Valet Parking on Washington Avenue in 6th Ward

My flight arrived a good hour late last night but despite being tired a group of friends were waiting for me at the Gelateria at Washington & 14th. So I stopped by downtown on the way home.  Where to park? Yes, Copia has the 1100 block nearly vacant. Lucas Park Grille has almost half of both sides of the 1200 block of Washington as well as several spaces on both sides of Washington in the 1300 block.

After circling the block and deciding I wasn’t going to pay $5 to park in the lot to the north of Washington Avenue for a 20 minute visit I moved a couple of illegally placed orange cones from the 1300 block of Washington Avenue. Looking around I could see that Lucas Park Grille’s valets had a good 10 spaces sitting empty at 9pm — plus the spaces in directly in front of the restaurant. I was already parked and on the sidewalk when the valet started running up to my car, “Don’t start with me” I said in a grumpy mood from traveling all day. He said something which I don’t recall exactly and I said, “Show me the permit, I’ll be in the gelato place.”

I returned about 30 minutes or so later to find a Saturn parked only inches from my rear bumper and another car in front equally close. They had purposefully blocked me in. OK, I was a smartass and perhaps deserving of such treatment? Fair enough. The valet comes over quickly when he sees me, with permit in hand. The other spaces, by the way, were still vacant.  He points to the address: 1301-19 Washington Ave. Indeed, they were given a permit to conduct valet parking at that location. However, they conveniently ignore the rest of the permit which indicates the area is only for the purpose of drop-off and pick-up — that cars must be moved to an off-site location immediately, and that cones or other items are prohibited in the public right of way. I should mention as a side note, in the 1100 & 1200 blocks they have begun using meter covers that indicate no parking, tow zone rather than the cones.

When I point out the conflicts on the permit the valet tells me he is simply doing what his boss tells him to do —- to keep all these spaces empty so if they get busy they can “stage” cars there. I’ve had others tell me the reason they want to take as many spaces as possible is it forces people to use the valet service so the valets can collect as many tips as they can. Of course, Lucas Park Grille is not the only establishment open in this area yet they certainly act like it. The reality is they simply take these spaces because the city’s street department willingly issues permits for seemingly as much space as the valet companies request.

The McGowan Brothers are the owners of Lucas Park Grille and have this to say on their development website:

We will continue to strive for the protection and safety of our streets and the development of adequate parking facilities for visitors and residents alike. McGowan Brothers Development Corp. will only recognize success when the Washington Avenue district is a thriving community where everyone who lives, works or visits can share in its rewards.

Their actions speak louder than their words. Their valet contractor, Midwest Valet, agressively takes away parking for visitors as the expense of the liveliness of the street. Having blocks of nearly vacant parking gives the appearance of nothing happening, not a good message to communicate to visitors be they from the county or from outside the region.

Contact information for the direct players involved in this caper, please contact them to share your thoughts:

• Lucas Park Grille
• McGowan Brothers Development
• Midwest Valet
• Todd Waeltermann (new director of Streets)

My headline included the 6th ward. Yes, I intend to make this a campaign issue. I’ve personally discussed the valet issue with 6th Ward alderman and candidate for the President of the Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed. I’ve had more conversations with Lyda Krewson of the 28th Ward, who indicates they are proceeding on an ordinance to be introduced this session. Still, my requests to revoke all permits except those directly in front of an establishment have been ignored. I’d like to see a 3-space limit until the Board of Alderman pass a more comprehensive ordinance.

For those that don’t know, this stretch of Washington Avenue is not represented by one person, not even two, but three aldermen. The 1100 block and East is in the 7th Ward represented by Phyllis Young. The 1200 block, where Lucas Park Grille is located, is in the 5th Ward where April Ford-Griffin is the alderman. The 1300 block plus all the blocks to the West past Jefferson are in the 6th Ward. [Note: yes Richard, I double checked the ward boundaries]

As alderman in the 6th Ward Lewis Reed has not introduced any legislation to address the issue relative to valet parking. As a candidate for the President of the Board of Alderman will he now take a stand? Will current President of the Board of Alderman take a position or continue to remain silent on the subject?

