Developer seeks a sweeter view
By Charlene Prost
Of the Post-Dispatch
06/20/2005
The perpetually stalled development of the old Switzer Licorice Building in Laclede's Landing is on again, with some reservations
A group led by developer Pete Rothschild is ready to move forward with renovating the long-vacant Switzer Candy Co. building on Laclede's Landing with condominiums and retail.
There's one glitch: a proposed parking garage.
Columbia Sussex Corp. wants to build the six-story garage as part of its new plan to put a casino between the Eads and Martin Luther King bridges on the Landing. But the garage would rise just east of the five-story, 131-year-old Switzer building, blocking river views.
"It would kill our project," Rothschild said. "We certainly couldn't sell condos with views of a parking garage rather than the river."
The city and others are trying to find a way for the Switzer and casino projects to coexist.
Rothschild would spend about $12 million to build 28 condos above street-level retail and indoor parking for condo owners.
He said he would price most condos, with about 1,350 square feet, at about $300,000; two-level penthouses would go for about $600,000. His financing includes a loan from St. Johns Bank & Trust Co., city tax increment financing and state and federal historic tax credits.
Rodney Crim, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., said the city stepped in last week when the St. Louis Port Authority commission authorized him to negotiate a revised mooring agreement with Columbia Sussex. The company wants to buy the President Casino on the Admiral and would need a revised mooring lease to replace it with a new casino at the site east of the Switzer building.
As part of the lease negotiations with Columbia Sussex, Crim said his charge from the port commission is to work out a solution that allows both the Switzer and casino projects to go forward.
John Clark, president of Laclede's Landing Redevelopment Corp., said he and others also have been discussing solutions with Rothschild's group and Columbia Sussex.
One possibility, Clark said, would be to reduce the height of the garage and have Columbia Sussex rent office space in the lower levels of the Switzer building, where views would be blocked. Another would be a different garage site, perhaps on vacant land north of the Switzer site.
"We'll do whatever it takes to make (the Switzer project) happen," Clark said. "There are ideas on the table, and where there's a will, there's a way."
Gerard Carmody, a St. Louis attorney who represents Columbia Sussex, said the company also wants to see the matter resolved amicably. "We are exploring different ideas," he said.
Carmody said the company prefers parking across the street from the casino but would consider alternatives.
"We are going to work with the redevelopers of the building and the Laclede's Landing Redevelopment Corp., and will do everything within our power to make everybody happy," he said.
The new garage would be just north of the 1,250-slot Arch parking garage and next to a 300-car garage Columbia Sussex has an option to buy. Together, the two garages would provide Columbia Sussex with 600 to 650 spaces across Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard from the new casino.
Columbia Sussex proposed the new casino after the city gave redevelopment rights to a parking lot used by President patrons to Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. for its rival, $250 million casino development.
The Switzer building, a candy factory for more than 60 years, has been vacant since 1978. Renovations will take some doing.
"There is no roof and no floors," Rothschild said. "You can stand on the first floor and look into the basement, and then look up and see the sky - a whole lot of sky."
"So you just have to rebuild sections of the walls, do tuckpointing, put on a roof and structurally support the building ... exactly the kind of thing I love to do."
Reporter Charlene Prost
E-mail: cprost@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8140
By Charlene Prost
Of the Post-Dispatch
06/20/2005
The perpetually stalled development of the old Switzer Licorice Building in Laclede's Landing is on again, with some reservations
A group led by developer Pete Rothschild is ready to move forward with renovating the long-vacant Switzer Candy Co. building on Laclede's Landing with condominiums and retail.
There's one glitch: a proposed parking garage.
Columbia Sussex Corp. wants to build the six-story garage as part of its new plan to put a casino between the Eads and Martin Luther King bridges on the Landing. But the garage would rise just east of the five-story, 131-year-old Switzer building, blocking river views.
"It would kill our project," Rothschild said. "We certainly couldn't sell condos with views of a parking garage rather than the river."
The city and others are trying to find a way for the Switzer and casino projects to coexist.
Rothschild would spend about $12 million to build 28 condos above street-level retail and indoor parking for condo owners.
He said he would price most condos, with about 1,350 square feet, at about $300,000; two-level penthouses would go for about $600,000. His financing includes a loan from St. Johns Bank & Trust Co., city tax increment financing and state and federal historic tax credits.
Rodney Crim, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., said the city stepped in last week when the St. Louis Port Authority commission authorized him to negotiate a revised mooring agreement with Columbia Sussex. The company wants to buy the President Casino on the Admiral and would need a revised mooring lease to replace it with a new casino at the site east of the Switzer building.
As part of the lease negotiations with Columbia Sussex, Crim said his charge from the port commission is to work out a solution that allows both the Switzer and casino projects to go forward.
John Clark, president of Laclede's Landing Redevelopment Corp., said he and others also have been discussing solutions with Rothschild's group and Columbia Sussex.
One possibility, Clark said, would be to reduce the height of the garage and have Columbia Sussex rent office space in the lower levels of the Switzer building, where views would be blocked. Another would be a different garage site, perhaps on vacant land north of the Switzer site.
"We'll do whatever it takes to make (the Switzer project) happen," Clark said. "There are ideas on the table, and where there's a will, there's a way."
Gerard Carmody, a St. Louis attorney who represents Columbia Sussex, said the company also wants to see the matter resolved amicably. "We are exploring different ideas," he said.
Carmody said the company prefers parking across the street from the casino but would consider alternatives.
"We are going to work with the redevelopers of the building and the Laclede's Landing Redevelopment Corp., and will do everything within our power to make everybody happy," he said.
The new garage would be just north of the 1,250-slot Arch parking garage and next to a 300-car garage Columbia Sussex has an option to buy. Together, the two garages would provide Columbia Sussex with 600 to 650 spaces across Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard from the new casino.
Columbia Sussex proposed the new casino after the city gave redevelopment rights to a parking lot used by President patrons to Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. for its rival, $250 million casino development.
The Switzer building, a candy factory for more than 60 years, has been vacant since 1978. Renovations will take some doing.
"There is no roof and no floors," Rothschild said. "You can stand on the first floor and look into the basement, and then look up and see the sky - a whole lot of sky."
"So you just have to rebuild sections of the walls, do tuckpointing, put on a roof and structurally support the building ... exactly the kind of thing I love to do."
Reporter Charlene Prost
E-mail: cprost@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8140
