Transit-oriented development finally coming to St. Louis?

St. Louis’ original light rail line, MetroLink, opened in 1993.  I was a young man back then (26).  I was so excited about the future of the city I had called home for only 3 years at that point.

The total system has been expanded several times since then but my hope of new construction clustering around the growing number of stations never appeared.  Some existing buildings around some stations were renovated but for the most part stations are surrounded by Park-n-Ride lots.

One such lot is in an older dense area, adjacent to the Forest Park Station (above, map).  Developer McCormack Baron Salazar wants to develop the surface parking lot into retail, housing and commuter parking.  Last week I attended a meeting hosted by McCormack Baron to introduce the concept to the area residents.

Richard Baron led the meeting.  McCormack Baron Associate Project Manager Cady Scott, a Saint Louis University urban planning graduate, is working on the project and was there to answer questions as was local architect Andy Trivers.

There are no fancy architectural drawings to show because this project is at the very beginning stages.  What I do know is they want street-level retail facing DeBaliviere (approximately 10,000sf), one and two-bedroom apartments above (approx 80 units) and parking for residents and commuters.  Parking was, as you might expect, one of the areas with lots of questions from those at the meeting.  Also not surprising was the opposite viewpoints raised.  Some favored little to zero commuter parking while others wanted more than the current 100+ spaces.  Scott & Baron also indicated resident parking would be segregated from commuter/retail parking.  They seek to have less than one space per unit.  All of the units would have universal design and they expect a number of residents to be car-free.  They are planning for two WeCars (car sharing from Enterprise).

Richard Baron referenced their 6 North project throughout the meeting (my 2005 review here).

Located near Saint Louis University at Laclede & Sarah (map), 6 North features retail and office space facing the street and universal design living units.  The units are rented at both market and subsidized affordable rates. Residents include the disabled and able-bodied.  To use this same model next to a transit station is ideal.

But some neighbors thought it best to wait for the market to rebound to support all market rate for-sale housing.  I disagree.  Besides the fact the site has been vacant for half a century, the disabled need more housing options near transit.  Those receiving housing subsidies are not deadbeat welfare parents with tons of kids.  They might be staff at nearby Washington University or a school teacher.  They must pay rent, just less than the market.  The 6 North project has a waiting list of people seeking a unit.

Now is the best time to develop this site.  It provides housing oriented to transit, needed for those who don’t/can’t drive, and desired by many that can drive but would rather take public transit.

– Steve Patterson

Changes to Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in the last year

Little along Dr. Martin Luther King Drive has changed since last year. Here is a look at the physical changes along the street that goes from downtown St. Louis to the city limits.

An auto-centric strip shopping center has opened.  On-street parking now remains empty.  Not an improvement.

The 3-story structure shown above was recently razed.  It was located on the NW corner of MLK Drive and Arlington (map).

A couple blocks West a church has completed a new building. I like the massing, the glass, and the materials used.  I don’t care for having a circle drive between the building and sidewalk.

If you are going to have such a drive this is the right way to do it, creating a planter to separate the circle drive from the sidewalk.

And at 18th & Dr. Martin Luther King Dr: a blank wall.  Sorry, the color change doesn’t make it acceptable.

– Steve Patterson

Historic buildings along St. Louis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Drive

St. Louis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Drive is comprised of two streets that merged just West of Jefferson Ave.  From this point East to the river you had Franklin Ave. Going West to the city limits you had Easton Ave. (map of intersection point).  Like most streets in St. Louis, MLK Drive has great buildings from an earlier time.  Five are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  (List of National Register districts & sites in the City of St. Louis.)

Laclede’s Landing District (nomination, map, official website)

Strongly defined borders and exceptional topography give Laclede’s Landing a cohesiveness and uniformity unusual for an area so close to the Central Business District. The Mississippi River is, of course, a pronounced natural barrier on the east. The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial adjoins Laclede’s Landing on the south, providing another distinct boundary. The Eads Bridge, a National Historic Landmark, separates the two areas. Many structures in Laclede’s Landing have remained basically intact from the period of industrialization in the late nineteenth century, partially due to the close proximity of the two bridges which effectively limited accessibility to the area.

Jack Rabbit Candy Co. Building, 1928-30 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. (nomination, map)

Gustave Stoecker and Robert L. Price commissioned the construction of the building in 1909 to house their retail furniture and warehouse storage business. The new building was located in City Block 941 of the Christy Addition Subdivision in an area considered the Downtown West neighborhood. Their first location was located at 2918 Franklin from 1905 to 1916 . They operated a retail furniture store specializing in new and used furniture.
The building was also used as a warehouse for storage of their goods until they could either be sold in the retail store or to area distributors at auction. Unfortunately, Gustave died at the early age of 38 on November 8. 1911.’ Gustave’s wife. Kate became the president of the business in 1913. The corporation papers also listed Gertrude Price as vice president and Robert Price as secretary. Robert continued to operate the business expanding operations to also include an auction house until 1925 when he sold the building to E.A. Langan

Negro Masonic Hall, 3615-19 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive (nomination, map)

This important meeting place served the African-American community during a crucial period of in-migration, racial enmity, increasing segregation, economic change, and social reform, between 1909 and 1942. Many historians have asserted that benevolent associations, including the black Freemasons, were second in importance only to the church in building solidarity in the black community. Black Masonic organizations contributed to the progress of the black community by encouraging African- Americans to establish and operate businesses. Benevolent fraternal organizations reached their zenith in the black community between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II.