We have three candidates running for Reed’s seat in the 6th Ward, what are their positions on valet parking specifically and the rejuvenation of the western length of Washington Avenue in general. With 19th Ward Alderman Mike McMillan about to take the oath of office to become License Collector a significate portion of St. Louis’ downtown and mid-town will be in the hands of new legislators. Quite a bit is at stake and we certainly don’t need aldermen in these two wards that will play games that keep out good urban development. Neither are, to my knowledge, has a comprehensive plan.

One last note on the valet parking. They said last night that the police ticketed my car, yet I had no ticket. The valet indicated it will be mailed to me. I love the concept of a city that will ticket a citizen for parking in one of 10 or so empty spaces being held hostage by a single business while patronizing another business. You’d think someone like the St. Louis Downtown Partnership would step in to help manage the overall parking in in the downtown area. But, if you knew how the organization was managed you would not have such expectations. Let the Partnership CEO Jim Cloar know what you think of their hands-off approach to valet parking downtown.

Rumor: Schnuck’s to Open in Former St. Louis Centre

The rumor is Schnuck’s will be opening some sort of grocery store in Pyramid’s St. Louis Centre project, which is to be renamed 600 Washington. It has been many years since Schnuck’s was even close to downtown, after shuttering their store on Cass in 2000.

An earlier rumor had Schnuck’s locating a store directly behind the Syndicate in the base of the parking garage in which Schnuck’s development company Desco is a partner. That would be the parking garage that replaced the historic marble-clad Century Building that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And Desco is the same group that is developing the sprawl-centric Loughborough Commons in South St. Louis.

Recently developer Craig Heller announced that his City Grocers was moving across the street into a significantly larger space in the Syndicate Building. So the question becomes can we support two downtown grocers? Frankly, I don’t think we can. City Grocers is now established and the newer space will allow them to carry more products and help serve the daily needs of loft dwellers. However, Schnuck’s buying power may allow them to undercut City Grocers across the board.

The battle may not be over price but instead over location and perception. With numerous lofts around City Grocers and further to the West, will people venture over to 6th and Washington for Schnuck’s? Also, will Schnuck’s seem too ordinary for the loft crowd? Will Schnuck’s that is focused on 60,000+ square feet stores be able to design a smaller format store? If they can pull off a nice small format store, I’d like to see it be considered in other areas of the region, especially near transit stations. For example, a smaller Schnuck’s might do well at the new Forsyth MetroLink station on the border of University City & Clayton without completely sabotaging their larger store on Clayton Road in Richmond Heights.

Back to downtown and St. Louis Centre. If Schnuck’s does open in the former St. Louis Centre (again, this is still just a rumor at this point), this might help me get more on-street parking along Washington all the way to the Eads Bridge. Once the pedestrian walkway over Washington Avenue to the former Dillard’s is removed the vista will be opened again but the street will look very wide and vacant. Having 4-5 spaces which are say 30-45 minute limits would be a good way for someone to quickly stop in to buy a few things. This will also make the area look more lively, a key factor in impressing conventioneers in the area.

Wi-Fi Can Increase Productivity

I’m sitting in the Phoenix airport waiting for my flight.  The airplane we are to use to St. Louis is in flight from LA but won’t arrive until after our scheduled departure time.  But, the free wi-fi (wireless internet) in the airport has allowed me to get caught up on some work -related emails and now make this post.

Wireless internet is one of the most business-friendly things an airport or downtown can do.  St. Louis still needs to look at blanket wi-fi in the downtown area as well as some way to get the entire city on the internet — with some sort of provision for low income
citizens.  OK, the flight just arrive.  Have a good weekend.

Mixed-Use Project in Bay Area A Good Model for St. Louis

Yesterday I checked out a recent mixed-use project in the Bay Area, an excellent combination of large grocery store, smaller chain stores and restaurants along with some adjacent apartments. It is still far more suburban than I’d chose for myself but the form and connections are very suitable for nearly anywhere in the St. Louis region.

