Crescent Rising with condo sales, Pending retail leases
St. Louis Business Journal 6/06
As the steel for the $73 million condo and retail Crescent project begins to rise, so too does the anticipation of developer Mark Mehlman.
Mehlman, principal of Mark S. Mehlman Realty, said the 72 condo units are attracting people from throughout the St. Louis area and those looking to relocate to Clayton. A half-acre park that he is building within the development is a key amenity with the property's urban location, he said. "We're bringing suburbia as best as we can into downtown Clayton," Mehlman said.
The Crescent will be located just north of the Ritz-Carlton on the two vacant acres of land at 155 Carondelet Plaza. St. Louis-based Trivers Associates is the architect, and St. Louis-based Brinkmann Constructors is the general contractor.
The Crescent gets its name from the half-circle shape of a portion of the building, which will wrap around the existing fountain in front of the Ritz. The building creates a defined public space to access the retail and to congregate, said Trivers Associates President Andy Trivers. "The retail adds life to the street, which was important. We think this will be a place for people in Clayton and surrounding areas to really feel a part of an urban experience."
Forty of the 72 luxury condo units at the nine-story project, including two of the six penthouse units, have been sold since marketing efforts began in August 2004. Condos range in size from 2,200 square feet to more than 5,000 square feet and range in price from the upper $700,000s to $1.5 million. The remaining penthouse units are expected to sell for more than $1.5 million each, Mehlman said. The average price per square foot of the residential units sold is between $400 and $425.
Infrastructure for The Crescent is complete, and steel erection is under way. Mehlman expects to have the project's ground-level retail open in the summer of 2007 and deliver the first condos to residents in late summer or early fall next year.
The 28,000 square feet of retail includes seven retail spaces, two of which are restaurants. Mehlman Realty principal Josh Corson said he is negotiating leases with a hair salon, bank, coffee shop, boutique clothier and an ice cream shop for the space. "It will be a mix of national and locally based tenants," Corson said. "We want to have a local flair."
Corson said he has signed several letters of intent and expects to have leases in place within the next few months. The retail space is leasing for between $35 and $40 per square foot.
Amenities at The Crescent will include valet service, a 24-hour front-door attendant and a club room available for condo owners. Mehlman Realty has not yet determined a vendor to provide an iris-scanner security system.
Mehlman notes that his work on The Crescent will not be his last major project in Clayton. He said he has a mixed-use office and retail property of at least $70 million in development costs on the drawing board. "I look at The Crescent as a springboard to other developments that will come our way," he said.
Mixed-use Condo in Clayton will walk the walk of new lifestyle
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 5/19/06
When the Crescent in Clayton, a mixed-use condominium project, begins to take shape in a few weeks at 155 Carondelet Plaza across from the Ritz Carlton, it won't be the high-rise called for in earlier plans.
Instead of a 30-story skyscraper considered by an earlier developer, the Crescent will be a nine-story building that "hugs the street and defines the street and the plaza in its center," architect Andrew Trivers said. The brick and glass façade will follow the curve of the fountain and the center island in front of the Ritz, giving the building its name.
Because of high land costs in Clayton, the initial inclination was to put something "very tall" on the site, said Trivers, principal of Trivers Associates in St. Louis. "But there are times when a tall building just doesn't make as much sense, and I think this is one of those where that was the case."
The biggest challenge was trying to make the building work with those already on the south side of the street and with the Ritz, he said. "A high-rise just didn't make any sense."
The $73 million project will have 26,000 square feet of retail on the first two floors and 72 condominium units covering 390,000 square feet above that. It is slated for completion next summer.
Developer Mark Mehlman, president of Mark S. Mehlman Realty Inc. in Clayton, opted for a mid-rise condo building, in part because it's a specialty of his. It's also a design that has become "very popular throughout the country," he said.
The design imparts a "much more homey feel," Mehlman said. "It's not tall. It's a very long building so it's spread out throughout the site.
"It's going to have spectacular restaurants and great dining and it's just going to be full of life. What we've been able to create is a product that's been embraced by so many people because it's a lifestyle everybody is looking to achieve," he said.
