Around 70 members of CCIM-STL recently participated in its Annual Building Crawl, which included a trolley and an on-foot tour of three significant projects near downtown. The tour commenced at the 21c Museum Hotel on Locust, showcasing its own achievement in successfully renovating and restoring a historic property. The participants also visited the 11th & Spruce Stadium Apartments project and Gateway South Innovation District, with a focus on the Crunden-Marten Building located at 760 S. 2nd Street.
Tour leaders included Chris Lepsky, project manager with Brinkmann Constructors, at the apartment building, and Greg Gleicher, founder & CEO of Good Developments Group, at Gateway South.
“We need visionaries in our downtown,” said Matt Stack, St. Louis president of Russell Co., in welcoming tour-goers to the former YMCA-turned-hotel. All three sites, he noted, are “unique in St. Louis” in their own ways.
The apartment development will offer a total of 148 rental units — which include studios, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, ranging in size from 700 to 1,200 SF. Additionally, the project will feature a 48-space garage (with alternative parking options available in the vicinity) and 2,800 SF of retail space. The construction will encompass a combination of cast-in-place concrete and wood frame materials.
The "farmhouse-industrial style" atmosphere will be complemented by amenities such as a dog wash station, fitness center, and refrigerators and freezers tailored for food-delivery services, catering to the needs and preferences of residents.
Lepsky estimated costs at about $216K per unit and a total of $31 million. The project began in September 2022 and is expected to be completed in February 2024.
One of the obstacles encountered during the project involved the site, a former Cupples warehouse that had been demolished in 2023 and subsequently concealed, with a 100-year-old stone foundation that had to be removed. Approximately 500 grouted piers were required to ensure the stability of the new building. The project incorporated innovative technology by serving as a testing ground for a headcount badge system designed to monitor wages and on-site participation, as explained by Lepsky.
TRi Architects crafted a design that harmonizes with the original exterior and aesthetic of neighboring properties in the vicinity, featuring exposed brick on the interior supported by a thin brick system on metal frameworks.
The 180-acre, 1.3 million-SF Gateway South — the former Crunden-Martin complex — will be a hub and distribution center that takes advantage of St. Louis as a “multimodal heaven,” thanks to its central USA location and access to rail, river, air and highway services, according to Gleicher. “This project is bringing back what once was. We’re integrating historic buildings with something new.”
When the Washington University grad returned to St. Louis for this project, he was surprised at what it presented. “I had never seen a riverfront property with nothing going on,” Gleicher said.
Upon becoming operational, the facility will serve as a hub for producing and efficiently disseminating prefabricated construction materials and products to local, regional, and national markets, possibly making use of brownfield and historic tax credits. The project has already secured commitments from tenants, encompassing features like co-working spaces, a prototype lab, a materials library, and a construction museum.
The site presents a complex scenario, as it involves managing approximately 40 to 45 buildings with a variety of construction types, according to Gleicher. Additionally, determining ownership of the various items stored on the property, which range from home furnishings to pianos and building materials, has proven to be a challenging task.
The initial phase has incurred costs of around $250,000, while the total project budget is anticipated to reach approximately $1.2 billion. The objective is to achieve project completion by the end of 2025.
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Feature Image: The CCIM-STL Building Crawl's first stop featured the renowned 21c Museum Hotel, a captivating establishment in downtown that seamlessly marries contemporary art with luxurious hospitality. Photo credit: Ruth E. Thaler-Carter | MWM STL