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Gown moves into town with the addition of the Lofts of Washington University to the Delmar Loop, straddling the border of University City and St. Louis. A half mile from Washington Uni ver ­sity’s main Danforth campus, the project is the result of several years of community planning and collaboration between the university, local officials, and neighborhood residents. The

university’s strong partnerships and investments in the community have produced a well­received project that has delivered desirable amenities not only to students but also to the Parkview Gardens neighborhood.

The project has delivered housing for 414 new student residents to the vibrant retail corri­dor, as well as the Loop’s first 24­hour diner and

Lofts of Washington University Case Study

Lofts of Washington University QUICK FACTSLocationUniversity City and St. Louis, Missouri

Project typeMixed use—two uses

Site size4.4 acres

Land usesMultifamily residential, retail, supermarket, restaurant

Keywords/special featuresStudent housing, mixed­use development, university development, infill development, main street retail

Websitewww.facebook.com/theloftsofwashingtonuniversity parkviewgardenvision.orgreslife.wustl.edu

Project address6255 Delmar Boulevard6263 Delmar Boulevard6200 Enright Avenue6300 Enright AvenueUniversity City, Missouri 63130

Master developerWashington UniversitySt. Louis, Missouri

Project architectWilliam Rawn Associates, Architects Boston, Massachusetts www.rawnarch.com

Associate architectTao + Lee Associates Inc. St. Louis, Missouritaolee.com

September 2015

ULI Case Studies

PRO JECT SUMMARY

Developed by Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, the Lofts of Washington University is a student housing and retail mixed­use project. It currently provides off­campus housing for 414 undergraduate students in four buildings in the Delmar Loop, a vibrant commercial corridor a half mile from the main university campus. The Lofts’ distinctive pedestrian mews offers a new linkage between the neighborhood’s residential and commercial areas. The project also includes approximately 22,000 square feet of retail space and 220 underground parking spaces for residents. A future phase of the Lofts could add a fifth building and another 186 student beds—for a total of 600 beds in 245 units—as well as 80 more parking spaces.

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SDeveloped by Washington University in St. Louis, the Lofts of Washington University is an off-campus student housing project, with ground-level retail, that provides housing for 414 undergraduate students in the Delmar Loop, a vibrant commercial corridor a half mile from the university’s main campus.

Sponsored by

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a long­sought full­service grocery store. The property has earned the highest rating from the U.S. Green Building Council—Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum—with comprehensive features that include solar thermal panels, rain gardens, green roofs, and solar photovoltaic cells.

The Site and Background

The Lofts of Washington University is locat­ed both on Delmar Boulevard, in a six­block area known as “the Loop,” and in the historic Parkview Gardens neighborhood. Both the Loop and the Parkview Gardens neighborhood strad­dle the western edge of the city of St. Louis and the eastern edge of University City, a diverse inner­ring suburb of St. Louis.

Half a mile from the Delmar Loop is Washing­ton University’s main Danforth Campus. Founded in 1853, Washington University is a private re­search university with 14,000 students, approxi­mately half of whom are undergraduates. The Danforth Campus includes schools of arts and sciences, law, business, engineering, social work and public health, and design and visual arts. Washington University also has a medical campus in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis on the eastern edge of Forest Park.

The Lofts of Washington University was devel­oped by the university as a response to its goal to increase the proportion of undergraduate students living in university housing near the campus. The university’s Danforth Campus lacked available space for more housing. Building new student apartments in the Parkview Gardens neighbor­hood and the Delmar Loop, a popular student destination for food and entertainment, has en­abled the university to offer additional housing op­tions to 414 juniors and seniors.

Washington University owns many proper­ties in the Parkview Gardens neighborhood and has long been involved in working with the local business community and residents to strengthen the area. After examining several sites in the Loop and conducting a development feasibility study, Washington University selected a 4.4­acre site that could accommodate housing and help meet the area’s retail needs. Ninety percent of the site—bounded by Delmar Boulevard and East­gate, Enright, and Westgate avenues—was on land that the university already owned. The site includes additional green space to the north bor­dered by Enright, Eastgate, and Limit avenues.

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Two municipal alleys are also within the develop­ment area.