Now, before you go to the comments to tell me that St. Louis is not San Francisco you are correct, that is why I said this is in the Bay area. The “Shops at Waterford” is located in the town of Dublin — a good 35 miles from San Francisco near the intersection of two major interstates, the 580 & 680. This is part of an area in the East Bay known as the Tri-Valley which also includes Pleasanton, Livermore and San Ramon.

So, what is so great about the Shops at Waterford? Well, it is a new kind of suburban model of urbanity that places a high priority on pedestrian connections in a highly auto-centric area. It is neither old urbanism nor the new urbanism.

Here is the arial of the area (image1), with Waterford in the center of the image, at the NW corner of Dublin Blvd & Tassajara Rd (see map):

Both major streets are 4-6 lanes with zero on-street parking. As you can see, this is the first development on the intersection. Out parcel buildings are not some tiny Starbucks drive-thru but larger structures placed up to the streets.

The large roof you see is a large Safeway grocery store. To the top of the site are apartments built around a central parking garage, to the left are townhouses and then single family houses. From above it looks pretty conventional, but on the ground it is quite different than your typical shopping area in St. Louis.

2) Above: The view looking west along Dublin Blvd. This is pretty common for much of this area, street trees help separate pedestrians from the passing traffic. This wide boulevard includes a bike lane and in this area a right turn lane into the residential area.

3) Above: The opposite view looking East along Dublin Blvd. over toward the intersection with Tassajara. At left is the building which “holds” the corner. Again, street trees help improve the pedestrian experience as well as give the area a more pleasing appearance. The drives out to the street are only two lanes — one in and one out. This keeps the pedestrian crossings short.

4) Above: The pedestrian connection from Dublin Blvd. is quite well marked. This clear pedestrian path is welcoming.

5) Looking back to Dublin Blvd. we can see the first of many bike racks. Note the generous width of the sidewalks within the private development.

6) From this same spot we can look over toward the parking lot and see the nice walkway through to the building at the corner of the site. Of course, this also creates a pleasant pathway for those arriving by car.

7) Above is the same walkway seen from the parking lot.

8) From the crosswalk we can look North into the development. At left you can see the two entrance/exits for the Safeway with the apartments in the background at the far edge.

9) Standing in front of one Safeway entrance looking North we can see the second entrance (the green tower) and another bike rack. I like that the bike rack is not some cheap design meant to hold 20 bikes and squished up against a wall in a dark corner. Also note the stone wall that screens the extra shopping carts from view.

10) Continuing past the Safeway we can begin to see how the apartments relate to the shopping area.

11) Above is the second of the walkways out into the parking and smaller out buildings. More bike racks and benches.

12) Looking back where we’ve been, the generous sidewalks and adjacent parking make a decent place for outdoor seating.

13) The corner where the one-story shops meet the apartments is great for a restaurant with outdoor seating. I’m not sure you can get real Texas BBQ in Northern California but that is a subject for another blog.

14) This view back to the South gives us a nice overview with the Safeway store dominating the center of the buildings.

15) Looking to the West we can see the buildings do not actually meet. The strip with the Safeway on the left stops short enough to leave a generous walkway to the adjacent residential neighborhood. Apartments with ground-level retail are on the right.

16) Above is another view of the same corner. To the right is an entrance to a parking garage for apartments residents and to serve as additional parking for the shopping area. The apartments surround the garage so you don’t see it from the shopping area.

The bright colors of synthetic stucco are par for the course in California, something I don’t care for too much. But, my point is not to look at those issues but look at the form of the buildings.

17) Turning to the East (Tassajara Rd.) we can see more of the retail spaces topped by apartments.

18) As we walk along by the retail/condos we look back to the South and on the right we can see where we walked with the Safeway in the center. On the left is an out building that we’ll get to later. Once again, note the very clear & inviting pedestrian walkways within the project.

19) Looking back to the West we see the how the apartments relate to the internal sidewalk and parking area. We are now at the East end of the project at Tassajara Rd.

20) At Tassajara Rd. we look to the North and we can see how the condos continue for a good distance, the shopping center walkway is to the left. Street trees between the sidewalk and street improve the experience for those walking from their apartment to the store. But let’s head back South along Tassajara Rd. toward Dublin Blvd.

