Filling In Three Blocks Along North Tucker Boulevard

North Tucker Boulevard has been more urban than it is today. Over the years buildings came down left and right to provide surface parking, mostly for workers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Much of the surface parking is owned by the paper but with hundreds fewer employees the same level of parking is no longer needed. It’s time to rethink north Tucker Blvd!

Below I’ve placed blue rectangles on the spots where new buildings could be constructed. The red are harder spots due to small size (Carr St) or a new useless plaza (south end).

The Carr St on the north to Convention Plaza (Delmar) on the south there are many opportunities to construct infill buildings. At the center is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

I can hear the naysayers now, “there’s no demand for new construction here” or “location, location, location.” The new Mississippi River Bridge opens in 2014 and then suddenly this will become a major entry into downtown St. Louis. Now’s the time to start planning so at least one building can be open by 2014. It may very well take 10-20 years to fill in as I’ve shown but this is the first step to getting to that goal.

Remember, 15 years ago naysayers said there was no demand for housing downtown — and they were right — sorta. Those who wanted a hip loft in a walkable downtown had no way as individuals to get what they wanted. A few were marketed but not enough were willing to take the risk — and it was a risk. Then Washington Ave went on a road diet going from 4 travel lanes to two, widening the sidewalks in the process. Through these efforts the area was reinvented and things began to take off.

Storefronts are still vacant but housing occupancy is on par with other areas.  The area of North Tucker Blvd I’m talking about is just a few blocks north of Washington Ave. The new Tucker streetscape is being finished now. It includes provisions for on-street parking in this area so ground-level retail is an option.

Lee Enterprises, owner of the Post-Dispatch, should be talking with developers now. They might get a new parking garage behind new buildings facing Tucker — I’d want the city to prohibit/strongly discourage a parking garage facing Tucker but facing 13th would be ok.

In the block opposite the Post-Dispatch new buildings on each side of 911 N. Tucker should be respectful without copying. Modern would be fine with me, just not a six-story mirrored box.

The opportunity for a “signature” building is on the NW corner of Tucker Blvd. & Cole St.

Cole Street has a very wide right-of-way east of Tucker, giving the opportunity for high visibility for pedestrians and motorists heading west on Cole. This is also an opportunity to look at Cole and how to encourage more pedestrians to use Cole to connect parts of downtown and the housing to the north.

Perhaps a CVS or Walgreen’s would locate in the ground floor of one of these buildings on Tucker?  New construction in this area could be exciting, much more so than Ballpark Village.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: How Many Times Have You Been To St. Louis Union Station In The Last 12 Months?

St. Louis Union Station is just a few blocks away from my loft, so it’s convenient to stop there. I still marvel at the grandeur of the structure and wish I could go back in time to see at its peak.

In 1912 Union Station was a busy place, but who visits Union Station in 2012? Hotels guests obviously. Anyone else? Bueller?

In the poll this week I want to get a sense of how often the readers of this blog frequent Union Station. Hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results. The poll is in the right sidebar and results will be presented on Wednesday August 29, 2012.

— Steve Patterson

Planters Don’t Water Themselves

Planters require watering but how do you water many planters and hanging baskets over numerous blocks?

You don’t drag a garden hose around to do it, you drag a tank of water instead.  This is done as part of the Downtown St. Louis Community Improvement District (CID):

The CID is a 165-square block area located in the center of Downtown, St. Louis. The District was established in January 2000 by property owners who were committed to providing a cleaner, safer, and more attractive environment that would protect existing assets, attract new investment, and create a more vibrant business, residential, entertainment and hospitality community in the core of Downtown St. Louis.

The CID, managed by The Partnership for Downtown St. Louis, provides enhanced services and programs above and beyond those provided by the city of St. Louis. These programs and services include maintenance, security, economic and housing development, marketing, special events, streetscape improvements and landscaping services, among others. (Downtown CID)

This is money well spent in my view.

— Steve Patterson

On-Street Parking On Washington Ave

Regular readers know I’m a fan of on-street parking. It forms a nice barrier between moving traffic and pedestrians. It also helps up road width. Linear parking is so much better than surface or structured sparking.  A few years back there were efforts by officials to keep the full curb-to-curb width of Washington Ave for moving vehicles. After some battles, parking is permitted on both sides between 10th-11th and the south side from 11th-Tucker (12th). In true St. Louis fashion, this is being addressed block by block rather than a well-planned coordinated effort.

The other evening I was pleased to see cars parked on Washington Ave. east of 7th. There are no signs prohibiting parking so it seemed to just happen organically. There’s also no parking meters.

If retail is going to open and survive on-street parking is a must-have.

— Steve Patterson

Excellent Use For Street-Level Space: Studios For Local Artists

When the Leather Trades Artist Lofts opened last year few were happier than those that live across the street. For years the building at 1600 Locust was dark and without activity, save for the few times someone would break in.

On Sunday I finally visited the the artist studios as part of the City-Wide Open Studios tour organized by the Contemporary Art Museum.

I’m so glad the high-end condo project failed a few years ago, the building has more residents as a result of the for-rent apartments. The street-level windows are interesting rather than be vacant with “for lease” signs. The same developer is nearing completion on the Metropolitan Artist Lofts in Midtown at Grand and Olive.

Ground floor “retail” doesn’t always have to have a retail store to make a positive contribution to the pedestrian experience on the sidewalk.

— Steve Patterson