The site consisted of six adjoining parcels that included a small restaurant, two apartment buildings, and townhouses. The site also in­cluded about 100 off‐street parking spaces. On the southeast corner was a vacant lot, formerly an old service station. Unlike other buildings on Delmar Boulevard, the two existing Delmar apartment buildings had no commercial or re­tail uses on the ground floor.

To allow for the new development, all exist­ing structures on the site were removed. The new project includes two five­story buildings on Enright Avenue and two mixed­use buildings on Delmar Boulevard. A future phase may add an­other building, bringing the total beds available to about 600. The Lofts features 22,000 square feet of street­level retail space and provides a continuous retail frontage on Delmar Boulevard.

Populated with boutiques, galleries, res­taurants, and entertainment venues frequented by residents and tourists, the Delmar Loop is a vibrant commercial corridor that the American Planning Association has recognized as one of the Ten Great Streets in America. The Loop’s revitalization and vibrancy have been propelled in large part by Joe Edwards, a businessman, developer, and civic leader who has refurbished several historic buildings in the neighborhood over the past 40­plus years. Starting with the

Blueberry Hill restaurant and music club in 1972, his other redevelopments over the past decades have included the restoration of the 1924 Tivoli Theatre cinema, the Pageant concert nightclub, the Pin­Up Bowl martini lounge and bowling al­ley, and the boutique Moonrise Hotel.

His most recent addition is a restaurant ten­ant for the Lofts of Washington University: the 24­hour Peacock Loop Diner. Edwards notes, “The Lofts has brightened the Loop. The Univer­sity could have just built apartments, but a true 24­7 neighborhood helps make a city great.”

The Loop, which was named after a former streetcar turnaround linking University City to St. Louis, and the Parkview Gardens neighbor­hood are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Parkview Gardens neigh­borhood contains one of the St. Louis area’s major concentrations of historic, walkup apart­ment buildings, a relatively unusual typology among the predominantly single­family homes in the residential neighborhoods of the city. Ground was broken in March 2015 for a project that will bring a trolley back to the Loop, con­necting Delmar Boulevard with the Missouri History Museum in nearby Forest Park.

The Lofts’ site is on the eastern edge of University City and extends into the city of St. Louis, in the cross­jurisdictional Parkview Gardens neighborhood. The Delmar Loop is the southern border of the Parkview Gardens

The Delmar Loop is a vibrant commercial corridor that has been recognized by the American Planning Association as one of the Ten Great Streets in America.

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neighborhood. In addition to Washington Uni­versity and the Loop, Parkview Gardens has nearby access to MetroLink light­rail transit, a regional greenway network, and Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks in the United States.

“This project serves multiple stakeholders and contributes to the revitalization of the retail district,” according to Henry S. Webber, execu­tive vice chancellor for administration at Wash­ington University.

Planning Context

The Lofts was developed with strong direction from a series of local land use and transpor­tation plans developed for the neighborhood over the past decade in collaboration with local residents, University City, the city of St. Louis, Washington University, and other community partners. “We wanted mixed use that could support economic and social equity,” recounts Andrea Riganti, director of community develop­ment for University City.

Some of those efforts have included fed­eral support from Building Blocks, a project of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Hous­ing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The inter­agency collaboration seeks to coordinate federal investments in infrastructure, facilities, and ser­vices and to help communities create more hous­ing choices, make transportation more efficient and reliable, reinforce existing investments, and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses. The following plans helped guide development in the area:

2005 University City Comprehensive Plan Update. Adopted by the City Council for use as a policy guide in making land use and economic decisions, the document outlines the city’s strategy to preserve and enhance the character of University City.

2008 Park Master Plan. This 20­year mas­ter plan manages and prioritizes future capital needs for University City’s 19 parks. The plan is updated every five to seven years to reflect changing demographics and recreational trends.

2010 Parkview Gardens Park and Open Space Plan. A long­range design and imple­

mentation plan for the three municipal parks in the Parkview Gardens neighborhood was de­veloped collaboratively under a partnership that included University City, the Parkview Gardens Neighborhood Association, and Washington University.

2011 Delmar Loop Area Retail Plan and Development Strategy. A study identified de­mand for an additional 155,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and entertainment space, as well as possible mixed­use residential space in the Loop areas in University City and St. Louis. The report was commissioned by Washington University and produced under a steering com­mittee in collaboration with area property and business owners, residents, and local govern­ment representatives.

