Hey guys, has anybody seen the Meridian at 1136 Washington. real cool building, units ill have 14-16ft cielings. I spoke with their architect at the loft tour, he described everything to me including wall and floor construction, etc. Just wanna hear people's thoughts on this development.

Yes, this is the A.D. Brown Building. I don't know a whole lot about this one yet, other than a group of Los Angeles developers had planned to redevelop the building into around 100 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom loft-style condominiums with new retail on the ground floor.



related links:

http://www.1136washingtonstl.com/

http://www.stlouislofts.com/1136washington.html

I checked out the Meridian this weekend and was able to speak with one of the owners. The building is great with awesome renditions of the loft/condos inside their first floor demo space. Upper floors will be 2 story penthouses with outdoor patios. He said they have only been on the market a month and 20 have been sold/reserved already.



He took us into his space on the 8th floor and the view was great, you can see down washington and tucker from his corner loft, also when the bottle district towers begin to rise, they will be visible as well, truly a great building and location. I asked about the 1st floor retail space, he said he was not thinking restaraunt but a national retailer. It also looked like the Wine bar down the block was coming along nicely.



Finally he talked about the Days inn Redevelopment and that he can't wait for something to be done because it is plain ugly. (I agree) And he also said that they were shown a rendering of glass and a metalic finish for the property, and he said that he will be very pleased if this is what is done across the street.



Does anyone know who owns the building next door to the meridian, 1128-1130 Washington?

Robert Jeffrey Edwards

9834 Old Warson

St. Louis, MO 63124

The Meridian is an awesome building and I know they have one or two units available (as of Saturday, June 18) for $125,000. VERY nice finishes.

LA developers revive downtown's A.D. Brown building

7/29/05

From St.today.com



http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/busine ... enDocument

I thought about it...they have beautiful finishes and are priced well. I really like the building but the deciding factors for me not to get one was that property taxes were not abated and there are no building amenities such as a pool, clubhouse, or a gym.

fountboy wrote:Im just curious if anyone here has a reservation at Meridian or knows anyone who does? I just like to talk to people who are going into different developments and pick their brains to share ideas/thoughts.

I've signed a contract for a unit at the Meridian and am looking forward to moving in next summer.



The determining factors that attracted me to the Meridian were the central downtown location and beautiful facade. Also, the view of Washington Avenue from my unit on the 6th floor is spectacular.



It is true that the Meridian doesn't offer additional services such as a pool, bowling alley or clubhouse. Some people think this is a negative but I and many others see it as a positive. All the additional services at other lofts will only serve to cause condo fees to be high in comparison to the Meridian. I figure if I want additional services, I should be able to find them in the area.



If you're interested, I posted a blog entry with some pictures here: http://www.digistic.com/content/view/22/44/



Take care,

Dave

If I could combine the Lucas Loft amenities with the Meridan design and building I would've done it in a heartbeat.



With that said, the HOA fees at Lucas will only be $70 a month on my loft, which is WAY cheaper than my condo and I'm getting more with the loft.



Congrats on your unit though. It's a great building.

St.Louis UAB alumni wrote:If I could combine the Lucas Loft amenities with the Meridan design and building I would've done it in a heartbeat.



With that said, the HOA fees at Lucas will only be $70 a month on my loft, which is WAY cheaper than my condo and I'm getting more with the loft.



Congrats on your unit though. It's a great building.

Just as a comparison I am at Printer's and pay $1.35 a square foot for the association fees. Is that in the ballpark as you all? Our amenities include a fitness center/community room with kitchen area, rooftop deck with kitchen area and T1 shared internet connection. By the way, I think both of your buildings are going to be very cool.

^Are you saying that someone with a 1000 sf unit is paying $1350/mo. in condo fees. That seems EXTRAORDINARILY high -- regardless of amenities. Did I misunderstand you?

I really don't get the fixation with amenities. So you have a roof top deck and a wading pool? In a couple of years Washington Ave will be so packed with things to do and places to hang out, why be stuck with paying monthly for something you'll seldom use? I seriously looked at the Meridian, but concluded it was overpriced. At $175 a sq ft (average) without upgrades, I found much more value in other buildings. It's got location going for it, but I doubt it will hold up over time on the resale market. And what's with the "light well". Imagine putting down that kind of coin without windows (only three sides of the building have windows). I also found a huge price differece between the lower and upper floors, and from what I experienced, the lower floors will be plagued by road noise.

Amenities are important considering that my current HOA fees give me basic cable, water, sewer & trash and that's it and they are much, much more than what I will pay at Lucas Lofts.



