Thinking Big in St. Louis

When examining a project opportunity of this magnitude, you need to make a bet on what you think the future of the neighborhood is. Where do you see the neighborhood when the property opens? How about after 5 or 10 years? What about in 25+ years? It’s hard to predict what the landscape will be like in any neighborhood let alone Downtown St. Louis. As such, a project, like this one, could hypothetically set the tone for the future. This is why it's so important to “redefine possible”. 

In the planning exercise I created, I assumed a 36-month start-to-finish timeline of placing said building under contract, doing due diligence, getting proper approvals, having incentives approved, gathering investors, finalizing plans and financing, bidding the project out, construction, marketing, and opening. 3 years. Again, it’s hard to predict what Downtown will be like in 2028 (or even 2029), so the tone could be set here.

The vision features turning this beautiful building into a mixture of studio and one-bedroom apartments geared towards the young, urban-minded professional. These tend to be people who could’ve recently graduated college and crave an urban living environment. These are people who take great value in having a grocery store and MetroLink station within walking distance. These are people who tend to remain social and like having a robust amenity package where they can be social. The conceptual project assumes that space in each apartment is used in the most efficient way possible while still feeling like home. Additionally, the project has amenities on the roof and in the basement in order to offer residents unique spaces to socialize, hangout, workout, relax, and work.

In my concept, the apartments would break from the gray/white color palette that’s been overused and has grown stale. Instead, think of a color palette made up of cream, green, and wood fused with Quartz countertops and other accents that make the living space feel warm and inviting. With large windows that let in a lot of light, the desire would be for artificial lighting being only a necessity at night and even then, the harsh bright white lights that are built into so many apartments today would be discarded in favor of a soft white light. In the studio units, the beds could be raised into the ceiling as the resident desires to make room for a built-in couch meaning your living room will truly be a living room. Original doors, of which there are few, would be reused either as doors to bedrooms in the one-bedroom apartments or to access different amenity spaces.

Make no mistake though, these would not be “luxury” apartments. Not only is the word “luxury” terribly overused, but what I’m envisioning here is setting a new standard for apartment living. Remember, the future of Downtown St. Louis can be formed by what we do now.

At the ground-floor, the public should reasonably expect smaller retail bays where local shops and services can make their presence known. Just like back in the heyday of Downtown where one could find anything you’d need while strolling the sidewalks, this project would contribute to restoring that experience. Additionally, the ground-floor would include a small restaurant space and an accompanying food hall/social hall. Such a space would be where 4 or 5 small entrepreneurs could open a small-format restaurant and share the space with a bar and maybe a small performance stage where comedy shows and small concerts (jazz, blues, acoustic) could be held. In general, you’d be creating a ground-floor that invites the City to hangout, support a local business, and contribute to a Downtown revitalization that has been decades in the making. 

Just picture it, a dark streetscape transformed into a lively one. Another shadowy corner addressed in the best possible way.

For the rest of the neighborhood, the redevelopment of said building is one less vacant building to contend with. It’s a win for nearby businesses who will likely have another 200+ customers within a short walk of their front doors. The redevelopment also means that Downtown will appear cleaner and safer, something the neighborhood perception struggles with today.

But this is only one potential project. There are many more opportunities like this that can be realized all across the City. From renovating small houses and apartment buildings to the largest buildings, sometimes all it takes is a little bit of innovation to get a desired outcome. It’s something I’m well aware of and continue to assess opportunities of all sizes. Sometimes there are clear opportunities that could be easy to turn into that "next big thing” and sometimes the opportunities are hidden and in need of being discovered. Nothing’s better than finding a diamond in the rough.

And if at first, the desired outcome of the concept isn’t achieved, it doesn’t hurt to try again. “Thinking big”, “innovating”, and “redefining possible” doesn't mean walking away from an opportunity just because the work gets complicated. It means to double-down.

Outside of this Downtown project opportunity, others exist across the City that touch on redevelopment efforts and new-construction of varying size. You're seeing locals jump in on the opportunities that exist by having the vision, and will, to purchase homes and multi-family buildings in neighborhoods of varying condition and investing money to fix them up. In many cases, the owners will live in these buildings, helping strengthen neighborhoods and the City at large. It’s a trend that I expect to see heat up in the coming years and proves that people are “thinking big”. They see the opportunity St. Louis presents and they’re getting in decently early.

My hope is to have more to share soon.