Conrad is Best Team to Redevelop Richmond Height’s Hadley Township
This post will cover a lot of ground including mass transit, pedestrian connections, politics, historic preservation, suburban sprawl and of course; eminent domain. But I’ve given away the conclusion in the headline. Of the proposals presented at last night’s meeting in Richmond Heights on redeveloping a part of that suburb known as Hadley Township, the Conrad team was by far the best.
THF, which I despise, actually had a much better proposal than I would have anticipated. The architecture firm of Heine-Croghan, which had a proposal as a developer, showed a lack of experience doing urban planning. Mills Properties, that had submitted a fourth proposal, was not at the meeting because apparently their approach wasn’t comprehensive enough to be compared to the others. Translated that means it didn’t take enough people’s homes to be considered by Richmond Heights.
From the literature I picked up at the meeting it seems that a fifth proposal, not on Richmond Heights’ website, was received. It was from QuikTrip, the Walgreen’s of gas stations. Maybe they wanted to do the world’s largest gas station comprising all 57 acres? Just imagine the number of pumps? People with Hummers might have to fill up again once they got to the other side of the QuikTrip.
Before I get into looking at the proposals for the area I want to talk about the area and how it got to this point. To the North is the highway that is about to get rebuilt. To the East a stable neighborhood. To the South the THF Realty monstrosity known as Maplewood Commons and to the West, across Hanley, the most f*cked up collection of strip malls, big boxes and offices that are sadly all relatively new. Among them is a new MetroLink light rail station that will be opening late this year.
The area in question was, at one time, a very stable and middle class African-American neighborhood. But because of the prime location speculators have been buying up properties for years. One was the aforementioned Mills Properties. The City of Richmond Heights has also acquired a number of properties within the area. The Richmond Heights Public Works department is located within the redevelopment area as are some other offices for the municipality. In short, the area suffers from being too well located to remain a nice middle class neighborhood.
In other similar areas, say Olivette just North of the tony suburb of Ladue, middle class houses were bought and razed for larger homes. But this didn’t happen here. I’m not sure if the speculators knew the land would be worth more if they could turn it into more strip malls or if it was because of the racial makeup of the neighborhood that they thought they couldn’t sell new in-fill houses to the white masses. Either way it has put these people’s neighborhood in the middle of a real estate game where they are simply the pawns. Yet as more and more speculators have bought property in the area it makes it harder and harder to sell your place to a new owner-occupant. The self-fulfiling downward spiral begins with the remaining home owners left realizing they will be forced to leave their family homes.
The meeting last night was packed. I saw many upset home owners wondering about when this will happen and how much they might get for their family homes. Keep in mind that I bet most of them would rather just spend their remaining years in their homes than to have to negotiate with multiple developers and the city to get them the best deal on their greatest financial asset. I wouldn’t wish this process on my worst enemy. Well, maybe THF’s Bornstein but I don’t think his new multi-million dollar Clayton condo is in the path of a redevelopment plan.
Of the three proposals presented last night I’d say the worst was Heine-Croghan followed closely in second by THF Realty and way out front was Conrad and partners.
Hadley Center & Hadley Heights
Heine-Croghan teamed up with Michelson Commercial Realty & Development, LLC in presenting a rather lackluster proposal. The site plan doesn’t improve on the existing street grid. In fact, it makes it worse by creating a number of cul-de-sacs. The resulting project is less connected than the current site which would require long walks to get from point A to point B. From Hanley Road they area would look like any other big box project in St. Louis County. This is a marginal attempt at best.
Click the image at right for a larger version.
Bricktown
As I said at the beginning, THF’s proposal was far better than I had expected. Granted, I expect nothing beyond a big block box and an ever bigger asphalt parking lot. They surprised me. In plan view I think it is fair to say their plan was the most interesting of the three. However, we don’t experience cities in plan view. Basically they dressed up the entrance to the six-box commercial area by placing the strip buildings not just as outparcels but along the main entrance to the parking lot. By doing so this was supposed to be a nod toward New Urbanism. In actuality it is more like a nervous twitch than nod. Their concept is supposed to be a charming “street” lined with restaurants with sidewalk seating. But it won’t be as charming as they try to make it out to be. And like the Heine-Croghan proposal, this one lacks good pedestrian connections from place to place within the project and to points outside the boundaries.
Click the image at right for a larger version.
The Village at at Heights
Which brings us to the Conrad team proposal. Of all of three it may be the least understood by both the general public and and Richmond Heights City Council. For starters, the only site specific graphic was a plan indicating some basic zones as you go from Hanley Road to Laclede Station Road and a big arrow pointing to the soon to open MetroLink Station. The rest of the presentation relied on images from New Urbanist projects such as Denver’s Stapleton. While the Conrad team includes a number of qualified individuals and firms the reason why this proposal so outstanding is the inclusion of one person: Peter Calthorpe.
