Rebuilt to Suit

Johnson says SLU's demolitions have damaged the streetscape at the western edge of the district. Pedestrians headed to dinner on Locust after a show at the Fox may be wary of traversing a row of unsightly surface lots in order to get to a restaurant and might head straight for their cars and drive elsewhere. Moreover, Johnson says, what originally drew him to the district was its cohesiveness: It was rundown, but the infrastructure was still intact. "You still have that continuity and infill," he says. "And as you're walking down the street there's always something to look at, either in a storefront or a restaurant, keeping that pedestrian, urban feel to it — as opposed to just desecrating it and putting blocks and blocks of surface parking. It just doesn't work."

The Zane O. Williams redevelopment project is next door to the livery stable, whose demolition will leave the rehabbed building surrounded by surface parking lots. "Everything else around it is going to be gone," Johnson laments. "It's unfortunate that they're not going to keep a community feel like we were hoping. I think the bodies will still be down there. But there won't be the continuity."

Rollin Stanley, executive director of the St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency, deferred to the mayor's office when asked to comment about the present and future of the Locust Business District. Barb Geisman, the city's deputy mayor of development, failed to respond to repeated phone messages requesting comment.

Zane O. Williams owner Jeff Williams says he learned of the plans via a notice affixed to his back door: a city document he was to sign, agreeing to forfeit his rights to the alley.

Williams says he has been assured by SLU officials that he won't lose access to the alley while he needs it. Still, he's miffed at the process. "No one with the city called us or said anything about it," he says, adding that Marlene Davis, his alderwoman, hasn't returned his calls. "It's very frustrating. I've called and e-mailed her and haven't heard from her."

Jassen Johnson says he'll press ahead with his projects regardless of the university's actions. "I've spent four and a half years fostering relationships with building owners in the neighborhood," he says. "As they decide that they want to make a move with their business, or relocate, I'm the person everybody knows. Either I helped them develop themselves as an investment or we did it ourselves. Regardless, they know that I more than likely can help find someone to develop it."