|
| Downtown Buzz is a
monthly newsletter published by the Downtown St. Louis
Community Improvement District for its members, downtown
property and business owners, the downtown business and
residential community and all others interested in
downtown revitalization. Send all responses and
inquiries to Shuntae' Shields Ryan, Marketing &
Communications Director, via e-mail or mail to: 906 Olive
Street Suite 200 St. Louis, MO 63101 |
| | |
|
 |
 |
|
In late January, the
City of St. Louis unveiled the Master Plan for the
Gateway Mall conversion in downtown St. Louis. The
vision for the 1.2 mile mall includes dividing the park
into five areas or "rooms"; Kiener Plaza, Urban Garden,
Civic Room,  Neighborhood Room, Terminus and a
"hallway" linking the sections that will run the entire
length of the park. Each room will have its own
character, uses and design components.
Additionally plans call for the Gateway Mall to include
trees, lighting, sculptures, street furniture, seating
and a water element.
The Gateway
Foundation provided the funding for and participated in
creating the master plan and will bring one of the
components of the vision, the $25 million Urban Garden,
to reality starting this spring. The Gateway
Foundation has enlisted the Missouri Botanical Garden to
help maintain the Urban Garden.
The Gateway Mall
Steering Committee is
comprised of: Gary Bess, the City's Director of Parks,
Recreation and Forestry; Rollin Stanley, the City's
Director of Planning and Urban Design; David Fischer,
Executive Director of Great Rivers Greenway; Jim Cloar,
President of the Downtown Partnership; and Christy B.
Fox, Director of the Gateway Foundation.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lumiére Place has opened two hotel
properties, Four Seasons (a luxury hotel) and
HoteLumiére (an upscale, all-suite hotel).
The Four Seasons St. Louis opened in February at
Lumière Place. It has 200 rooms and occupies the
skyscraper atop Lumière Place. Features of the
hotel include a fitness center, 12,000-square-foot spa,
a Grand Ballroom and a most impressive  ribbon of light 198 m long
(650-ft) wrapping the edges of the building. The
500,000 LED lights can produce 16 million shades and a
wide array of patterns. The Hotel also includes
the Italian restaurant, Cielo. This is the 75th
property for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Formerly the Embassy Suites, HoteLumiére was
completely remodeled and has 295 guest suites.
Each suite includes signature pillow-top
mattresses, Italian duvets, Egyptian cotton sheets,
plasma-screen TVs, iPod docking stations and a
high-speed Wi-Fi network. Amenities of the hotel
include a waterfall, skywalk across North Second Street
 connecting the hotel to the
casino, 24-hour business center, concierge and valet
service, and more than 8,000 square feet of meeting and
convention space.
HoteLumière also includes Cascade, a lobby bar and a
new Italian restaurant, House of Savoy, which is
scheduled to open in
March. | |
|
|
|
|
|
Rodgers Townsend, an
advertising
agency, has worked in collaboration with
developer  Conrad Properties, to turn the
former 78,240 square foot Hammermill Paper Company
warehouse space into a mixed use building.
The $19 million+
project is now home to the 44,560 square feet
headquarters for Rodgers Townsend's 130-plus employees,
J Buck's downtown and several other office
tenants.
Some of the
building's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) "green" and technical features incorporated into
the renovation of six-story Cupples Station Building One
include: The renovation design using
recycling materials  and the use of certified
wood, a unique roof design that includes a reflective
surface, thereby reducing the heat island effect,
bathroom fixtures that conserve water, and landscaping
design using native plants that require no irrigation,
climate-controlled glass server room and a wireless
music
system. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Downtown St. Louis Partnership and Community
Improvement District will be hosting  downtown leaders from North
America and beyond during the Spring Conference of the
International Downtown Association. The
conference will be held April 26-28 at the Renaissance
Grand Hotel.
Keynote sessions will include an official welcome by
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, St. Louis American
publisher Dr. Donald Suggs addressing the importance of
diversity to a successful downtown, and Economics
Research Associates CEO Patrick Phillips talking about
the significance of today's economic climate on downtown
development markets.
In addition to breakout panels and workshops dealing
with timely issues such as tax credits, homelessness,
office recruitment and retention, and assimilating new
residents, attendees will visit the Old Post Office,
City Museum and downtown's newest bowling/entertainment
destination Flamingo Bowl.