A rooftop pool that isn't public is a big deal to some. It has a great view of the city (you can see the Arch) and will have the WA Sky Bar.

loftlover wrote:I really don't get the fixation with amenities. So you have a roof top deck and a wading pool? In a couple of years Washington Ave will be so packed with things to do and places to hang out, why be stuck with paying monthly for something you'll seldom use? I seriously looked at the Meridian, but concluded it was overpriced. At $175 a sq ft (average) without upgrades, I found much more value in other buildings. It's got location going for it, but I doubt it will hold up over time on the resale market. And what's with the "light well". Imagine putting down that kind of coin without windows (only three sides of the building have windows). I also found a huge price differece between the lower and upper floors, and from what I experienced, the lower floors will be plagued by road noise.

I wouldn't call it a fixation, more of just a basic comparison. And yea, there is and will be more stuff to do in the neighborhood, but people find it convenient to walk down the hall to get a workout in, take the elevator up to cool off in the pool and have a drink. It's called value for your money and believe it or not it plays a big role in resale. Plus, it's just cool to have a roof that you have access to and even better if there is a bar or wading pool up there. And as for noise, that is a tricky one. If you are on a busy street with tall buildings across from each other, as many are on Wash Ave., it doesn't matter what floor you're on as the noise bounces off and across the street and works itself straight up. It can be just as noisy on a 4th or 5th floor unit as a 2nd floor one. I have been in certain lofts where you can hear a normal conversation happening 5 floors down outside in the parking lot. And I've found that all lofts will experience the sounds of the city but it really doesn't get that quiet unless you're above like the 6th or 7th floor or are on a side that doesn't face a main street. That is why the upper floors go for a lot more, that and generally the view is better.



And there are a bunch of buildings that only have windows on three sides. Look at all the buildings on Wash. Ave. that are all butted right next to one another and they all seem to be selling well. That is one reason however why I like Loftworks and buy in their developments. Heller likes to buy buildings that have views on all 4 sides. It makes for better residential and am sure plays a role in why all of his developments sell out.

Thats an interesting thought. What buildings downtown have 4 sides of views? There really are'nt that many. So I guess people just need to be creative with the floow plans. Personally I don't think the light well units will sell well in the Meridian. I think that would be a cool feature to have as an atrium type of thing along the hallway.

I live in Florida and am very interested in the Meridian lofts. I can't get there to see them till Sept. does anyone know what is required to reserve a unit?

I believe its $2500 to reserve, then you have 45 days to sign the contract at which time a total of 4% of the purchase price is due (including the initial 2500). Things may have changed but that's the way I remember it.

Thanks so much!!

loftlover wrote:I believe its $2500 to reserve, then you have 45 days to sign the contract at which time a total of 4% of the purchase price is due (including the initial 2500). Things may have changed but that's the way I remember it.

That's close... It's actually $2500 to reserve. Then you have 45 days to mull it over and sign the contract at which point you pay another $2500. 60 days from the contract signing you pay 4% of the purchase price minus the initial $5000.



This is the process I'm going through although it may be different for loftlover for some reason...

^ Yup thats the way my contract was done too.

The true value of the extra amenities really differs from person to person. As such, I don't think the availability or nonavailability of these amenities will effect resale values much. I wouldn't mind seeing some research on the matter though.



The crux of this issue deals with competing factors: Private versus public amenities and convenience versus quality. For example, say your condo has a private gym. Since the client base is limited, your gym isn't going to be very robust. There's no way your gym will compare to Gold's or Bally's. Use of a great gym is important to me so I'd much rather walk a few blocks to Gold's than use a substandard gym in my building (if i had one.)



Also, I know it's a silly example but what if a person is allergic to water and thus can't and won't use the pool? What if they are disabled and can't work out? What if the resource doesn't meet their needs and have to find a substitute elsewhere? They're paying for the resources yet not using them. It's inefficient. I just want a nice place to live and the Meridian will be that and more.



With the influx of residents moving downtown the market can and will most likely meet our needs. Additionally, we'll get the quality of service we want at a better price since the services are public.



You mean there's actually noise downtown? No way! Even if there is some ambient noise, it should be fairly minor. In any case, part of the attraction of city living is experiencing the sensations of the city itself. This includes a little ambient noise.



Someone mentioned that one side doesn't have windows but a light well instead. Yeah, windows are preferable but that's just a constraint in many of the loft buildings. The light-well units are also more affordable and enable those to live downtown who couldn't due to prohibitive cost.



No loft or home is completely perfect. Everyone's gotta figure out what's important to them and prioritize. After that, it's all gut instinct.



Just my two cents...

Dave

Dave, well said. I wanted to buy in the Meridian for many of the reasons you stated. It's architecture you can see. My preference was to live on the seven floor (awe, those arched windows!) but it was cost prohibitive, as the unit I wanted (708) was in the 200 sq ft range. Agree with your comment re ambient noise in the city. Tucker and Washington is a busy corner indeed.