The trolley segment of a recent CCIM St. Louis Building Crawl took members on a rolling tour from City Foundry and back to learn about expansive projects underway in Midtown St. Louis that will bring new entertainment and residential resources to the area.
• The Armory STL (3668 Market Street, 63110) will hold a December 15, 2022, VIP grand opening event, followed by public access as of December 16, according to Liz Austin, chief market officer with Green Street Real Estate Ventures. Ambitions are for the historic property to become a regional destination that will be “a home to a variety of immersive, fun, unforgettable entertainment experiences” and the largest indoor site for entertainment in the area. Features of the 250,000-SF, almost six-acre venue will include more than 10 event spaces; a two-story slide; a St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame; settings for live concerts by local and national performers, with a 60-foot stage and audience capacity of 5,000; food and beverage providers, including six bars and more than 70 tap handles; multiple video screens for watch parties and other events; and equipment for badminton, table tennis, snookball and horseshoes, along with more than 40 interactive games.
The building is part of a greater Armory District master plan, which is the next phase of the $60 million project at Market from Grand Avenue to Vandeventer and will include residential, more entertainment options and commercial space such as offices.
“When you look at urban development in a big sense, it’s important to have scale, so you create a mixed-use platform that applies to all aspects of how we live, work and play now,” said Phil Hulse, founder & CEO of Green Street Real Estate Ventures. “People are hungry for that level of living — that speaks to your soul. You have to have zones of happiness.”
The Armory building was separated from its original connections to the area by the creation of Highway 64, and the District project aims to create new ones. “You have to think bigger to make it relevant to the world we’re living in now,” Hulse said. “The driving force for being in the city is that we have a lot of anchors that relate to what St. Louis is all about,” especially the education resources and high-tech projects that attract young people to a “wonderful sweet spot” that is livable, walkable and fun.
The District is at a MetroLink stop and will be on the Brickline — a greenway path for walking and bikes connecting the area, named through a contest. “As we looked at this, we knew we needed more than the Armory,” Hulse said. The District currently has 21 acres in hand and should end up with another 15 to create “lasting integration into the neighborhood.” The MetroLink aspect is important because “public transportation is the mark of a sophisticated city,” he said.
The project is in the hands of Brick + Bev, a new division of Green Street Real Estate Ventures. Original plans were to make the building into office space, but the IPO failure of We Work, which was expected to be the anchor client, forced a change of use. “That ended up as a positive for us,” said Austin. “Given the pandemic and the way people are now working and interacting with their offices, it’s a blessing in disguise that we’ve gone back to the building’s roots and honored it for what it was and will become. It just feels right.”
“I think the Armory is going to be one of the most important projects we’ve done,” Hulse said. “You have a history that is really rich and institutions that were part of the building and the making of the bigger stories we’re trying to bring back to life.”
• Steelcote Square is a new Midtown neighborhood (812 S. Theresa Avenue, 63103; east of Grand Avenue off Chouteau Avenue) from Pier Property Group that will include Mill Creek Flats, a variety of apartment options from historic rehab micro studios and one- and two-bedroom lofts to new-construction lofts and about 15 floor plans. Amenities of the $20 million, 96-unit project include a rooftop lounge with pool, sundeck, recreation/gaming area, community grills and rentable garden boxes, a 24-hour fully equipped fitness center, modern clubhouse and business center, pet park and spa, controlled-access parking garage, and 10,000 SF of retail space.
The historic rehab apartments will feature 11'–14' ceilings, oversized windows and polished concrete flooring, while the modern new apartments will include luxury finishes such as stone countertops, tile shower surrounds and custom flooring.
According to Michael Hamburg, owner/founder of Pier Property Group, Target Corp. will open in July 2023 at The Edwin, a 196-unit apartment project at South Grand Boulevard between Gratiot and Papin Streets in Steelcote Square. This would be Target’s second location in St. Louis and its 21st in the metro area.
• The trolley tour ended up back at City Foundry to hear from Todd Rogan, developer/director of New & Found, about plans for apartments with a parking garage as the next iteration of that project.
Feature image: Rendering of The Armory credit: O'Toole Design.