Ebersoldt + Underwood Architects and WDM Architects have formed a joint venture to design the $150 million redevelopment of the Lemp Brewery complex in St. Louis. The 14-acre property presently includes 29 brick buildings built between 1864 and 1919, which would be redeveloped into 400 residential apartments and approximately 75,000 square feet of retail. The developer is Kansas City, Mo.-based Garrison Development. Construction is expected to begin in May and be completed in phases over the next four years.

Source: REBusines Online

Paric Corp. has broken ground on a $23.5 million hotel in the Delmar Loop neighborhood of St. Louis. The Moonrise Hotel will be a seven-story, 124-room boutique hotel featuring an upscale restaurant and bar, two meeting rooms and a rooftop patio. The developer is the Loop’s very own Joe Edwards and ACI Boland is project architect. St. Louis-based Lodging Hospitality Management will operate the hotel upon completion in February 2009.

Source: REBusiness Online 

Construction is complete on the $8 million Saint Louis University Simon Recreation Center. The Lawrence Group provided  architectural and interior design and Alberici Constructors of St. Louis was the general contractor.

Phase II of the two-phase project completed in January 2008 includes a 9,638-square-feet expansion of the entrance on the upper level of the Simon Recreation Center. The new space features an open floor plan, a new entry reception area, a circular welcoming desk, a renovated lobby, all natural materials, a 35 feet tall water feature built into a maple wall glass mezzanine and a 4,990-square-foot glass mezzanine.

The Phase I 41,800-square-foot expansion of a parking garage into an exercise facility was completed in January 2007 with 200+ new workout machines, a juice bar and lounge, full wellness suite, additional locker rooms, a boulder wall and a gaming area. Several new multi-purpose rooms feature Pilates, yoga, spinning, aerobics and other fitness classes.

Walton Construction St. Louis has three Wal-Mart Supercenter projects under construction in Missouri and Illinois. The firm began work on a 180,954-square-foot Wal-Mart in Harrisburg, Ill., in November 2007, and is expecting completion by August. Walton also is building a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Jacksonville, Ill., scheduled for completion in February, and is expanding an existing Wal-Mart in Chesterfield, Mo., into a Supercenter. That project began this past fall and is scheduled to be completed in October.

Wichita, Kan.-based Law/Kingdom is providing design services for the Chesterfield and Harrisburg projects, and The Benham Group is designing the Jacksonville project.

Source: REBusiness Online

A jury in St. Louis County today ruled in favor of the Cross County Collaborative (CCC) on all counts in a lawsuit that was brought by St. Louis Metro over the eight-mile Metrolink extension from Forest Park to Shrewsbury.

Cross County Collaborative was a joint venture of four companies hired to design and manage the project. The companies which include Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group and Kwame Building Group of St. Louis were fired by Metro in 2004.

Metro alleged mismanagement and fraud, and sought $81 million in damages. The jury rejected the claims and awarded nothing.

In a counterclaim, the CCC accused Metro of making them a scapegoat and damaging their professional reputations, and sued for $6 million for work it performed. The jury awarded the team $2.56 million.

After Metro terminated the CCC and took over management of the project, the light rail opened in August 2006, 15 months late and more than $126 million over budget.

Richard Hardcastle, attorney for the CCC, said in a statement “For more than three years we have maintained that Metro wrongfully terminated the CCC and that its claims were baseless. We are pleased that the jury has agreed with us on all counts.

“It was a long process but one with great significance to the citizens of St. Louis. With this issue behind us, each of the firms looks forward to continuing to serve the St. Louis community in future assignments.”

Walton Construction St. Louis has completed an $18.5 million expansion of St. Peters Rec-Plex, an indoor recreation facility located in St. Peters, Missouri.

The project included a new 106,000-square-foot recreation building with two National Hockey League regulation-sized ice rinks with seating for 1,200 and 300. The expansion tripled the size of the fitness training area with adult locker rooms, dry and wet saunas, an exercise and weight training area, a cardio theater, and a lobby. St. Paul, Minn.-based Ankeny-Kell Architects, which provided design services for the project, has worked with Walton on three other sports facilities, including the training facility for the NHL’s St. Louis Blues.

Source: RE Business Online