I know we recently had a thread on this at Stl Rising, but does anyone know when the Park East Tower is finally going to begin? I know Arch Madness said he was told the middle of December. Well, that is now. I haven't driven by in over a week, so I will probably do that after I work and take ballpark pics tommorrow. Maybe it has started and we just don't know.

This is, in my opinion, the most exciting new project in St. Louis. I don't know if you've checked out the website, but it's pretty damn sweet.



I think the price is the problem. Despite the solid quality, excellent location, and neighborhood amenities, I think people are scared away by how expensive the units are when you consider the vast majority of them are fairly small.



I was down there about a month ago, and strolled up to the attendant's booth to see what the parking co (the operation now on the site) knew about it. The lady there said that every month since the early summer was supposed to be their last month, said that only about 30% of the units had been sold. When I told her the sign said 50%, she shook her head and said she heard it was 30%. God how I hate the marketing and advertising industry!



My fear is that the final product will be considerably altered from the drawings, which would be a damn crying sham. They might eliminate a few floors here, delete some amenities there. It would be friggin' awesome to see such a huge, sleek, modern tower rising right up from a low CWE intersection--and one of the better ones at that.



What could be worse, it might not ever get off the ground. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Get down on your knees and pray, people.

^ I really doubt that, its already 60% sold.

I'd take the word of Opus over the word of the parking attendant. I believe it is 60% sold. As for it getting built, Opus has invested a lot of time and money in this, which makes me believe more that it will get built eventually. The fact that it is still on the drawing boards is good enough proof for me.

I'm interviewing for a job at Opus here in mpls and I wouldn't distrust their word. Opus is one of the most respected development companies in the US. This building will rise.

condoguy wrote:I've got a college buddy who works for Opus and they told me that the tower is supposed to start construction at the end of January now. There was a snag with the city in pulling the permit but everything is a go. Said they were 60% sold and that it would be 27 stories like they show it on the advertising. I was recently in Minneapolis and had a chance to stop by one of Opus's other condo projects called Grant Park. It's like 30 stories with 300 units and the lobby looked like a 5 star hotel or something. Hopefully Park East will end up being as nice.

Nice...Opus has another one under construction in dt mpls that is 39 stories now. They have deep pockets and an excellent development team. Their finishes are top notch. I hope I can get this job. I have full confidence that this building will make that huge condo tower in Clayton look like Pruitt-Igoe.

Good news. Knew it would start soon.

Thanks for all the info. Feel a little stupid for being pessimistic and trusting the parking attendant! I'm even more excited about this project now than I ever was, since it's for sure going up.

I would like to see that too. Someone with a little better photoshop skills than me should put it in. I would try it, but it would probably look really bad. Could use Jive's beautiful ariel of the CWE, and combine the Park East in. gnix, I think I hear someone calling you.

JivecitySTL wrote:


Now when the hell is the groundbreaking already. It was supposed to be in October!

Went to a playoff party on Sat night, (arrggghhh!) anywho, met one of the future owners. They said the reason for the delay was building setback issues and dealing with the neighborhood, also the crap weather has not helped in the past 2 weeks. Evidently they should start very soon though, as all the issues that were delaying construction are behind them. This guy told me the delivery date of fall 2006 is still on.

Thanks for sharing. Good information.



Setback issues? I can't help but wonder what the problem was. The building is so huge that it seems like the whole block is needed (except sidewalks of course).

I called the sales office yesterday and asked what the deal was. They said that due to some legal issues, they have not yet set a date for the groundbreaking. The lady I spoke with told me sometime in February is likely. I asked if it's still a go and she assured me that "it absolutely positively is a go." She said this kind of thing is very common with a project of this magnitude and they fully expected something like this to arise. It will all be fine and good though, and she did mention that they were nearing 70% in sales.

The CWE is the most eclectic neighborhood in the region and is expanding east to Midtown, west to the Loop, and north. This untapped market is more than where people want to live, but is the perfect location in STL, and should be filled up with numerous highrises. Let us welcome more developers to try be creative, and dazzle us with a skyline to match the character of the CWE. Bring back the streetcars or put in a subway, the CWE can be STL's stylish neighborhood without the wasted space of cars.

Conrad and Onus need to step up the pace.