2011 Parkview Gardens Sustainable Devel-opment Plan: Connecting People, Places, and Parks. The plan addresses how affordable housing, transportation, walkability/bikeability, and arts and parks can best be integrated into the neighborhood. The plan is the result of a three­year effort that began in 2011 after University City was awarded a joint Sustainable Community Challenge planning grant from HUD and a DOT Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery II planning grant. That $315,687 grant was leveraged with $317,813 in local cash and in­kind contributions. Nine partners collaborated on the plan, including University City, Washing­

ton University, Parkview Gardens Neighborhood Association, and Great Rivers Greenway. The five­story, higher­density buildings in the Lofts of Washington University project emerged from the plan’s recommendations.

2012 University City Sustainable Land Use Code Audit. A demonstration of the U.S. DOT­HUD­EPA Federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, the land use code audit reviewed the city’s zoning and subdivision codes to incorporate sustainability and was conducted under a grant from EPA’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities. The resulting re­vised required parking ratios and the proposed mixed­use districts were important elements that allowed the development of the Lofts of Washington University.

The Lofts of Washington University imple­ments recommendations from several of those plans, including the following:

• Greater density and a diversity of housing types (2005 University City Comprehensive Plan Update);

• Increased green space (2010 Parkview Gardens Park and Open Space Plan);

• Increased density, context­sensitive architec­ture, mixed­use development, and reduced park­ing requirements (2011 Parkview Gardens Sus­tainable Development Plan and 2012 University City Sustainable Land Use Code Audit); and

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A foyer lounge is among the many common residential spaces both indoors and outdoors where students can congregate.

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• Infill development in the commercial streetscape (2011 Delmar Loop Area Retail Plan and Development Strategy).

The Development Team and the Approval Process Much of the preparation to develop the Lofts was done in the years preceding construction, as Washington University partnered with local governments and community organizations on the series of urban plans that outlined a vision for the future of the Parkview Gardens neigh­borhood. That institutional investment in the community paid off with widespread support for the Lofts development, a project that sought to implement local priorities for the neighborhood.

Henry S. Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration at Washington University notes, “The Loop is really important. It’s where students play and live—and where parents stay when they visit. The success of the Loop as a vibrant, active, unique place is important to quality of life.”

Washington University originally considered using a private developer for the Lofts but ulti­mately decided to retain control over the project by acting as the master developer. Although it is off campus, the project is still an undergradu­ate housing facility operated by the university’s Residential Life division. Lead architect William Rawn Associates of Boston was selected in part because of the firm’s extensive experience in designing university housing.

Because the Lofts straddles the bound­ary between St. Louis and University City, the project required the cooperation of officials in both municipalities. Since the majority of the 4.4­acre site was within University City, St. Louis officials agreed that University City would take the lead in the complex approval process. The jurisdictions also negotiated other agreements on matters relevant to the site, such as the division of sales taxes gen­erated by the ground­floor retail space. Taxes produced by the United Provisions grocery store go to St. Louis City, whereas Univer­sity City receives the tax money generated by the Peacock Loop Diner. With two jurisdic­tions involved, the project required reviews by multiple municipal commissions address­ing fire, police, traffic, historic district, green practices, and zoning considerations.

For example, the project was subject to three historic preservation reviews: the Univer­

sity City Historic Preservation Commission, the Skinker DeBaliviere Historic District in the city of St. Louis, and the city of St. Louis’s Cultural Resources Office. All of the existing buildings on the site were designated for demolition to make way for the new construction. Although some of those buildings were within an historic area, none of the properties were considered to be contributing structures.

Rather than focus on the architectural style of the project, University City’s review em­phasized massing, height, street frontage, and other issues related to compatibility. As Cheryl Adelstein, Washington University’s assistant vice chancellor of community relations and lo­cal government affairs, explains, “The Parkview Gardens neighborhood is a local and national historic district. This was community­based

Two exclusively residential apartment buildings have entries on the Enright Avenue side of the property.

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The creation of a pedestrian mews among the project’s buildings established a new midblock corridor connecting the Delmar Loop with the residential Parkview Gardens neighborhood.

