ST. LOUIS – Developers discussed the appeal of Midtown as numerous residential and commercial projects were chosen for the area. Since opening in August, City Foundry has become the main attraction for Midtown.
The developers, New and Found Development, have seen a demand for the mixed entertainment, dining, retail, and, soon, residential experience.
“We’re excited about that momentum that we feel that we’ve been able to help start, we’re really excited about everything else happening because it’s a rising tide,” New and Found Development Managing Director Will Smith said.
Beyond its expansive food hall, the development group will soon expand with hundreds of residential and retail spaces.
“We’re building just on the other side, just down Foundry Way. We’re going to break ground on 270 units (of the) new high rise apartment building,” Smith said. “Might be the first high-rise apartment building in 50 years.”
Neighbors and Great Rivers Greenway also are investing in the growth of the area with connected walkways that cut right through the foundry.
“It will be elevated so there will be a bridge over Vandeventer. There’s an old railroad that we’re working on and will be elevated through this development, so people can get here, come to the food hall, go shopping,” Great Rives Greenway Vice President of Communications Emma Klues said.
The Brickline’s goal is to connect visitors from Midtown and other parts of the city, such as Downtown.
“Walking, biking, running, pushing a stroller, rolling a wheelchair, anything, making it accessible for everyone,” Klues said.
They recently received a $4 million federal grant to do just that.
Minutes away, a new mixed-use site, The Edwin, with almost 200 apartments and a brand new 70,000 square foot Target store is also being developed.
“There’s billions of dollars of developments going on,” Pier Property Group owner Michael Hamburg said. “There’s a lot of good, constant demand drivers from St. Louis University and Washington University, and both of their medical campuses that we see, (there is) a lot of demand for housing that hasn’t been supplied in these pockets of St. Louis in a long time.”
Pier Property Group also has developed three other apartment buildings in the area. Two are open, the other one is in the works.
Steelcote Lofts has 33 units, Steelcote Crossing has 15 units and Steelcote Flats has 105 units and is currently under construction.
“Our city can have neat, attractive, cultural driven neighborhoods and I think midtown is just a great location to be able to capture that,” Hamburg said.
