Pyramid Companies’ New Houses Set Apart – Way Apart
On a whim I drove down 13th Street today. To my horror I discovered modest homes being constructed along the street opposite recently constructed apartments. The problem is not that the houses are modest in size but the relationship of the houses to each other.
The Pyramid Companies has been building for a few years on the site of the old projects at Tucker & Chouteau. To date, nothing they’ve built on this massive site has been worthy of the city or even their other work on downtown lofts.
From the looks of things the space between the houses is about equal to the width of each house. It just looks wrong and suburban.
Just look at the blank side of this house. Boring. If these houses were closer together we wouldn’t have to look at so much vinyl siding.
These same houses would be so more more appealing if they were closer together. Plus, that would have added 2-3 more houses to the block. Greater density to support local businesses and more profit for the developer.
I can’t imagine why Pyramid would do this.
– Steve
I’m no mind-reader, but I’ll bet Pyramid sees the markets for lofts vs. houses as very different. What they fail to consider is that both types of buyers are choosing to live in A CITY, a choice that necessarily implies heightened density, whether in a ten-story building downtown or a single-family dwelling in one of the city’s spectacular neighborhoods.
These Pyramid buildings are dishonest on their face, and timid; the only thing urban about them is their location. What’s maddening is, if you gave people a really straightforward execution, one that looked and acted like a real city house, they’d get snapped up in a second.
St. Louis is its own best model–attached, semiattached, freestanding–for low-scale residential housing; there’s no need to reinvent it, especially not with dreck like this.
This means you once again have a camera? I hope!
As to the spacing between houses, could they possibly be adding side porches or decks? If the backyard space is small by modern standards, then a side yard it is, thus the extra space. But from what I’ve observed about all the new neighborhoods in that area, no one EVER comes out of the house. While people live there, it looks deserted, even on a weekend. So, Pyramid being concerned about resident’s outdoor living spaces is a moot point.
They had to go back to the drawing board on their proposal for the housing they were proposing on Dolman in Lafayette Square. First drafts were totally inconsistent with being in a historic district…
On a similar note, you could say the same thing about the houses going up in McRee Town.
Is that chipboard being used as roof decking?
I’m going to head down there and check today.
Groan.
I have yet to see a Pyramid single family home that I like. Why don’t they either, 1.use more imagination in the design or 2.spend a small percentages of the total construction cost to add brick sides and backs to a home.
There are Pyramid-looking homes, a twin set, on Arsenal between State Hospital and the Fire Station. These two homes are extremely close together; in fact, why they didn’t just build attached townhomes seems silly when you get this close. My impression of the distance on these very brick twins is that they’re easily under ten feet, maybe even only five feet apart.
Steve, a picture being worth a thousand words, could you take and post a picture of these as a contrast to the Darst-Webbe homes?
This is pathetic. It would take so little to do them correctly. It doesn’t take rocket science to build an attractive modest home/neighborhood. It is a science that has been perfected, so why do they choose to give the citizens of St. Louis the proverbial finger?
I don’t know how “modest” these houses are; don’t prices start in the $130k range, according to the sign.
The stuff Pyramid and/or CF Vatterott built in The Gate District in the past five years is similarly widely spaced, and even higher priced, I think. This is not surprising, given they often take 3 lots from LRA and make them into one. In the case of the Darst-Webbe redev, of course, it was all one parcel, owned by the Housing Authority, who probably dictated to some extent what kind of layout they wanted.
Down by my house in Benton Park West, we have a Pyramid house at Oregon and Wyoming built in 2001, but on a regular size (corner) lot that was once occupied by a two-family (demolished in the mid 90s). It fits in ok, with brick on three sides (not the back).
Nevertheless, since it has a poured concrete foundation rather than rubble stone, you can still tell its not old. I don’t think there’s any way around that.
When Keystone Place (Gate District) was developed, Pyramid was the only game in town. While I recognize the loss of what was most likely viable building stock for these new homes, I feel like overall Pyramid did the city a great service in demonstrating that it was not financial suicide to risk millions of dollars to build here. While the designs were conservative, this approach was certainly justified. And it paid off – this neighborhood can now be considered highly successful and sustainable.
CF Vatterott has since gone in with their development and bumped the sales prices up a notch. There is room for much debate on their designs. On one had I like the fact that, though vinyl figures prominantly on the front elevations, they tried to use it as a design element rather than simply putting brick on the front and vinyl on the sides and rear. On the other hand, I have to think that we really need to expect more from a $300,000 house. Some of the floor plans seem to try to fit ten pounds in a five pound bag.
In terms of design, the Pyramid residential division (a different animal than the loft division) tended to be relatively rigid: “How many Wichita models can we fit on these three lots?” and “Let’s put a different elevation on the Lindell model for this one” were the typical approach. Whether a result of the Pyramid office culture, outside (political) necessity, or a true need to be conservative, there was always a generous amount of pressure to stick with the “proven”.
Urban development is hard work! The Pyramid crew should be commended for wading right out into the deep end, sink or swim. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and snipe (heck, I did it even when I worked there, too). I do recognize just how ungodly difficult it is to assemble land, convince lenders to finance, deal with neighborhood groups and aldermen, combat theft and vandalism, and ultimately end up with a financially feasible project (oh, and please the design-conscious watchdogs). That said….
Ultimately, it seems to me that with many of Pyramid’s recent residential projects, too many design decisions were made by the “developer” half of the company brain and not enough were made by the “designer” half. I look at the HOPE VI development at 14th and Choteau and can’t help but think that when you are so close to “right” the things that are wrong stand out even more.
The mansard roofs just look wrong. The buildings are just too far apart. The brick colors are just a little awkward. The corner “towers” are just a little too undefined. The brick arches are just a little too pointy…. on and on.
More and more of Pyramid’s effort is going into the downtown loft division and out to suburbia where the large projects can be found. Perhaps it is a function of the company’s lifecycle needs – there are a whole lot more people working there than there were just five years ago (Pyramid Architects was at two people for a whole year, way back when). The historic renovations and smart urban infill simply don’t bring in the bacon the way a large company needs.
My gut reaction is that other developers are filling in the gaps Pyramid has created by this shift. Beachfront Properties, Millenium, and others are pouring money and effort into some really cool projects. Pyramid residential has never been about cutting edge design. I do think that’s a loss for the city. There have been some stellar opportunities missed to help redefine entire neighborhoods instead of simply filling in gaps with nondescript brick-front boxes.
Steve – I’d love to read your comments on some of the Lafayette Square projects just up the street from 13th, among others. Could be an interesting comparison.
Isn’t Keystone Place Pyramid’s project on the old South Grand Sears site?
RB
Joe-
$130,000 is a very modest priced home, whether for new construction or substantial rehab.
Either way, that price barely covers the developer’s cost.
I don’t have the information right here in front of me, but I’m fairly certain the median priced home in the St. Louis region is around $160,000, which, compared to national housing prices, is also very affordable.
There are very few places in the St. Louis area where one can purchase a new home for under $140,000.
RB
Well, based on some quick searching, news links show the median home price for the St. Louis region to be right around $130,000.
Median home prices for new construction would be a different figure…a lot higher I suspect.
RB
Rick,
You are correct – I misspoke above. Eads Park was the Gate District development, not Keystone. Note to self: stop typing earlier in the evening….