Calthorpe is one of the pioneers of New Urbanism and is the movement’s big star along with husband & wife team of Andres Duany & Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk of DPZ, the planning firm behind New Town at St. Charles. By making Calthorpe part of the project team it signals a strong will to make this 57 acres some of the most interconnected in the region.
Calthorpe and DPZ do have some distinct differences in their projects, namely architectural style. DPZ holds much closer to a traditional architectural aesthetic whereas Calthorpe’s projects often take on a more modern interpretation of the local vernacular. As someone that likes modern & fresh design I tend to favor much of what his firm does. Still, both firms do an excellent job of connecting the various aspects of a project together via a fine network of streets and sidewalks. Calthorpe’s firm is highly experienced at designing TOD’s —- transit oriented developments. Their ability to direct pedestrians to the future MetroLink stop will be almost guaranteed. The other teams just can’t offer the experience the Conrad + Calthorpe team.
Of the three teams the Conrad proposal was the only one to show bike parking. This is the real deal folks. Richmond Heights, the surrounding neighbors and the entire region would be lucky to have this project.
The bidding has begun
Last night was a weird experience as the developers were talking numbers with homeowners faced with losing their homes. I didn’t both talking to the Heine-Croghan team because their proposal wasn’t serious in my view. THF’s Alan Bornstein spent much of the evening standing on a chair talking to the crowd gather in his room. His price, $35.00 per square foot of land. The person that has done a wonderful job maintaining their home will get the same price as the guy that’s place is only in fair condition but having the same sized lot. Conrad, on the other hand, has a different scale. For owner occupied properties they are offering 300% of the county appraised value. Thus the owner with the well maintained house will get more than the guy with the same size lot but hasn’t done such a good job maintaining the property. For non-owner occupied properties they’d go to a price per square foot of land schedule. I like the idea of giving greater reward to owner occupants.
Until our region gets a handle on smart planning we are going to continue to see large tracts marked for redevelopment. I don’t like it but sadly I think this neighborhood has already been severely compromised over the years. Large scale redevelopment, as proposed by Conrad, is the best bet. But I’d rather see the neighborhood remain as-is than accept one of the lesser proposals.
Click here to see the official Hadley Township page.
– Steve
Clearly Conrad has the plan and foresight to incorporate new urbanism in their plans. The RH council must give them high marks for exhibiting candor, honesty and courage, especially when compared to their competition.
Too bad the council members lack the knowledge and experience necessary to ask the right questions. As such the community and homeowners will get a substandard result. Obviously the RH council needs professional help. Will they take the necessary steps to insure a superior result by requesting the consultation so needed ?
Past performance portends a less than satisfactory result.
I live less than a mile away from this this area, and every time I ride down Dale I cross my fingers and hope that THF doesn’t take this one. The intersections just to the north of this area, the dale / hanley & 40 / hanley interchange are just about the worst traffic disaster you have ever seen in the afternoon. Crossing over hanley by bike and continuing down dale forces you to cross several lanes of traffic while competing with cars entering and exciting 40, then with cars getting off 170 1/2 mile down Dale. I gave up on this route to Whole Foods by bike even though its the most direct from my house. THF’s proposal will add another huge curb cut on Hanley, making a dangerous area even more dangerous for pedestrians, which is a bummer since there will be a new Metrolink station in the area soon. Perfect World? Richmond Heights would have built their Community Center “The Heights” on Dale, instead of next to 40 with a big parking lot in front, and just redeveloped the opposite side of Dale, with some Claytonesque zoning (after all, the two cities may be joining soon anyway) and left the neighborhood behind this area alone. Oh well, I’m moving into the city soon enough anyway. I think Conrad’s proposal could be pretty solid, I’ll let the City Council know what I think. I think THF has destroyed enough homes in this area already, given the new Walmart / Sam’s etc. that recently discgraced the area just south of this one.
After looking at all the proposals on the Richmond Heights website, I would agree that the Conrad might be the best. However I will say that I was impressed with both the Hadley Center & Hadley Heights and Bricktown proposals. The Hadley center seems to offer a better mix of lower density, while the Bricktown proposal would offer a compromise somewhere between the Blouvard Development and a traditional big box setup. I think it has better conections to the neighborhoods east of the project than you give it credit for.
My issue with Bricktown is that it basically puts a series of parking lots on Hanley, with no street-level retail. This is in contrast to the Conrad proposal. In addition, Bricktown creates no single family housing that I could see.
why is there no conrad overview picture?