SMSplanstu:



As a St. Louis househunter looking north (from Delmar to Page, roughly), I'm interested in your prognostication--that the Central West End's energy and desirability will fan out in all directions, including north.



While I share your view as a matter of experience and intuition and even logic, I'm wondering if your vision is more informed than mine. Do you see concrete, tangible indicators of a northward push? If so, what are those indicators, and who or what is doing the pushing?



Thanks for your thoughts.

Why is there potential for the CWE to move north? Major pushes are the Roberts Brothers, a locally and nationally recongnized or irgnored "untapped" market. To explain the last sentence local companies have only become aware by very recent development in the CWE that this is an unsaturated market they've been ignoring, those devp.s are the homa-roma, Maryland Ave, Roberts Bro.s projects, some Delmar devps by DeBaliver, and especially the Metro lofts. Nationally, Onus building Park East has already made statements of future devp. and he's the only regional outsider. Furthermore if Slay will be reelected, who has brought a business open atmosphere to developers in the city only has the option of building more on his reputation and networks to add more devp. to the CWE. Did I mention Richard Baron or Peter Rothchild? Both developers are more than motivated about building up the City. Now this is a summary of what's been the latest and is not specified to the north, but as more land becomes scarce in the CWE and the push east to midtown fills up with expensive townhomes, homes, etc... The only somewhat vacant or underutilized land is the north. Of course the north doesn't mean only extending Euclid, but when I mean north I mean more extending development between Kingshighway and DeB. and north or the areas north of Delmar between Taylor and Vandeventer.

Now granted St. Louis is NOT New York or MANHATTAN OR BROOKLYN which are far ahead of STL in momentum, but if the major cities become more of the "hot" market then the focus will be on already "hip" neighborhoods not just loft areas. The CWE is more the center of it all in terms of STL culture and people want culture or to replicate their own version of Grenwich Village or SoHo. Plus senior planner Rollin Stanley has crafted such an amazing and technological comprehensive plan that his plan alone will cause even small possibilities in the abandoned sections and give further accesibility and understanding of what's possible, available, and demographically where's the money to be made. Of course I may not be as wisely informed on what's been the market in other areas like the always rising NY market but I do base much on what's the current activity and push optimism into my league. My only concrete info is the current activity, the willingness of developers, and the fact that our own developers who have almost never built in the City are awakening to the possiblity. I hope our market become more like Brooklyn's without the major gentrificating.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply.



It's interesting to see the difference in our views of where/how the northward momentum that we both believe is coming, will arrive. You see it coming from developers seeking cheaper buildable land, which makes total sense. I expect the momentum to build also among individual househunters. I think they'll see what my wife and I see, which is that a location within walking distance of the Central West End (CWE) adds a significant measure of value to any property we buy.



These will probably be the most adventurous, least affluent segment of the market--people who see themselves as priced out of neighborhoods like Lafayette Square, Soulard, Benton Park, Tower Grove, Shaw and others. To these people, the near-CWE neighborhoods of Cabanne and Fountain Park, for example, could represent a pretty attractive proposition, offering beautiful and livable buildings often for less than $100K--some needing substantial rehab, as low as $20K.



It seems to be not so much a matter of whether, but of when.

I spoke to Kathy at the sales office today. She's really a cool person. I've spoken to her before. She told me that Park East is definitely go and things were slowed down because of a lawsuit.



She told me she didn't want to get into specifics (probably some NIMBY bullsh*t) because she didn't want to "bad mouth" the plaintiff. The lawsuit has been dismissed.



She said that everything is clear to go, and although no definite date has been set for groundbreaking it could happen next week or in early March.



Sounds like a broken record, I know.



Anyway, when explaining to her how anticipated this project is for the community, she stated that she knew that it was. She said lots of people have called about information on Park East, and while I was on the phone with her she got two more calls.

I hope it wasn't nimbyism too. I can kind of sort of see it along Skinker, but not here. The Central West End is larger than many downtowns in terms of high rises.

A friend of mine works for Garrison Partners, the Park East marketing agency. The lawsuit was not about the height of the building, it was about the use of common sewer lines. Apparently the Park East was encroaching on another building's water line or something. I don't know the specifics, but my friend assured me that Opus runs into this sort of thing with every project they do. They fully expected little roadblocks like this and there is no doubt that everything will be resolved and the plan will go forth.