Downtown’s Papa John’s Pizza To Reopen In Different Parking Garage
After Papa John’s Founder & CEO John Schnatter commented on the Affordable Care Act during the 2012 presidential campaign I stopped patronizing the downtown location — then located just 4 blocks East. My taste buds, waistline, and wallet were grateful.
It will be nice seeing a business in these storefronts facing Tucker, the spots facing Pine are occupied. More space remains available facing Tucker & Olive.
Renovation work at the garage where Papa John’s had been located (see Parking Garage Undergoing Time-Consuming Multi-Million Dollar Restoration; Businesses Closed, Jobs Lost) has slowed to be almost nonexistent. Yesterday the security guard told me what I already suspected — there was far more damage than originally thought. The owner isn’t sure how much more they want to put into it but a couple of guys are still around working — but nothing like the crew when the work first started.
How long can the owner keep a garage that’s producing zero income?
— Steve Patterson
I am sure the panhandlers (human cockroaches) that can’t afford to buy pizza will have yet another target on as good hardworking patrons of downtown business and shake them down for “spare change”. They love when new businesses open too…a feeding frenzy. thanks, Sarge
What is your major malfunction? Aside from your totally irrelevent screed against the homeless, this isn’t a new business, its moving across the street. Your comment makes it seem like you are against new buisness (though this is not one) just to spite the homeless. Wow, you are really a smart guy.
i have two question for you RUSTY..what do you do for a living and where do you live MY POST IS AS FOLLOWS that these scumbags look for new business as opportunity to rape and pillage the good hardworking patrons of these businesses. If you can take better care of the indigents….please do.
So what you’re saying is you’ll never miss an opportunity to whine about people less fortunate than you, no matter how irrelevant it is to the story.
screw RUSTY and his bleeing heart. AS WE FOUND YOU, WE TOOK CARE OF YOU. RUSTY WAS PROBABLY Shitting in a diaper at the time and of this stated. you Sir and a lazy piece of shit that things your lighter work load will save society. Can’t wait to see this FLOP
“How long can the owner keep a garage that’s producing zero income?” The owner knows a) what he was making before construction started, b) what repairs are costing, and c) what the building is “worth” in its current condition – it’s just business. Do you cut your losses and walk away or do you make the necessary investments? And hopefully generate a profit? Repeat that across the city and region and you get a better understanding about why some areas are doing better than others . . .
The “worth” of a building is not a constant, 25 years ago the old warehouses downtown were worth very little — until people began buying lofts. Small slab-on-grade houses in Olivette weren’t worth much until the first was bought and replaced with a McMansion — suddenly offering housing you could only get on the edge but closer in and in Ladue school district.
The worth can change quickly once someone comes up with new uses/ideas. Those stuck in old ways of thinking fail to see the new worth.
Agree, completely. The challenge is that most business people live in the “today”, not the past and not the future, especially the longer-term future. If it doesn’t generate a profit, now or in the near future, what are our options? How do we fund the visionaries? And how do we get people to embrace the vision?
I know of no businessmen with or without vision who invest in parking garages for any reason other than to protect another investment. If designed and constructed right, the initial construction investment plus the necessary ongoing maintenance costs rarely offset the debt service, let alone make a profit. Garages are typically built with one objective in mind: to accommodate current or future-bird-in-hand tenants/residents in nearby structures, not as speculation to promote general business development. In STL, Larry Williams had a true vision when he initiated his garage-building program, because he was in a position to arrange special financing which offset/reduced some of the initial construction costs and reduced losses typically seen in the first few years of operation, giving him the opportunity to build a garage on speculation for the purpose of promoting an area of the City that needed a shot in the arm. Firms that specialize in parking garage management would not agree, however. It has been my experience that most of those firms are typically guilty of grossly delaying vital, daily maintenance tasks in order to bolster the bottom line–on which their management fee is based.
Unless garage pavement is thoroughly washed at least 6 times a year to minimize trapping moisture in grease/debris buildup, unless pavement surfaces are thoroughly and routinely restored and sealed, unless handrails/bollards are thoroughly/routinely cleaned and repainted to minimize rust; unless light fixtures are cleaned to minimize rust, revenue control equipment serviced and adjusted routinely to minimize breakdowns, unless caulking and expansion joints are routinely replaced/repaired to MINIMIZE water infiltration, the garage will show major degradation as early as during the first year of operation. “TO MINIMIZE” is the operative infinitive here! Garage owners often listen to their management companies, delay the maintenance, but eventually they pay the piper. I suspect the garage at Tucker and Pine is a classic textbook case of such neglect. And in a garage, the cancer may start out small, but it quickly metastasizes. And you have no clear idea how much damage exists until you complete the demolition phase…and even then, you’ll likely discover even more hidden damage during the soffit-forming repair stage, just prior to concrete placement. I wonder if the vision for the Pine/Tucker garage will be seen as a parking garage, or eventually as a site of another structure.I seriously doubt that you’ll see another pizza parlor in its basement! I am fairly confident, though, that the”vision” of that garage will never be seen as a sound investment.