21) The pedestrian crossing here could have been done a bit better, pushing it back away from the curb a bit. This would have reduced the width a pedestrian has to cross.

22) Crossing the entrance we see a sign indicating that recycled (gray) water is used for the landscaping irrigation. This is a very effective way of using non-sewer water, such as rain water. This lessons the load on the sewer system.

23) OK, we’ve crossed the entrance/exit heading South along Tassajara Rd. This is an out building yet it doesn’t give a blank wall to the sidewalk, Stacey’s restaurant has their patio along the sidewalk. A bit of trivia, Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams is the owner of Stacey’s.

24) From the same spot we can look back into the project, we see more bike racks and additional outdoor seating for Stacey’s restaurant. Through the system of walkways we could get to Safetway from here without having to cross through a parking lot.

25) And for context we look back at the apartments.

26) Further down the sidewalk we turn back again to see Stacey’s patio and the condos across the entrance.

27) Back on track heading South along Tassajara Rd. toward Dublin Blvd. we see on the right the out building that contained the Stacey’s restaurant. At the opposite end we see a Blockbuster Video. This is actually the back of the store but it has windows to break up anotherwise empty facade. The sidewalk, while not the urban ideal that I prefer, is about as pleasant as it can be along a 6-lane arterial roadway.

28) In the background is the corner out building which, like the one we just saw, has windows and other features to make it interesting from the main streets but entrances face the parking lot. This is a great way to design for both pedestrians and autos.

29) I didn’t head down to the corner, instead let’s walk back into the development next to the Blockbusters. We will see how these out buildings relate to each other and to the rest of the development.

30) Above we are looking North back toward the apartments. The entrance to the Blockbuster is on the right, the Safeway is to the left across the parking.

31) As we walk back North toward the apartments we can see this area actually has two separate out buildings, the Stacey’s/Blockbuster on the right and another on the left.

32) At the opposite end of this walkway we look back to the South. The Stacey’s is on
our left.

33) Looking back to the East (Tassajara Rd.) we see the opposite view of #24 above.

34) Above is the view looking East toward the main strip center.

35) Continuing on the same path heading back to the main center we see the opposite side of the walkway shown in #11 above.

36) Turning to the North we look back at the apartments and the walkway shown in image #18. Throughout the entire project generous walkways guide the pedestrian from store to restaurant and either back to their car or their residence.

I rejoined my father and brother who had finished their shopping while I was taking pictures. Once back in the car, we headed around back to check out the loading dock area for the Safeway.

37) Here we can see the back of the store, not great but I’ve seen considerably worse.

37) Safeway’s loading dock, above left, is well screened. The sidewalk is likely not used much due to better access that I will show you shortly. This “attached” sidewalk is minimum width with little for the pedestrian. For drivers the view is not bad for the back of a major grocery store.

38) Townhouses across Glynn’s Rose Drive back up to the road, just as the Safeway store does.

39) Above, at the intersection of Glynn’s Rose Drive and Roscommon Way we can see the wide walkway into the corner of the shopping center shown in image #15. The apartments at the corner here have a view down the street but also the loading dock area at right.

40) Turning to the East we can look down Roscommon Way toward the new single-family houses. Again, I’m not a fan of attached sidewalks but it does get the job done. Clearly, the families living in these houses have a pretty easy walk to the store.

From a 2003 Business Journal article:

Shea Properties, the Orange County-based investment real estate division of J.F. Shea Co., which designs, develops and manages commercial and residential developments in California and Colorado, was eager to spearhead the development because it tries to specialize in unique projects.

“This project is a first for our company and groundbreaking as well for suburbia – having a vertical, mixed-use development in a place like Dublin,” said Bob Burke, Shea’s general manager of Northern California operations.

“We have 47 (residential) units per acre, which is twice the average in Dublin,” Burke said. “The apartment complex consists of four-story buildings surrounding a parking structure, which is a novel approach to achieve higher density in the suburbs. Doing something like this in suburbia is unique.”

