Loop Area Retail and Development Strategy Action Plan

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POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH approximately 30,000 square feet of additional 1|Retail commercial office space. Unmet demand for retail in The Loop Area It is anticipated that by 2018 the St. Louis region translates to total additional supportable retail square footage of approximately 155,000. will add approximately 45,000 new jobs, many of them in the healthcare and professional services There is sufficient demand to support industries. Of this total, approximately 120 could approximately 30,000 square feet of general be attracted to The Loop Area. Using an industry and personal care merchandise, including a standard calculation of 250 square feet per office combination of local and national drug stores such worker, this translates to approximately 30,000 as WalgreenÔs, local services, and other square feet of new office space convenience goods. The remaining demand for dry retail could support an additional 48,000 It is likely that office growth will manifest as small square feet in other categories such as apparel, tenants occupying space on the upper floors of electronics, hobbies, books, games, building existing and new mixed-use buildings in The Loop materials, and home furnishings. Area. It is possible that new, high-quality space might attract larger users, and that new There is also demand to support an additional developments could seek out larger tenants by 32,000 square feet of limited-service eating offering built-to-suit space in a new development. places, the equivalent of 8 to10 new venues. For full-service restaurants and drinking places, there 3|Residential is demand to support approximately 13,000 Based on the success of a mixed-use residential square feet of new vendors, which could bring product in other parts of Saint Louis, there may be between 2 and 4 new restaurants to the area. demand for a similar product that is competitively- Additionally, demand analysis of The Loop Area priced once economic conditions improve. shows support for a new grocery store of up to Based on residential real estate trends in the 32,000 square feet. This is the equivalent of one market, along with Loop Area demographic medium-sized grocery store, but could also be trends, it is possible that a new mixed-use captured in the form of several smaller food apartment-style development in The Loop Area markets or specialized food purveyors. As a point could capture regional demand for this type of of reference, the SchnuckÔs Culinaria on North 9 th product. Young professionals would be attracted Street in downtown St. Louis is 27,000 square feet. to the area by the easily accessible retail and 2|Office entertainment options. In addition, competitively- priced residential development projects that are Based on projections for employment growth in the oriented around transit infrastructure (mainly the St. Louis region between 2011 and 2018, it is two MetroLink stations) would attract those who expected that The Loop Area could support want convenient access to public transportation or are priced out of more expensive markets. 3 DLARP&DS ELMAR OOP REA ETAIL LAN EVELOPMENT TRATEGY