Update Dec 9, 2021 – The Skinker DeBaliviere Community Council voted 9-5 not to support the proposal. It remains to be seen whether Opus will push forward at the city level, modify the proposal, or give up entirely.
Update Dec 1, 2021 – Opus changed its unit mix in response to neighbors’ concerns-
After listening to feedback and concerns from the neighbors and the community counsel we were able to study our unit mix and are pleased to inform you that after much deliberation and reconfiguring we are able to eliminate the 4 bedroom units from the project. We wanted to provide this information to you in advance of the meeting on December 6th so you can share with the community and the board as we hope this will address a number of concerns. The project will now be comprised of one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom units including approximately 140 units and 327 beds. Our previous proposal included 130 units and 335 beds. The height and parking count will remain as previously proposed.
Update Nov 8, 2021 – More/updated renderings
The holy grail for Delmar Loop fans may arrive in a few years. Opus Group plans a 14-story building at the southeast corner of Delmar and Skinker in the Skinker DeBaliviere neighborhood. Opus used their in-house architects.
Well before and especially since the closure of Church’s Chicken in 2013, which had occupied the low-productivity auto-oriented building since the 1970s, speculation and hope for CITY there sprang eternal. The highly visible and watched corner ranks up there with Lindell and Kingshighway as a parcel that begs the question “when is something going to happen there?” Proposals for a paid parking lot, a Ferris wheel, a three story mixed-use building, a single-story bank, and an 8-story hotel came and went for various reasons. The neighborhood had the courage to keep saying no to the low-productivity proposals. Their stubbornness may pay off.
NextSTL – 2017 – Demo Alert: Delmar and Skinker
Opus proposes a student-focused 14-story, U-shaped, 130-unit building that’s one foot shorter than the Everly down the street. They have the property under contract. The first floor would have 3410 sf of retail at the corner, six parking spaces accessed from the alley and a curb cut from Delmar at the east end of the parcel to parking on the second and third floors for residents. Apartment configurations are 21 super studios, 61 2-Beds, and 39 4-Beds for a total of 335 bedrooms. They would be furnished. Opus has found that the 4-bed units to be popular at their other student-oriented buildings across the country. Amenities include a rooftop pool and fitness center.
There would be 69 parking spaces for a ratio of 0.53 per unit and 0.21 per bed. The proposed form based code for Delmar and DeBaliviere would eliminate parking mandates. Parking spaces will be leased separately from housing. There would be large-scale indoor bike storage and bike repair. #parkingsmartstl
If completed three of four corners at Delmar and Skinker would have CITY. The fourth at the southwest corner is owned by AT&T. It had walkable human-scaled building until they were razed for a Jack in the Box that never happened. Link in the Loop which hosts CVS and iTap replaced a gas station at the northwest corner. During construction sidewalks were closed on Delmar and Skinker, something Opus should avoid.
NextSTL – 2018 – The Loss Of An Urban Intersection At Skinker And Delmar – A Look At St. Louis In The 1970s
Opus hopes to open in time for the fall 2024 school year. There is no word on whether they will seek any tax incentives.
