Condos at Former Southside National Bank To Have Great Views
Last week The Lawrence Group gave me a personal tour of the former Southside National Bank at Grand & Gravois in South St. Louis. They are busy converting the tower into 13 condos (official website).
We started with the 2nd floor bank lobby. Uh, wow. How could Walgreen’s officials have looked at this building 6+ years ago and thought tearing it down made any sense at all. This lobby is absolutely stunning. Finding a new use for this space will be a challenge for architect/developer The Lawrence Group (TLG) since the bank teller divider must remain. It certainly seems suitable for a restaurant.
One of the best things about the project is the amount of street-level retail. Facades such as this one facing Grand will have additional windows and doors cut into it. This is good thing because this area needs as much street-level retail to help offset all the sprawl allowed in the area in the last 4-5 years (new White Castle surrounded by parking, Walgreen’s with excessive parking, proposed McDonald’s relocation a block away).
The fact TLG is willing to do this project, while surrounded by so much bad development, is a testament to their commitment. I just hope it will lead us toward a more urban context and away from drive-thru development.
I mentioned views right? Well, every unit has great views of the city but from the roof you can see far and wide. You can see downtown, the Arch, Clayton, JB Bridge, and the lovely street grid of the city. If you are one of the lucky purchasers of a condo here please keep me in mind if you have a roof-top party.
We walked through the display being constructed on the 6th floor. They are anticipating an opening next month which is realistic since the unit was already in drywall. I really like the layout on the 4-8th floors. The 3rd floor layout is different due to the issues of running plumbing through the stunning bank lobby seen above. The project manager is investigating to see if they can make the 3rd floor layout more like the others.
The 9th floor penthouse has windows in all four directions and will be quite an impressive space.
TLG is planning some new construction along both Grand & Gravois. This will do wonders to minimize the impact of the parking and make the sidewalk more urban. I had a few concerns and suggestions on the site planning, which I have shared with the team.
TLG is also doing the building across the street on Grand. I’ll get to that interesting project later this week.
– Steve
That lobby is truly amazing. Who would ever want to tear down such a beautiful building. I can’t wait for this full project to be finished, hopefully spurring some more urban projects.
Well, the teller divides could be worked into making one of the awesomest check cashing places in the city!
I kid… I’m really happy this building survived. If we keep tearing down sturdy, gorgeous, and tactically significant buildings (a 360 degree view of the entire metro!), where will people flock to during an apocalypse? Qdoba?
The lobby in the Greyhound Station is pretty cool too.
You references that TLG is working with a building acorss the street on Grand. Hopefully you are refering to the old Pizza A Go Go building. That one has great potential.
^Melba Theater Building I believe.
Steve:
Any idea how they’ll deal with the separate ownership of the rear part of the former Melba Theatre building site? That is, the Diplomat Apartments at 3530 Miami St., a crappy-looking c. 1965 mid-rise structure placed on the approximate site where the theatre auditorium once was.
Lawrence Group does not seem to own that building, although they do have the entire frontage on Grand, including the narrow parcel just to the south (3616 S Grand) where the SSNB extra drive-thru lanes were.
As someone who does frequent (usually on foot/via transit) the Walgreens, White Castle, Subway, and Papa John’s in this vicinity, I am very eager to see progress on this development.
We can’t avoid having chain stores and drive-thrus entirely; but hopefully big developments like this will show that truly urban, even fairly upscale housing and retail can intermingle here.
I’m cautiously optimistic. The views are indeed amazing!
[REPLY – You are going to have to wait for my post to find out more about that other building! – SLP]
Please note that the Melba/Pizza a GoGo Building was acquired only under the threat of eminent domain. Otherwise it would still be a pidgeon hotel.
What are the plans for the roof. I had the opportunity to get up there but there were wind barriers (?) blocking the view, and with all the equipment up there there would hardly be room for a rooftop patio.
Plus what about the billboard on the building across Grand which ruins an otherwise great view.
I have an old promotional mechanical bank (mid 50’s?) with the South Side National Bank name clearly visable on it. I belive they gave these out to customers that opened a new savings account.
It is a Strato Bank made by Duro Mold and Mfg.,Inc. Detroit, MI. Metal construction, mechanisim works fine, Looks good for its’ age.
Email me at davetoo@sbcglobal.net if you have any interest in owning this piece of history.
Absolutely beautiful. My mother and I used to walk to Sears on South Grand and passed by this building many a times. It is breathtaking the architecture and to think it came close to destruction is unbelievable. Thank god there are developers out there who appreciate the past instead of wanting to bulldoze it.
Sadly, the grand Sears department store that was once located on South Grand was razed several years ago and now sits a vacant lot. This store stood for 60+ years and had some of the most beautiful architecture inside it. I never understood why they razed that building and left nothing but an empty lot. It would have made a great condo/apartment location.