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planning. The Lofts was thoughtfully designed to fit the Delmar context.”

University City also reviewed the Lofts as a planned unit development (PUD), rather than on the basis of the underlying zoning. A PUD consists of a particular type of building devel­opment as well as a regulatory process. As a building development, it contains a mix of land uses, such as housing, recreation, commercial centers, and industrial parks within one devel­opment. As a regulatory process, a detailed plan for a proposed PUD must be submitted to the Planning Commission for approval.

The creation of a pedestrian mews among the project’s buildings established a new corridor within the neighborhood and links the commer­cial/retail streetscape of Delmar Boulevard to the residential Parkview Gardens neighborhood to the north. The addition of the corridor required a determination of who among the multiple stakeholders involved would manage the public/private space. Ultimately, it was determined that the south section would be guided by a shared­access agreement between Washington Univer­sity and University City.

Development Finance As a private university, Washington University has a deep capacity to manage real estate and financed the $69 million project entirely.

Although the university considered using an outside developer, officials wanted this project to be part of the university’s Residential Life system. Project oversight by university staff ex­perienced in developing student housing meant that the project would be designed to meet the institution’s needs as well as to provide a rich array of amenities and supports for the 5,000–5,500 students who live in campus housing. However, in a “raising all boats” strategy, Wash­ington University also sees its institutionally financed projects as a means to strengthen the local market for new for­profit development.

The university’s AAA credit rating gives it access to good financing terms. New buildings are constructed with 100 percent debt that is then paid off by student rents. The university’s goal for student housing is that properties will be fully supported over time by rents paid by students. Although new projects inevitably lose

money in their first few years of operation, those losses are eventually offset by revenue from older student housing projects whose debt ser­vice has been entirely paid off.

Planning and Design The plan incorporates a total of four buildings that house 414 students as well as 220 under­ground residential parking spaces. The two buildings fronting Delmar Boulevard include ap­proximately 22,000 square feet of ground­floor retail with residential apartments on the upper floors. Two exclusively residential apartment buildings have entries on the Enright Avenue side of the property (a third building facing En­right is planned).

A pedestrian mews stretches between the structures, creating connective public space between Delmar Boulevard and Enright Avenue. The buildings’ green spaces include courtyards, open spaces, and rooftop terraces. Those areas reflect a common feature with courtyards in many of the multifamily buildings in the adjacent Parkview Gardens neighborhood.

The site plan for the Lofts of Washington University. The four buildings on the right have been completed; the building on the left is a potential future phase of the project.

SITE PL AN

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One of the most distinctive elements in the architecture of the Lofts of Washington Univer­sity is its relationship to the surrounding streets. Those streets differ widely in character: from the lively Delmar Boulevard commercial corridor on the south to the quieter residential Enright Av­enue to the north, populated by red­brick multi­family residences characteristic of the Parkview Gardens neighborhood. Lyda Krewson, Ward 28 alderwoman of the city of St. Louis, notes, “This project brought a large institution into a small neighborhood. We wanted to know: how does the project address the street?”

On the Delmar Boulevard side, the property includes 22,000 square feet of ground­floor retail space, including the Peacock Loop Diner and the United Provisions grocery store. A mid­block pedestrian mews provides an aesthetic and recreational amenity, as well as a connec­tion to the residential neighborhood to the north.

Architectural overview. Although the Dan­forth campus of Washington University is noted for its collegiate Gothic architecture, the con­temporary design of the off­campus Lofts is a deliberate effort to create a modern building that complements the streetscape of the Loop

The Peacock Loop Diner is the latest addition to the corridor by Joe Edwards, a local developer who has been a major force in the revitalization of the Delmar Loop over the past two decades.

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as well as residential Parkview Gardens to the north. According to Jamie Kolker, assistant vice chancellor of campus planning and director of capital projects at Washington University, “The Lofts is different from a building on campus. It is a unique project type.”

On the Delmar Boulevard side of the project, the guidelines in the Parkview Gardens Sustain­able Development Plan became the founda­tion for the mixed uses and higher density. The articulated building mass is designed so that it does not appear to be an imposing wall along the street. On the north side, the Lofts comple­ments the nearby residential apartments by us­ing a similar red­brick material and scale found throughout the Parkview Gardens neighbor­hood. Ranging in height from three to five sto­

ries, each of the Lofts’ buildings is designed to transition between the active Delmar Boulevard and the adjacent quiet neighborhood.

