CLAYTON, Mo. — Demolition is starting for a $101 million mixed-use development that will revamp a key site in downtown Clayton with apartments, retail and restaurants.
In November, St. Louis-based developer Balke Brown Transwestern purchased eight parcels that make up the half-block of real estate at Central, Maryland and Bemiston avenues that will become Bemiston Place. That mixed-use apartment building, first announced in 2020, will have a courtyard, pool, parking garage, and a two-level restaurant and bar at a key downtown corner. The company bought sites adding up to 1.53 acres, including parcels at 19 N. Bemiston Ave. and 26 and 30 N. Central Ave., for $12 million from HBE Corp., the company founded by late businessman Fred Kummer.
Demolition and site work has already started, and excavation will start in May on the parking structure, said Balke Brown CEO Steve Brown. The plan is for construction to finish in spring 2024.
The luxury apartment complex will have 237 units and 268,535 square feet of floor space, including a parking garage built below the apartments that won’t be visible from the street, with 10,300 square feet of retail and restaurants on the ground floor. The parking garage will have 15 charging stations for electric cars.
No tenants have yet been signed for the retail part of the development. The original projected development cost of $85 million now stands at $101 million due to increases in the cost of materials, officials said.
Although the project came together during a pandemic, Brown said the process of working with the city was relatively seamless and assisted by his own background in architecture and design.
“I made our initial presentation to the city and told them about our philosophy of design: The building doesn't really belong to me as a developer, it really belongs to the community and the people that live and work there and are impacted by it. It's like a piece of artwork. It’s in your face every day,” Brown said. “And they really liked that. And then our process with the city was very open and collaborative.”
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