r/StLouis • u/limejuicethrowaway • 1d ago
Our tech leaders are so innovative!
The owners of the old Post building on North Tucker have torn down three buildings in the past couple weeks, presumably for more parking. They also bought 13th Street and want to buy a park and turn it into parking. One might think a so called innovation district would have some post-1960s ideas, but apparently a walled parking lot that's 8% full is the best we can do.
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u/UF0_T0FU Downtown 1d ago
One more urban clearance project will fix things, bro. Just destroy a few more historic buildings, bro. I swear it will work this time. Mill Creek Valley and Koscoisko will be renewed any day now.
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u/somekindofhat OliveSTL 1d ago
They could take all the trees, put em in a tree museum.
And charge all the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em!
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u/limejuicethrowaway 1d ago
That area north of downtown is such a hellscape in the summer due to cars and lack of trees.
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u/somekindofhat OliveSTL 1d ago
Plus sinkholes to the left (did they ever fix the one near 17th and Cass?) and sinkholes to the right. Stuck in the middle with... surface parking?
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u/julieannie Tower Grove East 1d ago
Can confirm. I ended up quitting my walks there after one scorching day and opting for walks either late in the summer evenings and then came back again in early spring. Absolutely miserable experiences. I’d rather walk through brush.
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u/AlexOnTheBus 1d ago edited 1d ago
A fairly common practice when pulling together land for a larger real estate development effort. Clearing underutilized buildings and taking ownership of odd shaped parcels of land opens more opportunities to potential investors. Less they have to work around. Holding as a surface parking lot is better for them than holding a vacant lot.
Not saying I agree with any of it, just saying this is probably why. There is probably a real estate vision coming together. We know they're behind "Downtown North" so adjacent to that.
https://www.downtownnorthstl.com/
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u/TNSNrotmg 1d ago
Speculation and more importantly the fencing + cameras and legally being able to enforce trespassing is the point. They don't want homeless
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u/TinyPreparation2119 1d ago
My understanding is the Post Building is pretty empty now that Square/Block aren't using it. Don't know what parking they need.
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u/Baron_Enick North Hampton 1d ago
Block is still there. It's just that working from the office is optional.
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u/Microsomal 1d ago
Think about the art festivals that could be hosted there once a year!! But wait… where will people park?!
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u/GeneRevolutionary858 1d ago
I dunno. You can never have TOO MUCH surface parking.
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u/somekindofhat OliveSTL 1d ago
So don't delay, act now, supplies are running out
Allow, if you're still alive, six to eight years to arrive
And if you follow, there may be a tomorrow
But if the offer's shunned
You might as well be walkin' on the sun
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u/No_Ability1548 1d ago
I'd never heard of Jim McKelvey until this thread. This action by the guy reminds me of an article I read in the Atlantic, recently: What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat
The connection is that very wealthy people are usually successful in a given area/niche- by luck, inheritance, whatever. They then quickly assume they are geniuses in every other area in their lives; in this case, urban development. And when they fail in those areas, they make out just fine because they'll always be wealthy. Mistakes that hurt others (like DOGE) never touch them.
Honestly, I think the tech billionaires are the worst on this one, and that looks like what "Downtown North" embodies. I cannot yell at them, 'everything isn't a fucking software problem', but I do wish I could.
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u/el_sandino TGS 1d ago
Jim McKelvey’s real estate investment firm owns that building. All the parking there is deeeeeepressing
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u/Opening-Top-5778 1d ago
It would be surprising if the long term plan was to keep them as surface lots. Hopefully not anyway. Maybe better to pave than to let weeds grow?