Attendance is open and local St. Louisans who
want to hear what other cities are doing are encouraged
to attend. To register, click
here.
Premier Partners of the IDA
conference include Ameren UE, Anheuser Busch, Economic Research Associates, the
Laclede Group and Lumiere
Place. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The St. Louis Car
Sharing Cooperative along with several elected officials
assisted Enterprise Rent-A-Car in the launching the
first car sharing program in St. Louis available to the
general public, WeCar.
 WeCar, is a convenient,
environmentally friendly car sharing program that
is a great alternative for those who live, work and
visit the downtown area. With WeCar, users can
select one of the nine Toyota Prius hybrids to rent by the hour. The
WeCar vehicles will be parked in designated spots near
some of the city's largest employers, close to busy
residential areas, and near public transportation and
high-traffic areas.
Anyone can
participate in the WeCar program, including employers,
employees, and residents. Interested participants can click
here to enroll. Membership costs $35 per year.
The St. Louis Car
Sharing Cooperative is a collaboration of downtown WeCar
sponsors including: Citizens for Modern Transit;
Pyramid - Spinnaker, LLC; LoftWorks; The Syndicate;
Lawrence Group 1, Inc.; and the Downtown St. Louis
Community Improvement
District. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edible
Arrangements®, which specializes in creating
delicious fresh fruit bouquets,  will have their official grand
opening and ribbon cutting on Monday, March 3, 2008 at
3:00 pm. Come join Mayor Francis Slay,
Downtown Partnership President Jim Cloar, Alderwoman
Phyllis Young welcome owner Vernell Balton and his staff
to downtown St. Louis. Attendees of this
celebration will have the opportunity to sample fresh
chocolate covered bananas, apples, oranges and
more. To RSVP to this event, click here.
Hours of operation Monday - Friday, 8 am - 5 pm and
Saturday, 8 am - 3 pm. Edible Arrangements has 787
other locations worldwide.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The St. Louis Sports
Commission and University of Missouri will host the NCAA
 Division I Wrestling
Championships at Scottrade Center March 20-22,
2008. Planners expect that over 15,000 visitors
will be coming to town for the event, generating $10
million in economic impact.
The Sports
Commission is soliciting the support of the community to
assist in boosting ticket sales. By purchasing at
least two or four all-session tickets you can help fill
Scottrade Center and keep those fans and revenue created
by the event coming to St. Louis permanently.
Additionally, all
merchants that participate in this program can provide
materials (coupons, fliers, etc.) that can be offered to
fans at the St. Louis information table inside Scottrade
Center during the championships or included in the
welcome packets distributed to the 500 athletes and
coaches. To participate in this program, click
here. For questions, call
314.206.7388 or email kjuenger@stlsports.org.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
www.downtownstl.org
|
 |
in downtown St. Louis, has
launched several new sales tactics to attract new
residents. First, Blu has partnered with Bommarito
Automotive Group to offer home buyers a one year lease
incentive on a 2008 Volkswagon Jetta SE.
Second, is the introduction of the Blu Street Team, an
interactive marketing team comprised of promotional
models that will branch out to educate potential buyers
on the amenities found at Blu Cityspaces.
the United States to be chosen to
host a Confucius Institute. The institute will
offer programs, classes, activities and events and be
located at the downtown campus beginning Fall
2008. The Confucius Institute is a non-profit,
public institute with the goal of promoting the
understanding of Chinese language and culture, the
acceleration of multiculturalism and supporting Chinese
teaching internationally through affiliated Confucius
Institutes around the
globe.
The only Downtown Dining
Guide that lists every restaurant in downtown St.
Louis is back! In its 11th year of
printing, nearly 500,000 people viewed the hard copy
version of the guide or downloaded it from the Downtown
Partnership website last year. All downtown
restaurants will be included in the restaurant guide at
no charge, however to purchase an enhanced listing for
only $350 (that also includes a place on the map and
link on our website) e-mail 
Contemporary Furniture Store
located at1214 Washington Avenue.
ArtDimensions will produce new exhibits every 6-8 weeks
as well as hold member meetings and other events in the
lofty space. The gallery will be open Wednesday -
Saturday, Noon - 5 pm. For more information, 