New renderings, and drawings, found on a landscape architecture firm's website, detail the streetscape changes coming to Ballpark Village along with potential tenants. First and foremost, the One Life Fitness building has been redesigned slightly. The cantilevered roof is still in place, but a support beam, present in earlier versions, is missing. The height has also been slightly reduced, but that may also be the perspective of the rendering. The base of the 3 floor building now inlcudes signage for an "Organic Market". As stated in a post from mid last month, the market will not be a convenience store but also not quite a grocery store. It will be a mini grocery store that holds you over till you can make it over to Culinaria or Fields Foods.
The rendering above also includes some Easter eggs that give us potential hints at other tenants. Included above is the addition of a Starbucks sign just behind the "6 Cardinal Way" sign. 6 Cardinal Way is also the official address of the Office building itself as previous iterations have called it anywhere from 4, 6 or 9 Cardinal Way. 6 makes sense as it stays in the general address flow of the district, but that could still change. Another interesting observation here is the inclusion of Howl at the Moon as a tenant of Phase 1. As we all know, Shark Bar is moving into the Howl at the Moon space ending it's short run at Ballpark Village but the company hasn't ruled out opening up elsewhere.
Now it's onto the other side of the One Life Building and into the Clark Street side of things.
This side of the rendering includes some new things previously not seen in other renderings. Two of the more notable changes is the addition of "Leinenkugel's" to the stage. The addition of another brewery company to the Ballpark Village development is shocking since Anheuser Busch has made their presence known at Phase 1. This also raises suspicions that maybe Leinenkugel's will open a restaurant at the base of the Live! By Loews Hotel in the space flanked by "One Hop Brewing". It's not so far fetched of an idea as some may think as Cordish has developed a partnership with Leinenkugel's to move into their districts. Close to home, Kansas City's Power and Light district has one.
This rendering also shows a odd addition to the One Life Building and that is the addition of a sign that reads" Tacos & Tequila". Whether or not another café/restaurant thing is planned for part of the market apace is unclear but, as you'll see later, the site plan doesn't show the market space being subdivided for another business. This perspective shows a different view of Clark Street as well. Currently, we have seen the viewed form Clark and 8th and not from within the district itself since last year. In my opinion, Clark looks really good, and the different types of architecture designs along the avenue will really blend with Busch Stadium well. The urban feel of the street is also known with open store front windows and a public gathering ground, the Busch 2 Infield (Field of Dreams). You can already feel the size of the development when strolling along Clark or Walnut.
The feel Ballpark Village will bring to this end of Downtown will be extraordinary especially once Ballpark Village is fully built out. On that note, let's head back into the district and onto Cardinal Way.
While the ugly parking lots will remain, they will receive a facelift when viewed from Walnut or any of the other streets in Ballpark Village. The layout of the lots themselves will be completely redone to be simpler and pack more cars into the lots. On top of all of this, slight landscaping will be done to "hide" the lots behind a hedge wall. The hiding of the lot and extensive overhaul of them could symbolize that the Cardinals and Cordish Companies will hold off on future development for sometime.
The extensive landscaping job continues throughout the district with the addition of red and dark gray bricks set into the ground. These will replace the asphalt streets and simple, concrete sidewalks for something more unique. The multicolored bricks have been seen in renderings all over up until not but these renderings, and drawings, give us our best look yet at them. They even include a different perspective for the street intersection marquee. The marquees will form two unique "town square" like settings along Cardinal Way in Ballpark Village. Each will have a fountain and will be surrounded by street level retail once the project is fully built out.
Overall, the addition of these town square style elements and pedestrian friendly enhancements will enhance the Ballpark Village experience and will be made even better once the entire site is built on. You can see diagrams of the planned brick installation pattern below.
Future Development?
I stated just a few paragraphs ago that maybe the landscaping around the parking lots, "could symbolize that the Cardinals and Cordish Companies will hold off on future development for sometime". That most likely holds truth to it, but I don't believe it inside. Shortly after the One Cardinal Way Leasing Center opened, another website domain was purchased for a "Two Cardinal Way" (twocardinalway.com). The naming continues the pattern started in Kansas City with the "Light" towers (ex: One Light, Two Light, Three Light and so on). In KC, the domains were purchased around the same time that One Light was rising. While this doesn't surprise me, it shouldn't surprise you either. Leasing has been doing really well for One Cardinal Way and it was at 20% pre-leased shortly after opening day. With that said, who knows where it could be at now.
Because demand seems to be high for a second residential tower, I see one being built. The location becomes tricky to determine as it seems a different development pattern is being followed for Ballpark Village now than the one from 2006. In the 2006 plan, it showed that the tallest tower would be located in the Northeastern lot at Walnut and Broadway. Some thought that plan held through to today in someway, but it doesn't appear to be happening. In 2016, shortly after Phase 2 was announced, other renderings were found that showed a 24 Floor tower on the Northwestern lot of Ballpark Village at Walnut and 8th. For me, I see the development outline being turned around with the tallest structure at Walnut and 8th while a mid size structure (Between 18 and 24 floors) would rise at Walnut and Broadway. In the case of Two Cardinal Way, I see it going in at Walnut and Broadway.
Doing so follows an apparent new development strategy. Building a tower on tis lot that wouldn't be taller than the Hilton at the Ballpark is also a win for the 360 bar. It preserves the view of the stadium from the bar while enhancing it. If anything, when Two Cardinal Way is announced, it should be on this corner of Ballpark Village. As far as other future towers go, it's a gray area. Web domains haven't been purchased for future "Cardinal Way" towers and office leasing hasn't hinted at another office tower being warranted yet. For now, I know that another tower is planned for Ballpark Village and could potentially follow Phase 2 up as "Phase 3". I guess we'll have to wait and see. And if something isn't planned, it goes to certify my allegation that the Cardinals and Cordish Companies will hold off on future development for sometime due to the fact that they are investing many dollars into hiding their parking lots behind landscaping.
The Tenant List: Ballpark Village Phase 2
CONFIRMED
Retail Spaces
- OneLife Fitness
- Power and Life Yoga
- The Gashouse Lounge
- A Market
Office and Hotel
- Live! By Loews
- Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)
SPECULATION*
- Rawlings
- Shake Shack
- Starbucks
- Leinenkugel's Stage and Restaurant
*- Based on reports from sources with knowledge of the project and renderings