It’s been almost two years since the Washington Avenue skybridge between the old St. Louis Centre and the abandoned Dillard’s department store fell.  Since then, a lot has happened at the Mercantile Exchange (MX) district. Let’s take a look at the transformation that’s taken place on the eastern end of downtown’s entertainment strip. The famed Lindell Hotel once stood where [...]

Spring is (kind of) in the air. This means we can go back to exploring on foot what’s happening in downtown St. Louis. The other day we had a chance to take some photos of the work in progress at Ballpark Village. The good news is that the project finally seems to move along swiftly. Dirt is being moved and [...]

Today, downtown proper’s first microbrewery, Alpha Brewing Co., opened on Lucas Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets in the back of the building of the 1st Financial Federal Credit Union and Lindenwood University’s downtown classrooms.  The entrance to the building is a block east of Citymuseum and just south of Europe Night Club. Before entering the actual brewery, one will [...]

[Reporting: Werner Budding | camera and editing: Pieter van Gend | Autovisie/De Telegraaf]   Yes, Count On Downtown is about St. Louis, but once in a while I like to stray. This is one of those times. As an expat/immigrant from the Netherlands I read many articles from across the pond. I stumbled upon this interesting video by auto magazine [...]

The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium opened a few weeks ago in the beautifully renovated Cupples 9 building at 900 Spruce Street. Here at Count On Downtown the verdict is in: We like it. We like it a lot. First of all, it’s big. Besides plenty of space inside, there is a huge deck on the east side, as well as [...]

Most downtown dwellers must have been pondering: “When will this N. Tucker Boulevard project be finally finished?” Well, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The old Illinois railroad trench underneath North Tucker has been filled with foam and the road deck is now being laid down. The $33.8 million project commenced in June 2010, although part of the [...]

Chicago is working on connecting itself to its riverfront. CDOT Commissioner Gabe Klein touted the Chicago Riverwalk as an addition to the city’s sustainable transportation network, breaking down the barriers between Wacker Drive and the waterway. The pedestrian walkway will help connect people to water taxis, bike-share kiosks, buses and trains, as well as recreational boating, he said. “This will be [...]

St. Louis-based TAGG Logistics, a third-party distribution, fulfillment and logistics provider to mid-sized manufacturers, is consolidating its three St. Louis locations into a single, expanded logistics center. Scheduled to open in April, the new facility will increase the company’s capacity by 35 percent and feature high-volume material handling equipment and a state-of-the-art warehouse management system. The new facility will use [...]

Mayor Slay has made it clear: He wants St. Louis to become a more sustainable city. His plans are laid out in his Sustainability Action Agenda. Some of you might shiver when hearing the word sustainability. Solyndra (there, I said it) comes to mind, and other hugely expensive programs that have not always proved to be successful. This doesn’t mean [...]

Our friends at nextSTL.com, via WhoLou’s Geoff Whittington,  hit the interwebs today with a scoop about IKEA planning a store on Forest Park Avenue, between Vandeventer and Sarah Streets. A few outtakes from the story: Several WhoLou sources are alleging that highly-coveted Swedish-based furniture chain IKEA intends to develop their first St. Louis store close to the campus of St. Louis [...]

  As has been documented extensively, the Arch grounds are getting a makeover. Initially a grandiose plan was proposed – costing about a half billion dollars – that was to be funded by private donations and the federal government. Alas, the fed’s contributions as well as those from  private donors have been less generous than anticipated and the plan had [...]

Collective, a retail co-op has opened in the MX district, in the former St. Louis Centre. Collective features more than 35  boutiques and unique retailers from around the St. Louis region and Chicago. These retailers have each leased a space in this chic and  urban retail environment. Currently available at Collective are: Adam Foster, Alternative Apparel, Beltshazzar, Genovese Jewelers, Ivy Hill, Juxtapose, Kate Pollman, Oh Lolli Lolli, Q [...]

A new gallery annex furniture/antiques store will be opening its doors at 1123 Locust Street  in November. The store will be named Le Grand Ballroom and a website – www.sstyler.com- is coming soon. The store will be occupying the former Salt of The Earth space on the ground floor of the Alexander Lofts Building across the street from Rooster.  We [...]

The CVC has released their amended tier 1 plan for the Edward Jones Dome submitted to the Rams last Friday, August 17th. Read the entire proposal in the embedded PDF below: Share

Built in 1928, the Park Pacific is a beautiful building. The proposed parking structure and residential addition was at one time beautiful as well. Of course something is nearly always lost from rendering to final project. In this case, the cancelled residential component left just another bland garage. And that’s basically as promised, minus some signage and screens. With the [...]

As reported by Tim Bryant of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the former Bouras Mop Co. building at 1322 Dolman Street was recently purchased by Apted Brothers  LLC, who announced to renovate and convert it into three floors of apartments with office space on the ground floor. This building sits at a significant location, right at the east entrance to Lafayette [...]

[View the story "Post-Dispatch lays off 6 newsroom employees" on Storify] Share

Number 9, the building of the Cupples family currently under restoration by the Koman Group, will become home to a Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in the fall, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.  Flying Saucer is a Dallas-based restaurant chain with 15 locations in Arkansas, Missouri (Kansas City), Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Flying Saucer’s owners [...]