{the Tour de Grove rolls by SPACE Architects new location in The Grove}

I sat down for an interview with SPACE Architect’s Tom Niemeier Wednesday morning to talk about his firm’s move to The Grove. It’s big news as SPACE will be moving from Maplewood into one of the more forlorn buildings on Manchester Avenue. He was closing on the building later that same day (ed. the closing was completed without a hitch). Here’s what Tom had to say:

nextSTL: What's SPACE, in 140 characters or fewer? (Tom is a Twitter veteran so this should be easy. You can follow Tom and SPACE @SPACEarchitects.)
Tom: A full-service architecture and design firm specializing in customized design and fabrication services.

nextSTL: Why The Grove?

Tom: First, it gives us the opportunity to purchase square feet and be in an area with an identity, be in a place where we can help build it up and move in the right direction. To purchase in Maplewood, the Central West End or The Loop would be double or triple the cost. In the end our mortgage will be $1,000 less each month than our current lease, we'll have twice the square feet, be in one location and we own the building!

nextSTL: Where else did you look?

Tom: We looked at the old St. Louis Closet Co. building at Manchester and Big Bend. We offered $950K for that building and the seller came down to $1.1M. There would have been no financial incentives to move there and we would have been $1.5M in debt once we renovated.

nextSTL: Do you know why it's called "The Grove"?

Tom: Yeah!...Well, I don't. (ed. Restoration St. Louis and the Gills have branded the neighborhood as "The Grove". Also Adam’s Grove is one neighborhood within the larger Forest Park Southeast - Tom did know that.)

nextSTL: How did you locate the building?
Tom: We worked with Sansone and were showed a lot of listings. Most of them were horrible. When I first saw this building I wasn’t interested. But (SPACE architect) Mike Benz took a look and said "it’s not a bad building." We were still early in the search. The building was listed for $325K and against the advice of our realtor we decided to put in a lowball offer of $200K. The seller came back at $220K and we were shocked. We countered with $210K and they agreed. A third partner (in the building ownership) said $215K, and we countered with $212,500. Sold!nextSTL: What is your renovation budget?

Tom: Our budget without any incentives is $517,000. We’re budgeting $115,000 for FFE (furniture, fixtures and equipment). The brownfield, federal and state historic tax credits, emerging enterprise zone, façade grant, low interest loan from the city and a forgivable loan from the city may add to the budget.

nextSTL: How important were the incentives in your move?
Tom: (The incentives mean) we have low overhead and aren’t burdened with too much debt. We can keep our fees competitive. Also, lighting the building at night, grey water reuse, solar panels and more are now possible.

nextSTL: What would have kept you from moving?
Tom: If our business wasn't doing as well we would have let the lease expire on one of our spaces and downsized.

nextSTL: Did you know what you were getting into?
Tom: We've been involved with historic tax credit applications before, but the other city incentives were new. It became too much for just me and Amy Huff became our point person to keep things in order, to keep things moving.

nextSTL: Best part of the experience so far?
Tom: The most pleasant experience for me is that we've felt very welcome by the city. They've made the process smooth and accommodating, there hasn't been a whole lot of red tape. The St. Louis Development Corporation has been awesome.

nextSTL: Worst thing?
Tom: There are so many unknowns, but the worst part has been not being able to start. I like getting things done. It’s tough to wait for the government to do a report. We close today and I’ll probably go over to the building and pull some weeds.

nextSTL: Is everyone at SPACE happy to be moving?
Tom: I’d be lying if I said everyone was fully on board and excited. Some people are concerned with safety and location. We will have gated, secured parking for employees and we’re happy to work with the neighborhood security efforts.

nextSTL: Do you prefer Tibetan or Nepalese cuisine?
Tom: Tibetan (ed. unfortunately for Tom Cafe Everest serves Indian, Korean and Nepalese food)

nextSTL: Your biggest architecture influence?
Tom: My dad, as far as design. He was a nuclear engineer and passed away in 1978. He always has something going on. He had a side business, Eagle Engineering. He also invented a circular pump with colored lights. He drew it. Then he made it. I was fascinated by his drawing table.

nextSTL: Career Choice #2?
Tom: Baseball player. I hurt my arm my senior year in high school and couldn’t play baseball so there were no scholarship offers. (Since becoming an architect) I’ve never thought of doing anything else.

nextSTL: Forest Gump still your favorite movie (per the SPACE website)?
Tom: Yes.

nextSTL: What's SPACE working on now?
Tom: We’re working on the 64,000 square foot addition to Ranken-Jordan (pediatric children’s hospital) in Maryland Heights.

nextSTL: Anything in The Grove?
Tom: I look at buildings here all the time, every time I drive down the street I say “I’d like to work on that building and that building and that building. I’d like to see more retail development. We need more people walking the streets.

nextSTL: What project would you NOT take?
Tom: That's tough in this economy. We’ve never been very interested in a project with an owner that has something drawn up and just wants us to sign the documents.

nextSTL: The one place in St. Louis you would like to redesign?
Tom: St. Louis Center. Most of it would be demolition. The sky bridge would be blown up on day one and the green panels would all be gone.

nextSTL: The KMOV story mentioned parties, how would you describe SPACE parties?
Tom: We have a major bash every Cinco de Mayo. We invite everyone we know, 150-200 people. The Grove will be great for this.

nextSTL: Final words?
Tom: We're excited to move to the city, excited to renovate something that's an eyesore. We're really hoping that us being a commercial business that we'll encourage more diversity in businesses on Manchester. We hope to start work on the building in November at the latest - brownfield credits currently keep us from doing demolition. We plan to be in the building no later than March 2010. We'll have a party then too.