Trivers said the development represents what Clayton could be: "mixed use living where walking becomes more and more a significant part of people's lives as opposed to this constant use of vehicles."
Close to 60 percent of the units are sold, Mehlman said, and he has several letters of intent for the shops. Several restaurants have indicated interest in space, too, he said.
"It's what the city of Clayton has wanted," he said. "Finally we brought some residential and retail together on the east side of Hanley Road."
The project has two levels of parking -- one exclusively for the retail and another for the residential.
The building will have amenities usually seen only in a high-rise -- valet service, 24-hour front-door attendant, a maintenance staff, a fitness center, a club room with seating for 200 and a half-acre of elevated terrace. Condo prices will range from $800,000 to more than $2 million for a penthouse.
Mehlman chose Chesterfield-based Brinkmann Constructors as the builder, in large part because Brink mann brought significant savings through selecting alternative materials and construction methods to cut building costs.
Robert G. Brinkmann, president of the company, said he achieved more than $4 million in savings on the Crescent in large part by suggesting the building be built with a steel frame structure.
"A steel design was more economical, and then we can erect the building faster than doing it out of concrete," he said. "That's basically where the bulk of the savings came."
A New Mid-Rise
The Ladue News 12/2/05
On a recent sunny November morning, developer Mark Mehlman and his associates broke ground for their new project, The Crescent in Clayton. Joining Mehlman in the ceremonial groundbreaking were general contractor Bob Brinkmann, architect Andrew Trivers, Clayton Mayor Ben Uchitelle and others instrumental in the mid-rise condominium project.
Construction is planned to begin this week, with work on the building’s foundation and infrastructure to take place throughout the winter, Mehlman says. The Crescent will be ready for occupancy by spring 2007.
The mixed-use development adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton will be conveniently located near restaurants, shopping and entertainment, all within a short walk of its 72 luxury residences. The 390,000-squarefoot building will be notable not only for its curved brick and glass façade, but also for being the first mid-rise (at nine stories) to offer the services and amenities usually found only in high-rises, Mehlman says.
The developer, who has three decades in the real-estate business, began building mid-rises in Clayton and University City about six years ago. He believes their scale is more appropriate for St. Louis and its residents than towering structures. “Midrises are homier and more comfortable,” he says, noting that ultra-cosmopolitan high-rise living seems better associated with cities like New York and Chicago. ”If we sold one, we could have sold 10,“ he says about his previous mid-rise projects.
“But in the past we were always limited in what we could offer—in both the size of the units and services in the building by the size of the lot,” he recalls. “Customers always remarked that they would have liked one more room in their condos.”
Mehlman incorporated this feedback when planning The Crescent. A variety of floor plans, measuring 2,300 to 3,500 square feet, evoke elements of a freestanding private residence. Entry foyers and family and sitting rooms are spacious. Wide balconies are recessed into condo units to provide additional outdoor living space accessible from multiple rooms.
“I listened carefully (to clients), and incorporated their desires into larger floor plans,” Mehlman says. “We’re the first to have 3,000-square-foot units with three bedrooms that include a his-and-hers master suite.”
While only nine stories high, the building is very long, designed to conform to the shape of the lot, Mehlman explains. This spacious configuration makes possible a full range of on-site services, including a 24-hour front desk attendant, building manager, valet parking, a third-floor garden terrace, state-of-the-art fitness center, and a club room that can accommodate up to 200 guests. Residents will access their units from the garage via one of three elevator lobbies.
The first level of the building will have 26,000 square feet of space earmarked for retail business. ”We’ve accomplished what other mid-rises could not—mixed-use retail/residential and a full-service building,” Mehlman says. The condos are priced within a relatively narrow range: mid $800s to about $1.3 million, depending on size.
So far, buyers who have reserved space at The Crescent have done so out of a desire to “simplify their life in a way that feels very much like their current home, but without the maintenance and upkeep,” Mehlman says. While the majority have been ‘boomers’ between the ages of 50 and 60, the project has also attracted a broad range of potential residents, including young professionals, some with school-age children, drawn to the sophisticated lifestyle. Most already reside in Clayton or nearby Ladue and Frontenac, he reports, although “currently, buyers have come from as far west as St. Albans and Wildwood.”
These clients want to have enough space in their homes (and garages) to accommodate grown children who come back to visit. “It’s simple for me to understand their needs, because I’m at that stage of my life,” Mehlman says. “I have two teenagers and two young adults. We’re thinking about offering a special parking package that makes provisions for long-term visitors, for example students who return home for the summer.”
In fact, the appeal of his latest project has so enticed Mehlman and his wife Debi (who works for the company as a sales associate), that the couple plans to leave their large home and pool in Richmond Heights for condo living.
“Once we realized what a great lifestyle it was, the choice was easy,” he says. And the knowledge that the developer is going to be a neighbor,”instills confidence in our buyers.” LN
Development Breaks ground at Carondelet Plaza
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 11/23/05
After more than a decade of remaining vacant, ground has been broken on a $73 million mixed-use development at 155 Carondelet Plaza, across from the Ritz Carlton hotel.
Named the Crescent, the 390,000-square-foot development will feature 72 condominiums, cafes, restaurants and other forms of retail. Services for residents will include valet parking, front-door attendants, clubrooms and fitness centers.
"I think it's the first of a kind of mixed-use retail and residential," said Mark Mehlman, whose firm, Mark S. Mehlman Realty Inc., is the developer of the project. "What the city is lacking tremendously is the boutique-type service-oriented retail that we're going to bring to the Crescent."
The condos will start in the mid-$800,000 range and cost as much as $2 million-plus, he said. Thus far, more than 45 condo reservations have been made. Mehlman said those reservations are in the process of being converted into contracts.
The Crescent will feature a nine-story glass-and-brick curved facade, accented with limestone. Brinkmann Constructors of St. Louis will build the structure. Mehlman anticipates the project will be completed in 18 months.
Prior to the Crescent, there have been two notable attempts to develop the area, including the Fountain Place. The mixed-used project, featuring a building taller than the planned Crescent, was approved more than five years ago, but the project failed to come to fruition.
Another project, an office-building development proposed by THF Realty, never made it past the conceptual stages with the city's planning committee. Catherine Powers, Clayton's planning director, said the THF project was not what the city was looking for at that location.
Mayor Ben Uchitelle praised the Crescent project, saying it rounds out the area in front of the Ritz Carlton and the rest of the plaza just east of Hanley Road. The Crescent also complements the city's office buildings and another development project to the south, but especially the Ritz Carlton, he said.
"A lot of the people who will be owning units in the Crescent, these are people who will have friends and family visiting them very frequently, and what better place to stay than right next door at the Ritz?" Uchitelle said.
Mehlman said the Crescent condos have been attracting a range of tenants.
"We're attracting the young, who are looking for the sophisticated lifestyle," he said. "And we're attracting baby boomers and older generations, who are looking to simplify their lifestyles."
Crescent to bring Condos, retail to Carondelet Plaza
St. Louis Business Journal 6/24/05
The floor plans are finalized and the finishing touches are being made on designs for The Crescent -- a proposed $69 million mixed-use complex in Clayton. And the residential portion of the complex, which would be built on the empty land on Carondelet Plaza and along Forsyth Boulevard, just north of the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis hotel, already garnered more than 25 reservations.
Developers Mark Mehlman and Joshua Corson have proposed the project, which would include 72 condo units and about 28,000 square feet of retail space.
Mehlman said potential retail tenants would not be approached until after his group makes a presentation to the Clayton Plan Commission Aug. 1. If all the plans are approved at that meeting, construction could begin by December and be completed by late 2007 or early 2008.
Hycel Properties, led by President Mark Zorensky, was named the exclusive retail leasing partner and is seeking top retail, restaurant and service tenants for the first-floor retail space.
"The city so desperately needs the retail end of this proposal," Mehlman said. "This is now what the city is looking for and what we believe in."
Two earlier proposals -- THF Realty's office tower and a 30-story luxury condo building proposed by MLP Investments LLC of Frontenac -- failed to come to fruition.
Yet Clayton officials said they're optimistic about the project. "We're all quite supportive," said Clayton Mayor Ben Uchitelle.
After the December 2004 presentation, Mehlman said the project received "resounding approval" and 27 residential reservations from interested prospective tenants.
Architects Andy Trivers and Tyler Stephens of St. Louis-based Trivers Associates designed the project. National City Bank is the lender. St. Louis-based Clayton Land Co. owns the property, some of which is being used by Metro to build the Cross County MetroLink extension. Mehlman said the developers' purchase of the property for The Crescent should close some time in December.
Mehlman said the city is looking for The Crescent to become the catalyst of future developments on the east side of Hanley Road and along Forsyth.
He's built within the area," Uchitelle said of Mehlman. "He actually has a firm contract to develop this property with the owner, so he's already committed quite a bit to the project."
Mehlman, who has built condos in the Clayton area before, said this complex is the first of its kind to offer this combination of premier retail and more than 260,000 square feet of residential space.
Priced between $700,000 and $1.5 million, the condo units will have two to four bedrooms and are between 2,400 and 4,000 square feet. Ninth-floor penthouse-level units will host up to 4,800 square feet. Standard features include 10-foot ceilings and heated master-bathroom floors.
A two-story parking garage is proposed behind the building. The top of the garage would feature a terrace with green space.
Mehlman said a sales and collection center for the complex is set to open Aug. 1. It will feature a complete layout of a typical unit, where customers can take a virtual tour of the building starting from the lobby.
The condos are being marketed mainly to 50- to 70-year-olds who are looking to simplify their lives, Mehlman said. A second submarket will target those aged 35 and older who are "looking to enjoy the luxury and lifestyle that The Crescent will offer," he said.
Developers Propose to fills Gaps in Clayton
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 4/05/05
Clayton officials and developers are looking east of Hanley Road to fill in the city's missing "teeth"- vacant and underdeveloped land - with more retail and mixed-use projects.
They're focusing on empty land on Carondelet Plaza and along Forsyth Boulevard, just north of the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis hotel. Some of that land is being used by Metro to build the Cross County MetroLink extension.
Developers Mark Mehlman and Joshua Corson plan to fill in the gaping hole at the northeast corner of Hanley Road and Carondelet Plaza with a nine-story condo and retail complex.
The $69 million project, to be known as the Crescent, would include 72 condo units and about 28,000 square feet of retail space.
Architects Andy Trivers and Tyler Stephens designed the project. National City Bank is the lender. Capital Land Co. owns the property.
Clayton Mayor Ben Uchitelle said he's also in talks with developers on two mixed-use apartment and retail projects for the south side of Forsyth. He said the city is looking to develop a mid-size parcel of land on Carondelet Plaza between Mehlman's proposed complex and the Ritz-Carlton.
"We see it as an area with great potential and development that's been ripe for a while," Uchitelle said. "Mehlman's project will add some housing adjoining our central business district and trigger other projects in the area."
Uchitelle's offices at Husch & Eppenberger LLC in the Plaza on Clayton building overlook both sites. The land where Mehlman proposes to build has been vacant for nearly 20 years; earlier proposals to build there have fizzled.
THF Realty proposed office towers on the property, but "never made it out of the planning stages," Uchitelle said. MLP Investments LLC of Frontenac proposed a 30-story luxury condo building in 2000, but that plan also fell apart.
Mehlman's proposal has been given the green light by Clayton's architectural board. In addition to retail, his development includes about 260,000 square feet of residential space.
The condominiums would range from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet, with two- to four-bedroom units. Seven glass-walled penthouses, averaging 4,000 square feet, would offer views of the skylines of Clayton and downtown St. Louis.
A two-story parking garage with 156 spaces for residents is proposed behind the building, adjacent to an alley that connects to Hanley Road. A terrace with green space would go atop the garage.
Condos at the Crescent could list for $700,000 to $1.5 million, Mehlman said. The project answers demand in Clayton for more housing and could draw the business district east, he said.
"The city has wanted a residential mix of property there, and we have the answer to it," he said. "It carries on the concept of living in the city, and it can be a catalyst for the city's overall plan to enhance the area east of Hanley, bringing the west business district of Clayton east to the other side of Hanley."
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