The mews provides a wide pedestrian path that transitions the commercial side of the Loop area to the residential side. The south section of the mews reflects the character of the Loop by featuring retail shops and dining with outdoor seating. Conversely, the north portion of the mews is exclusively residential and is defined by stoops and trees.

On the Delmar side, perforated aluminum louvers cover the south facade, serving to pro­vide residents privacy and shade.

In addition to the linear space of the mews, shared student spaces and public spaces in the buildings include three courtyards, large lounge

The north portion of the mews is exclusively residential and defined by stoops and trees, while the south section of the mews includes retail shops and dining with outdoor seating that reflect the character of the nearby Loop.

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areas with a kitchen in each building, a roof deck overlooking Delmar Boulevard, and open green space at Eastgate and Enright avenues.

The residential apartments are configured in a variety of different styles. They include two‐story units, duplexes, and units with walkup en­trances directly accessible from the street.

Building interior. Accounting for a potential future phase, the project will include up to 58 efficiency units (256 square feet), 19 two­bed­room units (646 square feet), and 168 three­bedroom units (752 square feet) and will house 600 students. The apartments are completely furnished with full kitchens and cable and in­ternet services. Each building has a common laundry room and mail room, as well as spaces for trash and recycling.

Construction. Design and construction for Phase I, including four buildings and the under­ground garage, were completed in 18 months, a very short time for a project of this scale and complexity.

Parking. Residential parking is located in an underground garage, with 220 spaces provided under a 0.5­space­per­unit reduced parking ratio compatible with the Parkview Gardens Sustain­able Development Plan. Students with cars must purchase a parking permit to use the garage. Se­cure elevators provide access to the residences.

Retail customer parking was the subject of many discussions. Surveys indicated that retail parking facilities could be minimized because many patrons would walk, bike, or take the bus to the retail locations. Retail parking relies on street spaces, public lots, and shared­use agreements with other merchant lots.

Bicycle, pedestrian, and transit access. To encourage students to use alternative modes of transportation, the Lofts includes bicycle parking for all residents. Two‐thirds of the spaces are located inside the building; the remaining one­third are in outdoor racks. Bicycle racks are also available for visitors and the public.

One of the considerations for the Lofts’ off­campus location was to facilitate students’ walking, biking, or taking the bus to campus, while deterring residents from contributing to additional automobile traffic on the Danforth campus; marketing materials encourage stu­dents to explore those options. The half­mile distance between the Lofts and Brookings Hall,

the university’s gateway building, can be walked in about 15 minutes, biked in about seven min­utes, or traveled via bus in 10 to 15 minutes. The Lofts is located near three separate bus routes heading toward or directly to campus.

In collaboration with the city of St. Louis Street Department, local government leaders, and neighbors, Washington University has also improved sidewalk amenities along primary routes between the Lofts and the Danforth cam­pus, including installing 104 pedestrian­scale sidewalk lamps on both sides of Skinker Boule­vard between Forest Park Parkway and Delmar Boulevard. Other upgrades on Skinker include closed­circuit security cameras, six “blue­light” emergency phones, and 24 overhead street lamps retrofitted with new LED bulbs.

Sustainable design. The Lofts was awarded LEED Platinum certification in 2014 by the U.S. Green Building Council, and it is the university’s first LEED Platinum project. Designed to be 46 percent more efficient than standard construc­tion, the property includes the following green design elements:• Extensive use of indoor and outdoor LED lighting

• Green roofs over portions of the buildings

• Solar thermal panels that heat 25 percent of the buildings’ domestic hot water

• Solar photovoltaic cells that provide 10 percent of the electrical needs

• Rain gardens and green roofs that drain rainwater into a cistern for reuse in irrigation

• Distinctive aluminum louvers on south­facing two­story walls that serve as both an attractive design element and a tool to keep apartments at a comfortable temperature

In the student apartments, lights are set up on occupancy sensors, so the lights turn off when no one is home. To run the heating and air conditioning requires inserting a card in a card reader; when the last person leaves and removes the card, everything returns to a minimal setting.

