Lunar ambitions

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(by Rebecca S. Rivas - June 25, 2008)

The creation of a new hotel may not require rocket science but, from Joe Edwards’ perspective, it’s still be fun to have a really cool spacesuit, just in case.

Edwards is the developer responsible for many of the Delmar Loop’s attractions, including the 125-room Moonrise Hotel, at 6177 Delmar Ave., that’s slated to open next April.

When visitors come to the Loop, they should get locally owned, locally operated service at their hotel, just as they do from most of the stores and venues on the street, Edwards said.

To emphasize his unique vision, on June 18 Edwards walked out of the construction site dressed in a spacesuit with the music from the movie 2001 Space Odyssey blaring behind him.

“The Moonrise Hotel is one small step for the Loop; one giant step for St. Louis,” he said to an audience of about 35 colleagues, reporters and community members.

Edwards has been credited with transforming the Delmar Loop from a crime-stricken, impoverished area to a thriving street with sidewalk cafes, music venues and boutiques. In addition to opening and running the Blueberry Hill restaurant and music venue, Edwards also restored and re-opened the Tivoli Theater in 1995 and built The Pageant concert nightclub in 2000.

So Bob O’Loughlin, chief executive officer of Lodging Hospitality Management, the company that will run the Loop’s new hotel, was ready to listen when Edwards walked up to him two years ago with a “dream he had” for a hotel. So were city of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and 28th Ward Alderman Lyda Krewson.

“When Joe built The Pageant, many thought this was the other side of the moon,” Krewson said, referring to Delmar Boulevard east of Skinker Boulevard. The area lies within the portion of the Delmar Loop that is part of the city of St. Louis. “The best part of my job is working with Joe on all his projects,” she said.

Consistent with the style of Edwards’ other establishments, the hotel will bring together classic and contemporary design, he said.

A funeral home previously inhabited the hotel site. In a nod to what was there before, the hotel’s restaurant on the base level, the Eclipse, will incorporate the funeral home’s limestone arches and green-tiled roof.

By preserving a bit of the old city, Edwards also maintains the connection with the community. “It gives St. Louis[ans] the feeling like, ‘That’s our restaurant’,” he said.

But a more modern-looking, eight-story hotel building will shoot up behind the restaurant, complete with a rotating moon lit to emulate lunar phases perched on top. The bar on the seventh floor will offer an exceptional view for watching the moon rise, Edwards said.

Hotel plans include plenty of fun and quirky details, but Edwards is careful not to stray from what’s important — the mattresses.

“The goal is to provide a decent night’s sleep,” he said. “We’re sparing no expense as far as the mattresses go.”

The creative questions are the fun part, he said, such as who is going to paint the sci-fi themed murals on the restaurant walls? Or what kind of slick lampshades will bring the right lighting to the guest rooms?

It will take about three months to finish the hotel’s structural work. Many of the interior-design details are up in the air, Edwards said, but people should expect to see an iridescent lobby wall that constantly changes color and a dramatically angled lobby staircase.

Edwards’ trademark in all of his venues are glass display cases filled with pop-culture memorabilia. His case of Elvis memorabilia at Blueberry Hill and vintage movie posters at the Tivoli are perhaps the most well known of his collections. He has already started collecting items for the hotel. So far he has a few McDonald’s figurines with moon faces, a Betty Boop Swing n’ Star moon clock, a sign advertising Spaceman PEZ candy dispensers and many other odds and ends.

The goal is for the Moonrise to be an “anti-chain” boutique hotel that involves as many local contractors and artists as possible.

It’s Edwards’ first attempt at a hotel, but that doesn’t scare him. “I’ve never shied away from doing one-of-a-kind stuff,” he said. “That’s what I’ve always done. I’m passionate about this area and that makes it easy. “

Well, not completely easy.

He is working more hours now than he has since the early years of Blueberry Hill, he said. But he is doing this project with the city’s support and with partial funding.

In April 2005, Krewson headed an effort to establish a multi-million-dollar tax increment financing district for the eastern portion of the Delmar Loop. TIFs are sometimes described as tax-linked loans.

A portion of taxes generated by a new development is put into a special fund used to pay back TIF bonds issued at the start of the project. TIF bonds can only be used for infrastructure improvements, and they typically cover 10 to 20 percent of the project’s total cost.

The project cost is estimated at $23.2 million, up from $15 million when the project was first discussed.
Edwards said it took more than two years to get the financing together for the hotel. “Without the TIF, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said, because the lending institutions like to see that the project has a TIF behind it.

Despite the hard work, Edwards wants to make sure the projects are enjoyable. That’s why four months ago he went online looking for the perfect NASA costume.

“What the hell,” he said. “There are so many difficult things that go in this world. It’s nice to have fun, even if it’s at my own expense.”

Yet he had to admit that a day after his big entrance, he asked himself, “Did I really do that?”

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