Wellston J.C. Penny Building, 5930 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive (nomination, map)

One of four J.C. Penney stores in St. Louis at the time of its construction in 1948, the building reflects the company’s recommitment to decentralized, neighborhood-based retailing in the City of St. Louis, a focus the company achieved decades before downtown department stores opened neighborhood branch locations.

Designed by the firm of William P. McMahon & Sons, the building is the product of a masterful collaboration between William P. McMahon and his son, Bernard, who each brought unique strengths to the project. Extensive glazing on the first level fills the inset entryway, which has a terrazzo floor and granite faced columns. On the rear, a second entrance faces a two-tiered parking lot located across an alley.

Wellston Station, 6111 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive  (nomination, map)

The station was built by the United Railways Company in 1909 at a time in which the streetcar had replaced the electric railway as the dominant form of mass transit in St. Louis. The new station was the largest waiting station in the system, and one of only three such stations sited at transfer points between major lines. The design employed the prevalent Craftsman style to create a luxurious and efficiently-arranged station with a spacious waiting room, a store and covered tracks. Today, Wellston Station is the only waiting station still standing. The opening of the new streetcar line and station on Easton Avenue in 1909 signified the triumph of the streetcar over the electric railway and the growing importance of the Wellston commercial district, which straddled the line between Wellston and the city of St. Louis. The station was built to serve the so-called Wellston Loop streetcar loop, which became one of the busiest streetcar transfer points in the country by 1940 and which was the termination point for the last streetcar line in St. Louis to close.

Much of St. Louis’ history happened on this street and in these buildings. My dream is the street will play host to important parts of our history that has not yet taken place. As was originally the case, mass transit is necessary to populate this part of town.

– Steve Patterson

Sidewalks on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive are for show, not actual pedestrians

Dr. Martin Luther King Drive stretches from just North of downtown St. Louis out to the city’s municipal limits. It passes through areas best described as rough and others that have seen new investment and are on the way upward.  In either case, where you have people you have pedestrians. Where you have low-income residents and public transportation you have more pedestrians than in higher income areas.  All the more reason to ensure the public rights-of-way are designed for everyone: motorist, cyclist and pedestrian.

This is my sixth year writing about St. Louis’ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

About 6-8 years ago part of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive (Jefferson to Grand) got a makeover – new curbs and sidewalks.  The width of the roadbed (curb to curb) was narrowed.  A good thing? Yes and no.  The entire stretch is poorly planned with respect to pedestrians.  For those traveling parallel with MLK it is fine.  But if you want to cross it can be a major challenge, only two proper crosswalks exist in the mile stretch.

So I want to show you this one mile stretch of roadway and the few places to cross. Above is our starting point at Jefferson Ave, (image at top, map).  You see the single ADA curb ramp and crosswalk markings are directed East across Jefferson.  For those seeking to cross MLK at Jefferson in a wheelchair the single ramp puts them dangerously close to passing cars.

A long block to the West of Jefferson is Beaumont St.  intersecting with MLK from the South. Currently Beaumont’s sidewalks are a complete mess so nobody in a wheelchair would attempt to use them.  One block away from this spot is where Lisi Bansen was struck by a car in 2005 as she wheeled in the street. Part of the idea behind new curbs, sidewalks and lighting is to make an infrastructure investment that results in increased development in the area.  So while the total resident count in the immediate area is pretty low now my expectation is rebuilt streets be more than bling for passing motorists.

Continuing West we see more streets intersecting with MLK without provisions to cross the street:

Finally at Webster Ave. (map), on the West side of the intersection, we have a crosswalk. We are over a half mile from Jefferson Ave. Between these points we should have had 8-10 places to cross MLK.

One block further West we get the point where Compton meets MLK (map).   This intersection is big and complicated by three streets and angles. Pedestrians cannot cross MLK on this side.

On the West side they can cross.  But note the places where a person going from one direction to the other is basically a sitting duck in the place where cars are turning.  The point of bringing the curbs in to the center is to slow traffic and reduce the width required to cross the street.  But for a pedestrian crossing in this crosswalk the width has not been reduced.

Continuing West:

At Francis St (above, map) we see Google Streetview managed to catch a person in the street in a wheelchair. My assumption is the person is waiting for a break in the traffic to cross MLK to the drive on the other side.

Grand is the street ahead.  Pedestrians on the sidewalk to the right are just dumped out into a large & dangerous sea of asphalt.

This beauty of a street was outsourced by St. Louis’ Board of Public Service to the civil engineering firm of Kowelman Engineering, Inc. I’d give you a link to their website but they don’t have one. Their domain kowelman.com just takes you to a default temporary page.  You can see their basic information on the city’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program website here.  Regular readers know Kowelman’s work, they are best known here for Loughborough Commons.

Engineers are great at determining water flows in the gutter, turning radii for curbs but unless their client is passionate about pedestrian issues the results will be largely superficial. In a mile stretch only two places were provided to cross MLK.  Two!  And they are one block apart from each other!  Ideally this street will continue to get new structures, residents and businesses.  That means more pedestrians – both able-bodied and disabled.    Shameful that good tax payer money was spent on such a poorly designed project.

– Steve Patterson

Not in service

We’ve all seen “Not in Service” displayed on local transit buses.  Local PBS station KETC went to Metro’s garage on DeBaliviere at Delmar (aerial image) to show us what happens to the buses when they return to the garage:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG3eTDai-vU

Keeping transit on the street and rails is certainly a lot of work.  For voters in St. Louis County, please keep this in mind as you go to the polls on April 6, 2010.  Without funding the region’s mass transit will say “not in service” 24/7.

– Steve Patterson