If you look at the map regarding Richmond Heights’ RFP, you’ll notice the location of the MetroLink station and an area with red dots saying “infill housing only.” Only the Conrad team apparently noticed such context, as their proposal takes advantage of MetroLink and retains the urban fabric of the “infill housing only” area.
Conrad properties proposal is right on the money. From a community development point of view, including attractive green space. The overall plan feels like a neighborhood not just a suburban concrete place with no feeling of connection to either neighbors or the amenities within walking distance(the library and the recreation center.) Conrad is definitely the best proposal by far. Please no more big box retail. Think quality, community, accessability and environmentally friendly.
If you’re going to pursue the new urbanism/TOD theme, this is the place to do it. I’m not totally sold on the New Town in St. Charles. It looks likes a movie set and the retail element is not likely to succeed. It’s still not much more than a bedroom commnuity. The Hadley Township area is in the middle of it all. You could even walk to the big box hardware store to get the parts for that leaky faucet!
It just seems so critical today to preserve and enhance our neighborhoods. The Conrad proposal clearly had much greater sensitiivty to preserving lifesytyle and neighborhood than the others. The fact that THF demonstated no sensitivity nor understanding of just exactly how offensive the parking lots along Handley would be seems to indicate that they would build what was potentially most profitable to them rather than what is desired and needed by a community. To me “bricktown” sounds more like a place one would be sent to rather than live. This area can be a fabulous place for familys to live. I really hope we can keep the big box, profit at any cost, mentality out of the decision.
No more big box development needed in this area. I hope that THF or Michelson don’t get this area. I don’t want this area to become anther Sunset Hills. The things I have seen and heard about the Michelson /HCA is seems that where we will be headed. THF demonstated no sensitivity nor understanding of family oriented community.
I think THF has destroyed enough homes in this area already, and broken up families, given the new Walmart / Sam’s etc. that recently disgraced the area just south of this one.
Well folks, looks like the city of Richmond Heights has chosen the Michaelson proposal. I can hardly believe what the cities of Brentwood/Maplewood and now Richmond Heights have done to this area. They’ve created a suburban paradise in the middle of mid-county. Quite the contrast from the surrounding neighborhoods to the north and east.
TO YOU… deborah johnson and everyone else doubting Michelson/Heine & Croghan…
I think that the city of Richmond Heights did a fantastic job in selecting the proposal of Michelson/Heine & Croghan…
1. A LOCAL RICHMOND HEIGHTS FIRM on board as LEAD ARCHITECT for the project…
2. Their proposed housing type, density and ownership structure is exactly what the city asked for… and the most “family friendly” and likely to attract the most young families with children to attend local schools.
3. Their proposal provides the land and construction cost to relocate the Public Works Department.
4. Their proposal requires the least amount of public financial assistance like TIF… and a payoff in the shortest period of time (allowing for the quickest opportunity for redirecting tax revenues to school districts and other important municipal interests…)
5. Their proposal is willing to explore the possibility of increasing housing density options.
6. Their traffic plan is “very innovative” and “reflects sensativity to the needs of the City and it’s residents… as well as the region” – MoDOT, St. Louis County Highway and Traffic, and MetroLink
7. The other teams, with all their power funding and national big name prominence, gave us THEIR VISION. They gave nothing that the City asked for and more… frankly, A LOT MORE.
8. Lastly, Resolution No. 06-01 called for the CITY’S VISION for the redevelopment of the Hadley Township Area and that is exactly what Michelson/Heine & Croghan Architects Team did.
CONGRATS TO THEM… AND I CAN’T WAIT!!!
this sucks
a lot
Richmond Heights is a charming old town, but it is run by people who understand nothing in terms of everything Steve just wrote about. Urbanism needs to be taught in our classrooms if we want the people in charge to start understanding things.
Just wanted to chime in on this post. By the way, nice blog.
The Michelson proposal was horrible. It didn’t even create as many homes as it destroyed. Considering that Richmond Heights as lost nearly a thousand residents since 1980, it’s a horrible, sprawl-inspired non-plan than only got approved because it was easy to understand by the “commoners” on the council.
– – – –
TO YOU… deborah johnson and everyone else doubting Michelson/Heine & Croghan… I think that the city of Richmond Heights did a fantastic job in selecting the proposal of Michelson/Heine & Croghan…
1. A LOCAL RICHMOND HEIGHTS FIRM on board as LEAD ARCHITECT for the project.
**Who cares? Based on that reasoning, the construction company and developer should also come from Richmond Heights – any takers? Besides, that architectural firm has no retail development experience to speak of. Check their website, one ugly commercial building in the portfolio and *surprise* it’s a big box just like this project.
2. Their proposed housing type, density and ownership structure is exactly what the city asked for… and the most “family friendly†and likely to attract the most young families with children to attend local schools.
