A condo tower and a high-rise high end hotel. Those are the two main features being pitched for a half block site in the heart of Downtown Clayton according to the Business Journal.
Businessman, Fred Kummer, bought the property from Gershman Real Estate. The site, fronts Maryland with edges around Bemiston and Central. This site includes businesses such as Imo's Pizza, Vincent Van Doughnut and Barcelona Tapas. The area is North of the Alley mid block between Forsyth and Maryland.
While plans are still being finalized, we can expect the $275 Million development to begin next year with the project being 100% privately funded, that means no TIFs or abatements are requested by Kummer and his partners in this development. According to the Business Journal, the Lawrence Group’s Steve Smith, Gladys Manions, Stafford Manion, and Husch Blackwell’s, Gary Feder, are all part of the development team.
No renderings or a hotel brand have been chosen or released as of this time, but expect a fairly large scale project with ground floor retail space and definite parking. St. Louis based, "The Lawrence Group", is the architecture firm for the project.
This project comes as Clayton seeks to designate this area as an entertainment district to bring night life to the otherwise sleepy downtown. Those plans can be seen below (Courtesy of Clayton’s Architectural Review Board Pending Applications).
ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT PLANS: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0sdrt1a71b5gob1/AABuDt15yBtR5uoiaozxXpBAa?dl=0&preview=Entertainment+Overlay+District+draft+2+012319.pdf
This city is messed up and Clayton is the biggest example of this with all of its fancy high rises and businesses. I just want so badly for downtown to see this kind of development but that wont happen until people in power confront the obvious crime and stereotype of the area head on. As much as I like seeing the St. Louis area thrive, I just wish we could be a "normal city." I'm hoping the developers decide not to go through with this project and instead do something in the city/ downtown that would bring some life back to a dying core. I'm tired of seeing buildings sit deteriorating while a city that, let's be honest, was built…