MX Doesn’t Mark the Spot
In September 2007 the mood downtown was optimistic. On September 27th Pyramid construction held a lavish street party as they opened the Laurel project in the former Dillard’s building. Two years earlier, in September 2005, Mayor Slay was beating up on the then owner of the St. Louis Centre about the need to pull down the massive bridge over Washington Ave. But at the party marking the grand opening of the Laurel it looked like the bridge might finally come down.
The area around the old downtown mall was being branded as the Mercantile Exchange:
A Pyramid press release tells of the heavy hitters as part of the project:
The MX will create a vibrant atmosphere in Downtown St. Louis, combining nationally-known retailers with a strong mix of local merchants. Apparel, furniture, exciting restaurants, entertainment, public art and intimate music venues are all planned. The new district will add 160,000 square feet of new retail space to the existing 300,000 square feet Macy’s.
Pyramid has aligned itself with General Growth Properties to bring the retail experience of the MX to life. General Growth’s portfolio includes St. Louis’ premiere indoor shopping mall, the Saint Louis Galleria, and the famed Water Tower Place in Chicago.
“We are very excited about the plans for the Mercantile Exchange,” said Mark Hunter, Vice President of Leasing and Client Services at General Growth. “We chose to be a part of this project because we believe in its ability to bring dynamic retail to the city of St. Louis. We look forward to working with the development team and government officials to bring the vision to reality.”
“General Growth is one of the most diversified and successful operators in the retail business,” Steffen said. “Their involvement in the MX demonstrates the untapped potential for exciting street-level retail in downtown St. Louis. We are delighted to have a company with such a sterling national reputation working with us on the MX.”
Pyramid is partnering with Spinnaker Real Estate partners LLC, based in Connecticut. Spinnaker is a national developer that has redeveloped several downtowns across the U.S. including the 3,000 unit development in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon and a 70 acre mixed-use project on Long Island Sound.
Yes, that General Growth Properties, the over leveredged investment trust now in bankruptcy. Pyramid went under in April 2008.   All that remains is shuttered buildings, that bridge that was such a big deal to Mayor Slay back in 2005, and fadding fading marketing materials. MX doesn’t mark the spot.
If I recall, the bridge coming down wasn’t important to just Mayor Slay, but to a bunch of urbanists as well.
There’s a project going forward with the Dillards building. Watch that space this summer.
fadding?
[slp — corrected now, thanks.]
Are the pictures from the future?
Why aren’t the signs advertising MX taken down? Those need to go. And if Anonymous thinks that something is being done with the Dillard’s building, why haven’t they taken the incorrect advertisement down?
There is a talented and motivated team of developers working on the Dillard’s building within 30 feet of my desk. Tough times for everyone, but when financing allows (perhaps as early as late summer) look for construction to get going for new commercial and residential products more appropriate to the time and environment than 2007.
The Laurel is Step 1 of a larger downtown retail development plan with much broader vision. Will it look like the original MX plans? Probably not right away, but if you’d like to see street-level retail capturing convention traffic tax dollars that could lead to more projects involved in the MX plan then you need to get behind the concept’s vision and explore ways to support it.
There are a number of ex-Pyramid projects that will one day make sense but it takes a lot of time to move forward when such massive deleveraging takes place by a development partner. So, while the MX signs may be fading, perhaps hold your judgement for a few more months…
Hey,
New to St. Louis, from Boston. The whole MX fiasco seems eerily similar to Boston’s DTX (Downtown Crossing). Big deal for the mayor, huge opportunity. Developer tore down Filene’s Basement (landmark and anchor for the whole district), ran out of money, and now there’s the preserved facade of a Burnham building and a huge crater in the middle of Downtown.