Lehman Place in Dogtown
June 24, 2008
I’m always happy to see large scale projects go up in the City of St. Louis. Years back, when I first heard about the $5.5 million Lehman Place project in Dogtown (specifically, the Clayton-Tamm Neighborhood), I rejoiced like everyone else. Unfortunately, not all developments are created equal. Now all there is to show for the investment is a huge monstrosity of building, displaying no use of common sense in its design. And did I mention that it has been in foreclosure limbo for almost a year?
When the Post Dispatch reported that the building was foreclosed on in August 2007, I figured something would be done with the building in short order. Yet somehow, after almost a year, it is still sitting there. Vacant. I have never been inside, nor have I been able to track down the floorplans, but word has it that the layouts are horrendous. If true, that could explain why nobody wants to buy the building from Southern Commercial Bank, who has owned the property at 6400 Wise since foreclosure.
So what do you do with an ugly, overpriced building with horrible layouts, no tenants and hardly any windows on the sides or back? Apparently, nobody has an answer after nearly a year. So what do you think of the property? Hideous or under appreciated masterpiece?
Despite the weird layouts of the units, I was always surprised that none of the retail spaces were ever leased.
The Tamm Avenue side is really one of the most egregious examples of poor planning I can think of. Nothing like coming out of Seamus McDaniel’s and seeing that blank wall.
I thought the same thing about the retail space. I heard mention that the lease rates were pretty expensive. If true, that could explain a lot. The Tamm side really is hideous. The front isn’t all that bad, but the side and back are a travesty. I’m actually surprised they got away with the design on the Tamm side. The last time I had lunch at Seamus, all I did was star out at that brick wall and wonder whose brainchild that was. What a waste.
Terrible. I moved in to Dogtown and after a few weeks, I saw Lehman Place and thought “Oh, 4 more retail shops/restaurants. Awesome!” Then I got home and looked it up on UrbanSTL.com and found that it was an abandoned project. I just e-mailed William Waterhouse, the alderman, to see if there are any plans in place for this piece of garbage. I heard they were looking to make half a million dollars off of their 2 window condos. Ridiculous.
I contacted Alderman William Waterhouse who told me that the price has dropped to $4m.