We’re also methodically documenting the application and renovation process so if anybody wants to figure out all the little things that you go through to purchase, renovate and move into a building like this we're going to put it out there. The benefit may be having other people see what's possible, in the Grove or elsewhere.


Tom and SPACE Architects were recently featured on KMOV's Good New for a Change segment:
 

{yellow=for the tax increase, red=against the tax increase, green=tie vote (map courtesy of The Columbus Dispatch)}

Voters in Columbus, OH decided Tuesday that paying more in income tax is well worth the services the money provides. The personal income tax will increase to 2.5% from 2.0% beginning in October. The tax was last increased in 1982. It is estimated that the tax increase will produce close to $100M to be places in the city's general fund. Columbus uses this fund to pay firefighters and police, gather trash and maintain parks. The increase will cost taxpayers $50 per $10,000 earned.

I don't imagine that St. Louis County and metro area voters are going to approve a 2.5% income tax, but why do we struggle to pass a 0.5% sales tax aimed at expanding mass transit? Unfortunately the people of the "Show Me" state aren't saying "show me what healthy and growing cities are doing elsewhere to be successful."

{map of Post Offices to be reviewed (yellow) and those not on the list (green) / map is the work of Brent Jones at the St. Louis Beacon}

The U.S. Postal Service has begun a review process of 3,200 of the more than 30,000 post offices across the country to determine if they should be closed. Thirty eight St. Louis area post offices appear on the list released by USPS. This is a story that is gaining a lot of airtime and column inches across the country. Looking at content from Virginia to California, the patent response from USPS is "We're not reviewing post office closings - these are stations and branches and we're looking at the possibility of consolidating them." And what happens when two more post offices consolidate? All but one closes.

The branches here in St. Louis range widely in form, from a retail location in the St. Louis Galleria, to strip malls to small neighborhood facilities to the busy Clayton location. What is apparent is that urban locations in particular are "under review for consolidation." There are 36 locations within I-270 and two more just outside. By my own count, just 11 locations in this area are not being reviewed. Writer Tim Logan at the Building Blocks Blog has noted that while 38 locations in St. Louis are being reviewed, the same can be said for only 10 in Detroit and 1 in Indianapolis. I won't say that this process isn't needed, but a better explanation of how the list was compiled is necessary.

Why urban post offices are being targeted out of proportion to far suburban, exurban and rural locations has not been made explicit by USPS, but the city has seen all manner of amenities leave, close or consolidate: groceries, schools, movie theaters and more. Perhaps the bureaucracy of the post office has allowed too many locations to linger for too long. Perhaps the small local post office is as outdated as the neighborhood Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company.

While urban post office locations may no longer serve the number of residents that they once did, St. Louis is experiencing the revitalization of many neighborhoods and amenities are returning to the city, increasing the quality of life and offering a less car-dependent option.


{the Chouteau Post Office on Manchester Avenue in The Grove}

The Chouteau Post Office on Mancester Avenue in the Grove certainly makes my neighborhood more walkable. I walk there to buy stamps, mail books I've sold on Amazon.com and send Christmas presents to those we are not able to visit. I'm not there often, but it's wonderful to have in the neighborhood.

Like many, I'm sentimental about the local post office. Then again, I grew up where having a post office defined whether a group of homes were a town or not. The post office asserts and verifies that a community exists. Here, a post office confirms that a neighborhood exists, it helps define the areas of our city. These institutions, like neighborhood schools, are a piece of the social fabric that looms much larger in perception than reality. But in this role, perception is more important than reality.

While the method of selecting the locations to be reviewed seems to be counterintuitive, chances are that only a small number of the 38 post offices in St. Louis (and the 3,200 nationwide) will close. In a prepared statement to the congressional subcommittee on federal workforce, USPS Vice President Jordan Small said, "In our review of stations and branches, we began the review with some 3,200 locations that handle the most retail transactions and the most deliveries. We anticipate that out of these 3,200 stations and branches, under 1,000 offices could be considered as viable candidates to study further." (Click here to read full statement)

Jordan also stated, "(We will) consider factors such as customer access, service standards, cost savings, impact on employees, environmental impact, real estate values and long-term Postal Service needs." This component may explain why a busy location such as the Clayton Post Office is being reviewed.

So it's likely that the knee-jerk reaction of looking at the map above is unwarranted, but does it make sense for the USPS to consolidate its locations? If so, which locations in St. Louis should remain open? Which locations are most important to the neighborhood they serve?

{an aerial fly-through of Masdar City}

National Public Radio aired a piece on Masdar in Abu Dhabi, advertised as the world's first carbon-neutral city. Click here for the NPR story. There are a lot of pretty renderings and videos to watch (to be expected), but the interesting item from the show was the developer speaking about the design principles used in the city plan. While several proposals were considered, the plan is thousands of years old. Traditional "city planning" will produce narrow streets and walkways to provide shade throughout the day and the city itself will be oriented to the northeast to avoid the most intense direct sunlight on building facades. Cars will not be allowed and a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system is being designed.

Of course this is currently just a series of renderings and animated videos, but the project is fascinating. Like the ancient cities of the Middle East, many of our historic homes here in the US were built to better take advantage of the natural environment; breezes for cooling, sunlight to illuminate the home, etc. This changed with advanced building materials, the emerging need to accommodate vehicles of all sorts and the market imperative to most efficiently use land and vertical space. With any luck, Masdar and other projects can serve to explore a return to a more natural and neutral development paradigm.