If plans move forward, the days are numbered for the building that once housed Mike Shannon's restaurant at 620 Market Street.

The Garrison and MW Companies, a development firm based in Kansas City and behind the proposed 41Lindell development in the Central West End, is eyeing a plan that would tear down the existing 2-story structure and replace it. Plans call for a 2 floor podium topped with 5 floors of wood-frame construction for a total of 7 floors. The building, named the Fielder Lofts, is planned to include 125 luxury apartment units, 4955sf of retail space, parking, and amenity space for the residents.

The project is just one of a few projects that are hoping to building on the success of Ballpark Village. Other projects include Ballpark Heights at 300 South Broadway and a development at 1014 Spruce (which the OPUS Group dropped and Balboa Real Estate Partners is supposedly taking over). The Fielder Lofts also joins 1801 Washington Avenue and 1014 Spruce in bringing new construction apartment buildings to downtown outside of Ballpark Village.

While other downtowns in the midwest, and across the country, have seen several new multi-family, office, and hotel buildings built over the past several years, Downtown St. Louis has seen little mostly due to the challenge of vacancy. Unlike our peer cities, Downtown St. Louis has 8 large vacant buildings totaling well over 4.2 Million SF of vacant space. However, about 1.35 million square feet of space in three buildings (Butler Brothers, Jefferson Arms, and the Chemical Building) has plans for redevelopment and, as a result, reactivation. The remaining 5 (909 Chestnut, Railway Exchange, Millennium Hotel, old Municipal Courts Building, and the old Police Headquarters) are patently waiting for their chance to be brought back to life. Smaller vacant buildings dot downtown as well.

The vacancy issue is what has prevented downtown from seeing many new buildings constructed outside of Lumiere Place, Ballpark Village and the Tower at OPOP (formerly known as the Roberts Tower). Perceptions around the crime issue have also caused problems for developers looking to build downtown.

According to the Garrison Companies, construction costs for the Fielder Lofts are estimated at $33 Million with the intent to start construction this fall and wrap up a little over a year later in the fall of 2023. Garrison Companies intends to seek a TIF (tax increment financing) on the project as well, but it is unclear just how much of a TIF will be requested. B+A Architecture of Kansas City is handling the design. A local, but unspecified, contractor will handle the construction side of things.

The proposed project will be integrated into the new pedestrian improvements on 7th Street. The plans, drawn up by HOK by the City, envision a better pedestrian connection between Washington Avenue in Ballpark Village. More on those plans can be found at this link, which goes to a post published on this blog back in November 2020.

The gallery below includes two elevations of the building.