ST. LOUIS — A Kansas City developer hopes to build a $31 million apartment complex at the site of Mike Shannon’s former downtown restaurant, plans that are still conceptual and envision using public subsidies.
MW Development Cos., led by Gary Hassenflu, is proposing The Fielder Lofts, a luxury apartment complex with 125 to 130 units, on a 0.6-acre site at 620 Market St., which is owned by a company affiliated with Shannon but under contract to MW. The Cardinals legend operated his namesake restaurant there, a block from Busch Stadium, until 2016, when it closed. He previously asked $4 million for the property. Garrison Cos., another company led by Hassenflu, would manage the apartments.
The existing two-story Shannon’s building and parking garage would be demolished to make way for the apartment complex, which would be built on a three-story parking garage with five floors of wooden framing above, according to the conceptual plans. A third-floor courtyard would have an outdoor pool and a rooftop deck would give residents views of the Arch and Busch Stadium, the company said.
The developer chose the downtown site because of its “strong activity and new rental residential acceptance in the submarket,” Hassenflu said.
The apartments would be the latest complex to cater to baseball fans craving a location near Busch Stadium. Ballpark Village's One Cardinal Way complex opened in 2020 and is now 100% leased, and the Ballpark Heights apartment complex from Bamboo Equity Partners is to open this spring.
The site was part of a 2016 dispute between Shannon and the city because of a height restriction built into the site’s deed that requires approval from the city and the Cardinals to build anything taller than 35 feet. At that time, the city rejected a plan to build a Ferris wheel at the site, over objections from the neighboring 25-story Hilton at the Ballpark hotel that the attraction would block the hotel's views.
Hassenflu said the Cardinals and Cordish Cos., co-developers of nearby Ballpark Village, and the city have signed off on an exception to the height restriction for Fielder Lofts. Representatives of the Cardinals and city did not immediately confirm whether they agreed to the waiver, but the Cardinals and Cordish previously agreed to residential uses, the Business Journal reported in December 2016. A Cordish representative did not respond to a request for comment.
About 5,000 square feet of retail space would be built on the ground floor, Garrison said on its website. Rent for a studio apartment would start at $1,500, with $1,750 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,300 for a two-bedroom and $2,600 for a three-bedroom.
Construction could start as soon as Sept. 15 and finish Oct. 15, 2023, Garrison said.
Read the full story and see more renderings of the project on the St. Louis Business Journal website.