McGowan|Walsh Historic Renovators today opened their new “Sales & Presentation Center” to more than 300 REALTORS®. We were first treated to a “nuts & bolts” seminar on loft selling and lunch down the street at Windows on Washington.
Sadly, many in my profession don’t get the renaissance in urban living. Today’s presentation did a great job of explaining what it is all about. Kevin McGowan asked his wife Erin to talk about a typical day for them. The McGowan’s have a 3-year old as well as twins that are less than a year old. Erin talked about a mom’s group where her son (age 3) is the oldest. The point, families do live downtown.
McGowan|Walsh will be doing something new with all their upcoming projects: Opening sales to those customers represented by buyer’s agents for a full two weeks prior to just taking contracts from those not represented. So, if you are looking to place a contract on one of their projects get with an agent (such as myself) so you can pick the unit you want and get pre-construction pricing.
M|W will be giving each purchaser of a new loft a new scooter as well (updated 5/30/06 – Packard & Motor Lofts only at this point). Kevin McGowan mentioned he has had recent talks with city officials about scooter parking as he wants to make sure his customers have a place to park their new scooters when visiting local businesses and friends. I addressed this issue in a post entitled St. Louis Region Needs to Address Scooter & Motorcycle Parking on April 6, 2006.
Kevin McGowan & partner Nat Walsh are also mixing up the selections scene a bit. Light fixtures, bathroom fittings and kitchen casework is being sourced from Blue Boat Designs located at 1607 Washington Ave. Their products are not the run of the mill loft finishes we’ve seen for the last 5 years.
Look for the West Downtown area to really take off in the next 3-5 years as these buildings become occupied and as new construction begins. Kevin McGowan and I discussed their plans for the remaining Cupple’s buildings near the new Busch Stadium being marketed as the Ballpark Lofts. He indicated they’ve had an amazing amount of interest from office interests as well as national retailers. Looks like at least one of the buildings may go entirely office with street-level retail.
A few additional photos are available on Flickr.
– Steve