trendy living coexist vertically. One of the
tenants, Thompson relates, lives in Atlanta and uses his loft as
both an office and as a residence. That seems to be an interesting
trend. A new building Thompson has proposed developing is designed
for 17 residential units. A prospective tenant has already proposed
purchasing an entire floor for office space. That’s a trend that’s
evolving. Thompson, coining a phrase, notes that people are now
“condo-izing” their lofts.
Andy
Hillin,
principal,
Jacob Development Group |
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Andy Hillin, the principal of the Jacob Development Group (in his
office, in another loft a few doors down the street) provides a
concise description of the benefits of lofts as office space. “They
emphasize the inherent structure of what are, in essence, historical
warehouse and manufacturing buildings. They have high ceilings and
wooden beams. The walls are exposed brick. The floors are stained
concrete. They have a unique character and are much more appealing
than normal office buildings, which tend to have lower ceilings,
not as many windows and are made of steel and concrete, not timber
and brick.”
He goes on to explain that the “working environment as well as the
attitude picks up” in a loft office. “They’re open, airy and non-traditional.
(Because of their) flexibility, they provide (workers) more enjoyment
and productivity picks up. A lot of businesses like that,” he understates
with a knowing grin.
He knows his product. “All loft developments,” he explains have
a commercial component on the first floor.” Now further commercial
components are becoming a viable element for loft development. “Some
people live and have their offices (complete with small staff) in
the same space. Companies like U.S. Bank have entire units operating
out of loft space offices. A graphics design firm occupies a second
floor space, while there’s an art gallery on the first floor. Retailers
live on the second floor while their businesses occupy the first.
The possibilities seem endless and Hillin concurs. “We see a lot
of offices in buildings with residences. They’re not just one (kind
of space) or the other. There’s a lot of mix.”
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Steve
Smith, co-founder of The Lawrence Group, joins Mayor
Slay in recent opening of the renovated Marquette
Building |
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Add to the mixture the developments of The Lawrence Group. “We’re
expanding the downtown residential lifestyle beyond lofts,” explains
co-founder Steve Smith. “For five years, all downtown residential
development consisted of loft-style spaces. Not until the Marquette
Building have non-loft downtown residential condos become available.”
Smith views loft-livers as “young, creative and very urban,” but
feels there’s a “large segment of people who desire the urban lifestyle,”
but feel that lofts are not for them. He immediately cites lawyers
and corporate executives and others desiring a more traditional
home environment.
Not that he disdains the loft livers and developers (“they’re absolute
pioneers”), but he does want to make explicit that, due to The Lawrence
Group, there now exists an alternative downtown living environment.
“Our units are fully finished, not lofty. They follow traditional
(two to three bedroom, et cetera) housing unit patterns.”
“We now can offer lifestyle opportunities not available in smaller
developments,” he states, citing The Lawrence Group’s new Park Pacific
Development, which will be anchored by the old Missouri Pacific
Building. “It will have a doorman, a swimming pool, a restaurant
with room service, a dry cleaner, a wine cellar, a spa, an in-house
auto valet. A thirty-unit building simply cannot afford such services,”
he observes. If that isn’t enough of an incentive, the new portion
of Park Pacific will offer floor to ceiling glass, downtown views,
contemporary construction, gas ranges and fireplaces and abundant
covered parking.
He finds the new opportunities “tremendously exciting,” because
“they broaden the appeal” of living downtown. “Do you know that
downtown you can select a new restaurant every day of the month
that’s within walking distance?”
“If you travel around the country,” Smith observes, “you’ll find
lots of other cities—Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Austin—with
lots of downtown housing and a busy downtown.” He feels the market
is demographically driven with the children of baby boomers being
the loft-living pioneers and the empty-nester boomers themselves
embracing the new urbanism in downtown condos.
If so, now that downtown as a neighborhood is not only established,
but growing and larger projects such as the Bottle District and
Ballpark Village loom on the horizon, downtown residents will be
able to both work and play within walking distance of their ultra-urban
homes.