**Your argument fails on two counts: #1) The Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District DOES NOT agree with your assessment and they based their decisions on facts, not feelings. #2) Given the sheer lack of housing units, even if they were filled 100% with families (what guarantee is there of that happening?), they would still house fewer citizens and, most likely, fewer families than the Conrad project (20% family occupancy required).
3. Their proposal provides the land and construction cost to relocate the Public Works Department.
**Once again, this was NOT part of the vision as outlined in the RFP and it was not a key consideration of the city council (see the minutes and the RFP). Are you saying that finding a new home for the Public Works facility is a legitimate factor in redeveloping an entire neighborhood? I’ve got a better idea. Let’s do the right development and then find a site for the facility. You’re hanging your argument on the least-important factor imaginable.
4. Their proposal requires the least amount of public financial assistance like TIF… and a payoff in the shortest period of time (allowing for the quickest opportunity for redirecting tax revenues to school districts and other important municipal interests…)
**Cheapest doesn’t mean best and if the project sucks, the TIF will be paid off more slowly. Lastly, the proportion of the tax revenues can be adjusted to provide more money to the district on a stepped-up basis. Once again, your argument is flawed because you are uninformed.
5. Their proposal is willing to explore the possibility of increasing housing density options.
**Every proposal (save THF) had room for design changes. The council just never asked for them from anyone else. The only developer they asked about changing was THF and they were rejected – not surprising. They never even approached Conrad about making a change. Check the minutes.
6. Their traffic plan is “very innovative†and “reflects sensativity to the needs of the City and it’s residents… as well as the region†– MoDOT, St. Louis County Highway and Traffic, and MetroLink
**Their traffic plan is innovative? It’s a box shopping center with a sprawl-inspired cul-de-sac subdivision behind it. Whatever. . . they didn’t even address public transportation, pedestrian walkways, streetscaping, etc. This isn’t even part of the RFP, nor part of the vision which was to guide the decision-making process. Lastly, with no comparative traffic study, a comment out of context is worthless.
7. The other teams, with all their power funding and national big name prominence, gave us THEIR VISION. They gave nothing that the City asked for and more… frankly, A LOT MORE.
**Obviously, you’ve never read the Woolpert Report, the RFP, and the council minutes so debating this with you is a waste of time. The vision included an experienced developer, which Michelson is NOT. That’s why their plan was so dull, boring, outdated, and generally crap. They gave less because they are less. The big names are there for a reason. They’re the most competitive and they’re the best at what they do. Michelson is a novice and so is their architect – enough said.
8. Lastly, Resolution No. 06-01 called for the CITY’S VISION for the redevelopment of the Hadley Township Area and that is exactly what Michelson/Heine & Croghan Architects Team did.
**No big box retail was the vision – tell me how that was met by the free-standing 100,000 square foot “junior anchors?” Another vision was to preserve the residential character. Generally, I find residents are necessary to provide residential character, don’t you? The vision was nothing more than a set of guidelines set out by the RFP, not a laundry list. Besides, Conrad was not given the opportunity to tweak their project to increase the product mix of single family and attached homes.
All in all, the Michelson Project looks like something a novice would put together. Not surprisingly, that’s exactly what happened. Michelson has negligible retail development experience. They are an apartment developer. Their plan had no business being considered, much less approved. It is bi-polar, outdated, and represents the worst in urban design. Then again, that’s why the City Council voted for it – it was easy to digest. Unfortunately, easy isn’t necessarily the best and change requires little effort.
Michelson fails on 5 of 11 counts combined from the RFP and the special workshop: (1) it is low quality (2) it contains big box retail (3) it houses the fewest residents and may even fail to replace those it displaces (4) it lacks diverse housing stock (5) developer has no demonstrated experience (6) fails to create pedestrian-friendly environment. It also fails on 3 of 5 counts based on the special workshop meeting: (1) quality (2) big box (3) more residents. If this was a classroom, they would have flunked with a grade of 54% and 40%, respectively.
What interests me is the city council minutes which state that the Conrad proposal was the most well-received initially and the Michelson proposal produced the greatest amount of fear regarding the experience of the developer. Later, the minutes reflected the talk of the residents which implied that Michelson was contacting people telling them that they would give them more for their property than anyone else. Suddenly, Michelson’s project is approved. I smell a rat. That’s not the result of a decision based on a rational decision-making process which is reqired by law.
Perhaps Richmond Heights will get it right in the Northeast Corner of 40 and I-170 bound by Clayton to the north and Lake Forest subdivision to the east . . . I’d love to see the Conrad project built there, incorporating the metro station into the neighborhood. As long as we’re stuck with light rail instead of a monorail, we might as well try to make lemonade out of lemons.
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