Clayton, MO high rise boom

[ita]

I am not from the Midwest, so I do not know much about other cities aside from Omaha. Anyway, I get a newsletter focused on midwest real estate. My email today featured an article about mixed use developments. (https://rejournals.com/the-real-star-in ... elopments/).

The first picture is from an apartment tower called Two Twelve in Clayton, MO. I did not recognize the name so I started looking into it. The skyline and collection of tall buildings are impressive for a midwest suburb; heck, most midwest cities would love that kind of development downtown. Scooping around a bit, they have close to a dozen towers over 250+ and recently has seen a boom in high rise development.

In addition to the 300+ foot Two Twelve (https://www.taylorjohnson.com/tj-news/t ... is-suburb/), since then there has been:
- a 14 story senior living tower built, the Clarendale (https://www.clarendaleclayton.com/news/ ... struction/)
- a huge 1M sq. ft. mixed used project with a 7 story garage podium, and two towers, a 10 story and 8 story (https://stlouiscnr.com/mccarthy-marks-t ... velopment/).

Two Twelve (250 apartments)


Clarendale (281 senior living units)


US Capital Development (Commerce Bank Tower)


Currently, there are a few 20+ story projects recently proposed:
- a hotel/mixed use tower (https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... -plan.html)
- an apartment tower, (https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local ... 4c58f6af5e)
- another apartment tower (https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local ... 1de0f63cbe)
- a condo/hotel tower (https://www.kmov.com/2022/03/08/high-ri ... g-clayton/).

Hotel/mixed use


Apartment Tower (25 stories)


Apartment Tower (299 units)


Is it just me, am the only one jealous of what this sub-20k population city is doing in their downtown? Really impressive development that I wish to see in Omaha's core!

[Louie]

Clayton is quite the edge case, imo.

[iamjacobm]

Clayton is well located. The neighborhoods around it are basically Dundee along with Wash U in the area. Not far from Forest Park either.

Main driver though is a local government that is comparatively more friendly toward business interests than STL proper. Also it’s the county seat so lots of govt jobs and law firms.

[Garrett]

Clayton is very much a case of an edge city and there’s also aspects of race to be discussed there too.

[ita]

Thanks for the all the comments. The more information the better. From my cursory google searching, I found out some of the things you all have brought up, particularly in its relation to St. Louis, but the race issue I haven't come across yet. Any further information that helps inform the development and current boom of downtown Clayton is appreciated.

[Garrett]

You know how some Omahans absolutely refuse to go past 72nd street because it’s sketchy? It’s a bit of that, and a bit of a legacy of redlining and white flight that crippled St Louis proper.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

In 1876 St. Louis City separated from St. Louis County to become an independent city-county. Because all the county government buildings were in St. Louis City, St. Louis County now needed a new county seat. IIRC, a farmer whose name was Clayton donated land for it where downtown Clayton stands today and they would name the new seat after him.

Others have explained Clayton pretty well. I'll add that it's also quite walkable and well served by transit, the urban design is good here, but it's a bit less exciting of a place to be than it would seem and the density drops off pretty abruptly. It's the downtown for wealthy people and it all feels a bit corporate. That said I wouldn't hate moving into one of these houses and having that view in my backyard: https://maps.app.goo.gl/UD5EP1uduoiYQwUU7

[Louie]

You know how some Omahans absolutely refuse to go past 72nd street because it’s sketchy? It’s a bit of that, and a bit of a legacy of redlining and white flight that crippled St Louis proper.

I've heard don't go east of 144th before lol. Though it was just once, it still shocked me how stupid someone can be.