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THE
PLACE TO BE
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Pat and Jeff Nudi, loft owners |
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St. Louis
is on the move. Since 2003, 31 new restaurants and 26 new
retail stores have opened their doors. This happened because
more and more people have made the leap to downtown living.
“According
to a report by Steve Smith of the Lawrence Group,” says Joe
Ambrose, First Bank Regional President, “only 3,800 people
lived downtown. Now, there are approximately 10,000 with a
projected population of 18,000 by 2010.”
Originally from Buffalo, NY, Pat and Jeff Nudi moved to the
Terra Cotta Lofts two and a half years ago from their Benton
Park house, which they bought because they needed a yard for
their dog.
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Casa
Semplice, downtown |
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“When our dog passed on, we made the move,” Nudi says.
A principal at Cannon Design, Nudi now walks to work. “The
cleaners is on the way, so I can drop off my shirts. I travel
a lot so I walk to MetroLink and take it to the airport.”
His wife, Pat, likes it because of their proximity to Savvis
Center. “We’re Blues season ticket holders, and it’s so nice
to be able to walk there, or to any sports event.”
And they got another dog, a toy Fox Terrier which is litter-box
trained!
Miguel Cotignola moved to the Railway Lofts from his West
County home in 2004. “I like the environment, the mix of people,
the location, the size and the fact that it’s low maintenance.
I grew up in a flat in Madrid, Spain, so the loft feels like
home to me.”
Chuck Cantrell’s opened Casa Semplice, an “urbanized” kitchen
wares store, in August of last year.
“We moved here because it was a developing community,” he
says. “We have a competitive product and we need to be in
a market that has the right diversity and income mix, and
St. Louis has that.” |
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ABOUT
DOWNTOWN
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Neal
Peirce, keynote speaker, 2005 RCGA Leadership Trip, October
2005: “Now, praise the Lord, the center city certainly does
seem to be on a recovery path. The turnaround of downtown
St. Louis over the past eight years is the most significant
I have ever witnessed.”
The
New York Times, March 31, 2006, reporter Larry Friedman:
“St. Louis has undergone a remarkable transformation since
1972, when the spectacular demolition of its high-rise Pruitt-Igoe
housing project became an indelible symbol of urban decline.
Young professionals drawn to new biotech and medical research
industries, as well as a new wave of immigrants from places
like Bosnia, are bringing new life to neighborhoods that last
thrived a century ago. New loft districts, old civic jewels
and revitalized night life are making the old refrain of ‘Meet
Me in St. Louis’ a welcome phrase again.”
Associated
Press, April 10, 2006: “Invest-ment is growing at an unprecedented
pace. In 2004, the city had $341 million in downtown investment.
That grew to $590 million in 2005, and downtown boosters are
predicting $1 billion in investment for 2006.” |
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GO
FIGURE
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Downtown Facts and Figures as provided by
The Downtown St. Louis Partnership
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Between 2000 and 2005,
downtown St. Louis added 1,594
residential units, nearly all of them lofts.
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In 2006 alone, downtown
will nearly double that number, with another 1,392
lofts scheduled to come on-stream.
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And in 2007, another
1,410 are scheduled
to come on the market, for a tripling in two years.
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In 2006, new construction
will join rehabilitation for the first time, with several
new mid-and high-rise condominium towers scheduled to
break ground.
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The residential population of downtown—8,500
in 2000—is projected
to more than double to nearly 18,000
in 2008.
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In the last three years, almost 60
new restaurants and retail establishments with 150,000
square feet have opened.
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Another 250,000 square
feet is scheduled to open in 2006
and 2007, and about
750,000 more is being
planned.
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The original plan for downtown’s rejuvenation, completed
in 1999, called for
$1.2 billion in public
and private investment by 2006.
In fact, more than $3.7
billion has already been invested, a figure that will
grow to $4 billion
by year’s end.
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| These
figures far exceed what cities like Denver and Cleveland,
both known for the restoration of their downtowns, were able
to generate in a comparable period. |
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