{the corner of Chouteau and Taylor in Forest Park Southeast}
nextSTL has learned that a hotel proposal is planned for the corner of Chouteau and Taylor Avenues in the city’s Forest Park Southeast (The Grove) neighborhood. Phase II of Aventura at Forest Park, currently under construction, will add 50 apartments to the 101-unit first phase. Just a month after the project’s Phase I moved forward in summer 2012, a Phase II of 100 additional apartments was proposed.
The permit for all of Phase II was applied for on June 6, 2012. The application for the two lots facing Taylor Avenue was canceled June 18 of this year. In its place, for 904 S. Taylor and 4472 W. Papin (the address used by the parcel nearest I-64) applications were filed last week to “Construct Hotel Per Plans”. Plans submitted to the city are not yet publicly available and the project has not been submitted to the neighborhood for approval. The two-acre site is a large parcel and could accommodate a significant development.
{green=Aventura Phase I (100apts), yellow=Aventura Phase II (50apts), blue=hotel proposal}
Without having full details on the hotel proposal, the change could be a big plus for the neighborhood. One of the most significant drawbacks of the Aventura project was its size. Absent exceptional design, a full city block project will always struggle to create an interesting place, one that fits the city or neighborhood. This is why the remaining presence of the Station G building has been important; it breaks up the street wall and prevents a monolithic structure from dominating Chouteau Avenue.
The introduction of a third building type could add significantly to the streetscape. The initial Phase II shows a fenced off corner at Chouteau and Taylor, very much like the corner now built a block east. An initial proposal, now several years out of date, once showed retail space wrapping the busy corner. It’s possible a new hotel could bring back retail or restaurant space. The positive impact of any proposal will depend on the project details. The lots are currently zoned “neighborhood commercial” according to the City of St. Louis.
{the two-acre development site could accomodate a large hotel or mixed-used project}
Drury Hotels has long sought a location next to the seemingly ever-expanding Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital medical campus. A proposal dating back to 2008 has focused on the northwest corner of the neighborhood where the removal of the full cloverleaf I-64/Kingshighway interchange has opened land to development. There is no word as to whether Drury is a party to this hotel proposal. The developer of the proposed hotel is MLP Property & Asset Management, the same developer as Aventura.
The Parkway Hotel on Lindell Avenue near Taylor opened to serve the medical campus area in 2003 and the Barnes Lodge at Clayton Avenue and Taylor exclusively serves overnight needs of families and patients traveling to St. Louis to receive medical care. The Chase-Park Plaza is an upscale option several blocks to the north and the Comfort Inn on Lindell is going on the auction block. Other hotels are a couple miles or more away. Cortex planning documents show potential hotel sites within that development north of I-64 and The Grove.
The Grove neighborhood and surrounding area is on a development binge. Aventura has added 150 apartments, six new rental townhomes are down the street, the new Shriners Hospital is rising, Washington University is building down Taylor and in the other direction will soon be a major new micro brewery. Bissinger’s will move from The Grove to North Broadway, clearing space for something new. And more new construction is rumored for the area in the near future.
Reach for comment, the developer declined to comment for this story.
{Aventura Phase II consists of two buildings along Chouteau and Newstead Avenues}
{Aventura Phase II would have originally wrapped the Chouteau/Taylor corner}
{this long dead infill proposal for Chouteau/Taylor featured retail}
