In March we reported on Lawrence Group’s aspirational $232M multi-phased plan to resurrect the Midtown St. Louis Federal-Mogul site. As stated at the time, such a project would take years to complete, but now we’ve learned that a start may be just around the corner.
Today, Feast Magazine is reporting that City Foundry Food Hall & Market may break ground in just weeks, and open as early as 2018. The idea is to introduce a venue similar in some ways to Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market. According to Feast, the project could feature up to 40 retail spaces in addition to food.
In a way, the project is winding up to be what Union Station once was – a festival marketplace with food, retail, and surrounding office space. If the overall ambition for what is being called East of Cortex, comes to fruition, it may have a better critical mass to support its commercial space.
Union Station itself is undergoing a significant transformation as a destination. Coming is a 200ft Ferris Wheel, shipping container food court, a remake of the marketplace, and the addition of at least one major new attraction. Owner LHM has scheduled a announcement for tomorrow, August 9th.
Located between Saint Louis University and Cortex, the Federal-Mogul site could capture local traffic as well as tourists and those coming and going from downtown on gameday and for special events. The site is located between two MetroLink stations, and across from IKEA and its estimated 1M annual shoppers.
From our previous reporting: Cortex, Lawrence Group Team Up for $232M Midtown Project
The Lawrence Group and Cortex are teaming up to greatly increase development plans for the long vacant Federal Mogul site in Midtown St. Louis. We reported in January that Lawrence Group had purchased the site previously planned as a strip retail development. The project could now top $232M according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The site spans from Vandeventer Avenue across from IKEA, extending along Forest park Avenue to Spring Avenue. The plan unveiled today is more than double that announced earlier this year, which only included the central foundry, while hinting at additional development.
In December 2015, Cortex purchased a 3.5-acre parcel for $3M along Vandeventer from Pace Properties, which had planned the retail development. The larger parcel had been under contract to Pace before the option lapsed and it was bought by the Lawrence Group. The working title for the project is “East of Cortex” and the main renovated foundry building would be titled the “Idea Market”.
Residents and others will have a chance to learn more at a public meeting scheduled for 5PM Tuesday, March 8 at the Library Annex (3693 Forest Park). A portion of the project could begin in the next few months, with the complete vision taking several years to achieve. If successful, developers believe the site could add 2,500 jobs.
The developer shared with the Post-Dispatch that other parts of the project could include:
• A mixed-use, 90,000-square-foot building on Spring. Smith said he was confident a grocery would occupy part of the building.
• Two office buildings, both with retail space, along Vandeventer. Renderings show the taller building would rise to about 13 floors.
• Along Forest Park Avenue, a midrise building with at least 200 apartments.
• Reconstruction of the unused railroad trestle on the site as part of a recreational trail for hikers and bicyclists. The Great Rivers Greenway District has proposed incorporating the rail line into the district’s regional network of bikeways.
• Parking for more than 2,600 vehicles.
{the current view of the site from Interstate 64}
Continue reading: Cortex, Lawrence Group Team Up for $232M Midtown Project
