Parking Needed for Restoration and Occupancy of the Municipal Courts Building?
On April Fool’s Day Paul Hohmann had an excellent post suggesting the city was going to raze the vacant Municipal Courts Building and replace it with a parking garage.
The city isn’t going to raze the building but what are we going to do with the structure? There have been numerous ideas over the last decade but it seems the lack of a large source of dedicated parking is problematic. Â Downtown has an excess of parking but the oversupply isn’t where it is needed. Â I’ve got an idea.
I still miss the old city jail that occupied the NE corner of Clark Ave & 14th Street, why not build a mostly underground parking structure with street-level storefronts facing both 14th & Clark Ave? The parking could serve the need of tenant(s) in the Municipal Courts, City Hall, Scottrade Center, Busch Stadium and the Peabody Opera House (formerly Kiel). Â Retail & restaurants could serve all the above as well as the Sheraton Hotel located one block south and the many daily transit riders at the Civic Center bus & light rail station, also a block south.
Activating the sidewalks along both 14th and Clark Ave would do wonders for improving the walkability of the area. Â I’m thinking 3-4 floors of occupied floors about grade. If parking was above grade it should be fully enclosed. Â Ideally the bulk of the parking would be below sidewalk level, not above.
The big picture would be to evaluate all 10 blocks of Clark Ave from Busch (8th) to Union Station (18th), finding opportunities to improve the many people who currently walk all or part of this stretch. Â Way back in July 2006 I posted about building over the existing MetroLink lines between 15th-18th, also facing Clark Ave.
The Municipal Courts Building would be a premier location for one or more law firms. Â Treasurer Larry Williams has the ability to fund the structure, leasing some space to future firns in the Municipal Courts.
– Steve Patterson
Steve, thanks for the re-post. While looking for some info on the building I stumbled on this website from the proposed developer:
http://www.1300marketstl.com/
The plans show an above ground garage with ground floor retail facing 14th where the jail was located. It would be connected directly to the building. You can see the proposed garage in the back of the rendering on the home page.
Steve, thanks for the re-post. While looking for some info on the building I stumbled on this website from the proposed developer:
http://www.1300marketstl.com/
The plans show an above ground garage with ground floor retail facing 14th where the jail was located. It would be connected directly to the building. You can see the proposed garage in the back of the rendering on the home page.
Thanks for the additional info. I think you will agree that most above-grade garages look like garages even with storefront retail. We need to build occupied buildings that happen to have some parking below. Still, I guess it is better than the often empty surface lot & vacant Municipal Courts.
Isn’t the problem in St. Louis that underground parking structures don’t pencil out for investors? Development costs are too high and parking fees are too low.
Low/free parking is an issue! Right now so much land is use mainly for parking, with different policies the land would have a higher value and underground parking as well as reduced parking would become the norm.
Parking should be separated from development costs.
Parking is included because prospective banks, buyers and tenants expect it. Unfortunately, no buyers or tenants equals no development.
I never said don’t include parking. I said parking should not be included in the cost of constructing the actual building. If instead it was a separate cost paid by tenants in terms of a flat fee in addition to the lease then they would think twice about asking for more parking than necessary. They would have a greater incentive to promoting transit. They would choose buildings with less parking. As a result those with more would be obsolete.
Thanks for the additional info. I think you will agree that most above-grade garages look like garages even with storefront retail. We need to build occupied buildings that happen to have some parking below. Still, I guess it is better than the often empty surface lot & vacant Municipal Courts.
Isn’t the problem in St. Louis that underground parking structures don’t pencil out for investors? Development costs are too high and parking fees are too low.
Low/free parking is an issue! Right now so much land is use mainly for parking, with different policies the land would have a higher value and underground parking as well as reduced parking would become the norm.
Parking should be separated from development costs.
Real estate values are all about location, location, location. Surface parking happens when land values are low, structured parking happens when land becomes so expensive that surface parking is no longer cost-effective. Just what “different policies” are you proposing where the “land would have a higher value”? Whether it’s the old Courts Building or the soon-to-be-vacant Police HQ, buildings lose value when there is no perceived or viable use for them, and the land under them loses value, as well. You’ve seen the aerial photos of downtown up through the 1950’s – there was little vacant land. Compare that to today – relative land values are obviously substantially lower than they used to be.
Real estate values are all about location, location, location. Surface parking happens when land values are low, structured parking happens when land becomes so expensive that surface parking is no longer cost-effective. Just what “different policies” are you proposing where the “land would have a higher value”? Whether it’s the old Courts Building or the soon-to-be-vacant Police HQ, buildings lose value when there is no perceived or viable use for them, and the land under them loses value, as well. You’ve seen the aerial photos of downtown up through the 1950’s – there was little vacant land. Compare that to today – relative land values are obviously substantially lower than they used to be.
Parking is included because prospective banks, buyers and tenants expect it. Unfortunately, no buyers or tenants equals no development.
I never said don’t include parking. I said parking should not be included in the cost of constructing the actual building. If instead it was a separate cost paid by tenants in terms of a flat fee in addition to the lease then they would think twice about asking for more parking than necessary. They would have a greater incentive to promoting transit. They would choose buildings with less parking. As a result those with more would be obsolete.
The N.E. corner had the Childrens Court Building on Clark, the City Jail was between that and the Muni Courts. It was left to decay when the facility on Vandeventer was built, I think in the 60’s. The area has good proximity to area transit and although seems underused is very often filled to its parking limit. (Why do you think Larry has enough to fund development) I would love to see Muni Court Building alive again, spent many of tense moments there.
The N.E. corner had the Childrens Court Building on Clark, the City Jail was between that and the Muni Courts. It was left to decay when the facility on Vandeventer was built, I think in the 60’s. The area has good proximity to area transit and although seems underused is very often filled to its parking limit. (Why do you think Larry has enough to fund development) I would love to see Muni Court Building alive again, spent many of tense moments there.
I am new to St. Louis and I can tell you this parking seems to be an issue in downtown St. Louis. It seems to be a major error in city planning and though it could be costly at first to add parking it will surely pay-off in the end. I hope they figure it out. I personally was looking to put a business downtown but I was to concerned about this issue so I moved it to Chesterfield, Missouri. http://www.illuminategym.com/chesterfield
I am new to St. Louis and I can tell you this parking seems to be an issue in downtown St. Louis. It seems to be a major error in city planning and though it could be costly at first to add parking it will surely pay-off in the end. I hope they figure it out. I personally was looking to put a business downtown but I was to concerned about this issue so I moved it to Chesterfield, Missouri. http://www.illuminategym.com/chesterfield