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Chain reaction
(by Tim Woodcock - August 27, 2008)
The Drury family, which owns a chain of hotels across the country, has outlined its plans for a pair of hotels near Interstate 64 and Kingshighway Boulevard. The $100 million project would consist of two 16-story towers on the western edge of the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood — the two buildings would have different identities, with one hotel being a typical Drury Inn and the other a more upscale hotel and a flagship for the chain, which is based in St. Louis.
Tim Drury, president of Drury Development, a company allied to the hotel chain, discussed the plans at a special meeting of the Gibson Heights Neighborhood Association, which was held Aug. 19 at the Church of the Living God, 1034 S. Kingshighway Blvd. During the meeting he was besieged with questions and comments about the project. Many residents said two buildings of this size would be inappropriate for the area, and they worried about the potential increase in traffic. However, others welcomed the opportunity for a major investment in their community.
The hotels would be accessed from a service road off Kingshighway, and there would only be vehicular access from the neighborhood if that is what neighbors want, Drury said.
Drury said plans are in the early stages, and the company is willing to modify the design. The company has a history of being sensitive to neighborhood concerns, he said. However, for the company’s business model to work, there needs to be about 345 rooms in each tower, Drury said; if the towers are less than 16 stories high, they would need to have larger footprints in order to accommodate the number of rooms required.
The August meeting was the first time that the company has revealed the exact location it has in mind.
The roughly triangular piece of land is defined by Kingshighway, the new I-64/Highway 40 on ramp and an alley that serves Arco, Gibson and Chouteau avenues. The area currently contains a church, several houses and land that will become available when the reconfiguration of the I-64 entrance and exit ramps is complete. The company has purchased about 25 percent of the property it would need for the project to go ahead, Drury said.
The Church of the Living God — the location of the community meeting — would probably have to razed to make way for the hotel, but there is a possibility it could be incorporated into the design by becoming the lobby of the southernmost hotel, said Charles Drury, father of Tim and head of Drury Hotels.
Another historic building, the Lambskin Temple — now a loft building — is in the area of interest to the Drurys but would be not threatened by the project.
Drury is looking to buy between five and seven homes along the eastern side of Kingshighway and in the 4500 blocks of Arco, Gibson and Chouteau avenues. The company is trying to buy out homeowners and has no interest in using eminent domain, Drury said. Drury was unwilling to name the addresses of the properties required for the project to be viable.
The greater stumbling block, however, is the portion of land that until recently was used for highway on and off ramps and is due to be incorporated into Forest Park once the work on 1-64 is complete next year. This land is currently owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation, and an agreement to return it to the original owner, the city of St. Louis, has been worked out, said Linda Hoffarth, a MoDOT representative.
In the wake of the controversy over the city’s decision to give Barnes-Jewish HealthCare the right to build on nearby Hudlin Park, a portion of Forest Park east of Kinghighway and north of the highway, activists used a ballot initiative to change the city charter so that the future sale or lease of park land must first gain the approval of the voters via a referendum. Therefore it seems that if Drury Hotels want to pursue its project, it may first need to overcome the obstacle of a citywide referendum on the use of green space.
The issue would only affect the northernmost of the two towers.
Calls to the city of St. Louis’ counselor’s office asking for its view of the matter were not returned.
Drury said his company is currently engaged in land acquisition, but he did not refer directly to the prospect of a referendum.
“We obviously can’t build on what we don’t own,” Drury said.
Drury conceded it is a “grandiose plan” and “it can only shrink from here.”
Audience members asked him if the company has conducted market research that demonstrates a need for a hotel in the location. Drury said that the intersection of a highway and an arterial road, and the proximity of a major hospital complex, make this a prime site. The fact that Drury Hotels is considering investing so much money should be a sign that the company believes the location warrants two new hotels, Drury said.
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