The master planning and some architecture was done by SPGA. A BART station (Dublin/Pleasanton) is a couple of miles away from this project, a bit too far to walk but not bad for a short bike ride.
As I indicated at the opening, this development is not even close to being urban enough to entice me to live there, but that is OK. As suburban development goes, it does not get much better than this project. People from the surrounding municipalities can arrive easily by car while those that live in the immediate area have only a short walk. All can easily walk throughout the project.

In the City of St. Louis I think we need to be more urban than this project, with true urban buildings facing streets with on-street parking. However, in more auto-centric areas such as near our highways or highly abandonded areas this might be a good model. Couldn’t Loughborough Commons have had such a well-designed relationship? Shopping on North Grand could have had such a connection to the new Hope VI housing.

Nearly every other place in the St. Louis region, especially those developed in the last 50 years, could benefit from such a well-designed project. The question is, do we have the will to demand quality developments such as this that are accessible by foot, bike or car?

For additional photos of this project click here.

Predictions for 2006, How Did I Do

A year ago I made a few predictions, some were on target, some where off and a couple were way off.

Gas Prices:

A gallon of regular gas will exceed $3.00, not due to a natural disaster or terrorism. Republicans and Democrats will argue over the best way to maintain our wasteful habits. Locally our sprawl and mass transit shortcomings will damage the local economy but the same will be true for most of the U.S.

Boy, I really blew this one! I even went so far to revise this in June to $3.49/gallon. All the signs were there but I did not factor in the ability of those in Washington to open up the market in time for the election. It will happen, perhaps in 2007? World demand is increasing and supply is leveling-off. .

Major Projects:

The public will balk at the final design & costs for the riverfront plan, stalling the project. Areas we may not expect like the Gateway Mall, St. Louis Centre, 22nd Street Interchange Alterations and the former Pruitt-Igoe site will begin having serious attention. Easy guess but I do think the Ballpark Village and Bottle District will move forward in some form. I predict I’ll have a review of the proposed Bottle District in a January issue of the West End Word…

Well, the public didn’t really balk at the riverfront plan but there were not huge calls to focus attention & money there. St. Louis Centre has received considerable attention, along with the financial backing of the city. The Gateway Mall has received attention from various groups in the community, a national competition is in the works. The 22nd Interchange, Pruitt-Igoe and Bottle District haven’t really progressed while the Ballpark Village is moving along as expected.

Politics:

The measure to make it harder to recall aldermen will fail by a wide margin, two more aldermen will be recalled. The remaining Aldermen will continue with the status quo known as “aldermanic courtesy” rather than recognize the city would be better served by legislators that view the city as a whole rather than 28 odd-shaped fiefdoms. Candidates file to challenge more than half the incumbent aldermen in the even numbered wards as the filing period opens in late 2006.

Ald. Florida’s charter amendment to make it harder to recall aldermen received 51% of the vote, shy of the 60% required to pass. As we saw, a couple of recall attempts were started against Bosley, Florida and Roddy but none managed to succeed. At this point five of 14 aldermanic seats are contested, will we see a couple more this week?

MetroLink:

St. Louis County residents will love the new MetroLink extension and they’ll forget about most of the delays and cost overruns (but not all). Efforts will begin to ask voters in the City and County to pony up for the next extension which will include North city and West County.

This has pretty much come true, look for a city & county vote for more funding for MetroLink in 2007.

St. Al’s:

One of the big issues I was writing about a year ago was the proposal to raze St. Aloysius Gonzaga. The developer failed to justify to the Preservation Board why the church could not be renovated but machine politics prevailed and Ald. Vollmer got his way with a redevelopment plan with the other aldermen conveniently ignoring good sense and approving the measure. In March 2006 I made the following prediction:

In place of this unique setting we’ll have some very ordinary houses — maybe. I’m not holding by breath. Based on what I’ve seen to date this developer won’t get very far beyond razing the historic structures. My prediction is he’ll get no more than 5 houses completed and sold this calendar year with another 5 in 2007. More than half the sites will remain vacant eyesores.

Well, it is too early to see if all of this will be the case but at this point only one house is occupied. A couple more displays are done with a number of others in various stages of construction.

2007:

I’m still working on my predictions for 2007.  I’ll combine it with my “wish list” for 2007.  Look for this later in the week.