Author: Ted Wight

What is Saint Louis Strong?

Saint Louis Strong is an aspiring 501(c)(4) social welfare nonprofit group advocating for unification of St. Louis City into St. Louis County. Through inclusive and nonpartisan means St. Louis Strong seeks to build an diverse grassroots movement to mount support for its efforts. While other nonprofits do examine this issue, their 501(c)(3) status limits them from political activity. We seek to partner with these informative groups and collaborate with various stakeholders in the region. At the end of the buck stops with each resident. Let’s make sure we’re building strong future for St. Louis by working together today.

From the Facebook event.

After Better Together’s series of reports, the Ferguson Commission report, the Police Executive Research report, and the Department of Justice report, it is time for citizens to take the facts into their own hands. Join us at our third roundtable as we review how fragmentation affects you the individual. Together we’ll brainstorm on how to use our region’s resources more effectively.

Our goal is to amplify the voice of the average resident and to connect neighbors under a shared desire for meaningful and effective policy change.

Comment below what your thoughts are!

With a plethora of new building projects on the horizon, 2016 is a very exciting time to living or working in Clayton. Headlining this abundance of new building projects, is the $778.1 million dollar project proposed by Centene.

In total, the project is anticipated to include over 1.5 million square feet of office space, over 40 thousand square feet of retail space, 120 luxury apartments, and a auditorium that will be able to host a multitude of different corporate events. Thus this project will bring more commerce and business to the already booming economy of downtown Clayton.

Clayco CEO and Chairman, Bob Clark, outlined a large-scale project that would include four phases. The first phase will include a 28 story high rise building on the corner of Hanley and Forsyth with loads of office space throughout. There will also be a state-of-the-art skybridge connecting this new building with the current Centene building. The Second phase will stretch along a block of Forsyth and will include retail shops on the ground floor with highly luxurious apartments up above. The third proposed phase, located just east of the Ritz, has two parts. The first part is a large civic auditorium able to be used for a large variety of corporate events. The second part is a multi-use tower, extending 21 stories upwards. This tower will contain both office space and corporate lodging. Plans for the fourth and final phase were kept under wraps until very recently. This phase, designed in a contemporary style to compliment the existing Centene building, will include over 500 thousand square feet of office space with retail stores spanning the bottom floors

 

While the new Centene building provides an exciting new addition to the urban landscape of Clayton, there are also gorgeous new changes planned to enhance the lovely green area of Shaw Park.

Right off the bat, you will be able to see these new changes as you enter Shaw Park through the north Chapman Plaza entrance. A large circular fountain with cascading water down the sides will greet you as soon as you enter the park. After that, a short path next to a flowing stream of water will lead you through the luscious green areas of the park, finally ending up at a large reflecting pond. This pond will be a perfect location to stop and have a picnic or even just lay down and relax.

 

There are also other proposed changes on the eastern side of the park including a new eastern entrance and an area called “Century Garden.”

However not all building projects here in Clayton are going off without a hitch. For example, the request to rezone the Harris Armstrong Home Site and construct a new townhome was shutdown before it even reached the Clayton Board of Alderman.

The Armstrong building currently has been vacant for the past couple years and is currently under demolition. Having been vacant, the home became quite run down with water damage spread throughout the home.

But despite this, the neighbors do not want a large townhome popping up in their single-family home residential area.

Elsewhere in Clayton, there are an abundance of other developments popping up throughout the downtown area.

$41 million multi-use proposition on North Central planned by OPUS

24 story glass and aluminum tower on S. Meramec developed by CA Venture

229 unit apartment building developed by Vanguard Clayton on Maryland Ave.

Mixed use projected designed by HDA Architects on the corner of Hanley and Clayton

 

$68 million, 14 story office building on Forsyth designed by ACI Boland Architects

78 unit micro apartment complex on Lee Avenue

$125 Million renovation and addition to the St. Louis County Family Courts

New Westin Hotel and residential units at the corner of Brentwood and Forsyth

$100 million, 31 story glass apartment building planned by the firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz