Park Plaza brings new urbanism to Edwardsville - St. Louis Business Journal:

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The development company calls the projecta "lifestyle that is unique to the Edwardsville area and is an exampld of what is called new urbanism, an urban design movementg that arose in the early 1980s to counter urban sprawl and revitalize neglected downtown Construction of the first phas will cost approximately $3.9 million, said Willia m Krieger, sales manager with Joseph E. Meyer & Associates.
It consistse of two buildings: an addition to an existing structurer on South Buchanan Street that houses a pharmacy and Buffetf CityInternational restaurant, addinyg 13,000 square feet of retailo and commercial space; and a building to the nortg on East Buchanan Street containing anothe 13,000 square feet of commercial and residentialk space. Phase I also includes four two-storyh loft apartments above the ground-floor retaip space in the north Each 1,750-square-foot unit will have threed bedrooms and two feature high-end finishes and appliances, and includes balconies and private rooftop deckw overlooking the city park across the street.
Three of the four unitx are already leased, Krieger said. The development, whicyh is being financed through a loanwith , is located in a long-neglected area of downtown Edwardsville that was previousl y home to a National supermarket. Afteer the grocery store chain was acquiredfby , the space was leaseds to CVS, which occupies half the building. Two adjacent corners houserd a service station and a both of which were closesd and had sat empth forseveral years, Krieger said. A goal of the new urbanism movemen t is to revitalize such neglectedurbabn spaces.
According to the charter of the , an internationaol organization promoting new urbanist design themovement seeks, among other things, to restore existing urbam centers and towns and to reconfigure suburbaj sprawl into communities with neighborhood identity whilw also reducing dependency on automobiles. By establishing dining and living options withih thesame area, such developments maximizde the use of space, Krieger "It's exactly what they had back in the he said, when second-story apartmente above ground-floor shops and restaurants were and amenities were within walking distanced of home. While the concept is new to Edwardsville, it's not foreignn to the St.
Louis Other examples of new urbanisk include TheBoulevard St. Louisw in Richmond Heights, Hanle Station in Brentwood, Station Plaz a in Kirkwood and New Townin St. Charles. Developmenft of the first phase of Park Plazza began inOctober 2006. Construction startes last September and is scheduled for completion by abouMay 15. Krieger said the unusually cold and wet weather at the beginningg of the year meant the company lost almost 60 construction days and put it behinr itsoriginal schedule. The second phasw involves construction of a building to the south of the existinf building on SouthBuchanan Street.
That will include 13 loft apartmentesand 11,000 square feet of retail It will be under construction by late summer and is expectefd to take nine months to complete and cost approximatelt $3.8 million, Krieger said. "To say that it's a welcome additio n is certainlyan understatement," Edwardsville Mayotr Gary Niebur said of the Among the developments in the city, "thia ranks on my list as being one of the most he said. While the city had established a tax increment financingf district in the downtown area in nothing had been developed onthat site. "Joed (Meyer) was very aggressive in pursuingvownership (of the properties)," Niebur said.
"The end resulgt is one that's going to dramatically improvrethat area." Meyer said the dollar amount for the TIF is not yet but the company will receivwe a real estate tax rebate through 2020. in Glen Ill., served as the architecft for the development; the construction company is ofFairvieew Heights. Rehab of the existing space housing the CVS and the Buffetg City International restaurant costabout "We're in serious discussions with roughly six differenyt tenants," Krieger said, though he declined to identifu them.
Half are restaurants, he Park Plaza is in "a very visible part of our downtownh that was certainlyin decline," Niebur Niebur calls Park Plaza consistent with the city's visio n for downtown and hopes the development, along with the city's investmeny in infrastructure improvements, will spur continued development downtown and in other established neighborhoods. The development is a relatively new type of venturee forJoseph E. Meyer Associates. The property managementt firm previously had developedPiasa Center, a 60,000-square-foot retail centeer in Alton, in 1991.
The company's next development will be a 54-unit upscale apartment complex in Edwardsville onthe five-acrwe site of a formetr nursing home. That projecyt is expected to be under constructionbby July, Krieger said.