Marketing and Management As a mixed­use, off­campus student hous­ing project, the Lofts establishes some new territory for Washington University for marketing and management. The Lofts adds 22,000 square feet of high­profile retail space to the university’s newest stu­dent housing development, which required finding the right tenants that would be a good fit with the student apartments. In ad­dition, the off­campus housing units man­aged by the university’s Residential Life divi­sion require extra attention to such matters as security and transportation.

The residential apartments, configured in a variety of different styles, are completely furnished and have full kitchens.

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Retail and student housing. The Lofts adds a 15,000­square­foot grocery to the Loop and a 24­hour diner as commercial anchors for the project. Those retail elements, although inter­twined with the residential component, also en­hance the neighborhood. Including ground­floor retail as part of the Lofts along Delmar Boule­vard ensures a vibrant and continuous pedes­trian experience going from the west Loop and crossing Skinker Boulevard to the east Loop.

Informing the retail portion of the Lofts was the 2011 Delmar Loop Area Retail Plan and Development Strategy, commissioned by Washington University, which analyzed the retail demand in the corridor and how to make the Loop a more attractive place to live. The study indicated a strong desire for a grocery store in the Loop in light of a 40­year absence from the area. As part of the Lofts, the grocery store could support the needs of students as well as neighborhood residents.

“The retail amenities are very important to the students. Residents report that they fre­quently use many of the local amenities, spe­cifically citing the grocery store, restaurants, and entertainment venues,” says Laura Jenks, chief of staff to the executive vice chancellor for administration, Washington University.

The United Provisions supermarket is a spin­off of Global Foods, opened in 1999 by the Prapaisilp family in nearby Kirkwood. In addition to regular grocery staples, such as milk, bread, and eggs, the market stocks a wide array of international and gourmet foods as well as beer and wine. The Dining District

within United Provisions includes a coffee bar and a café with a sushi bar.

The Peacock Loop Diner—the first 24­hour establishment in the neighborhood—is the lat­est addition to the corridor by Joe Edwards, the local developer who has been a major force over the past two decades in the revitalization of the Loop. As noted, Edwards is the owner of popular dining and entertainment venues in the Loop that include Blueberry Hill Restaurant, Pin­Up Bowl, the historic Tivoli Theatre, the Moonrise Hotel, and the Pageant Building.

The diner’s distinctive decor includes several display cases of peacock memorabilia and old­time diner souvenirs from Edwards’s personal collection, and four U­shaped coun­ters brightly lit like the colorful feathers of a peacock. In addition to sandwiches, soups, and salads, the diner menu includes a full bar serving spiked milkshakes, specialty cocktails, local craft beers, and selected wines. For spe­cial occasions, the Peacock Carousel of Love offers a rotating circular booth. Outside is patio seating along both the tree­lined pedestrian

The Peacock Loop Diner features four U-shaped counters brightly lit like the colorful feathers of a peacock.

A roof deck overlooking Delmar Boulevard is one of many common-area student spaces in the Lofts buildings.

The Lofts includes United Provisions, a 15,000-square-foot grocery and a long-sought-after neighborhood amenity, as a commercial anchor for the project.

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Observations and Lessons Learned

Recognize that university real estate is dif-ferent. When considering the risks and rewards of development projects, universities have an institutional perspective that is distinctly differ­ent from individual private developers, typically using broader criteria and a much longer time frame in assessing the results of the project. For instance, Washington University is unlikely to ever sell the Lofts property. The retail rents reflect costs and what the market will bear; though not heavily subsidized, the rents are not purely economic either. Rather, the university’s focus is developing a project that not only meets its institutional priority to increase its supply of student housing but also enjoys widespread support in the community and contributes sub­stantially to neighborhood quality of life.

Create strong partnerships with the com-munity. Washington University recognized that continuous engagement with its neighbors was important and implemented that concept with a consistent presence in local planning efforts well in advance of a specific project. The result was a well­received project that delivered desir­able amenities not only to students but also to the larger community. Benefits for all include the way

mews and Delmar Boulevard. A beacon for the diner is the elaborate 11­foot­wide peacock­shaped animated neon sign.

Managing student life off campus. The Lofts offers students the independence of apartments combined with the security and supervision that come from being part of the university’s Resi­dential Life division. The completely furnished apartments with full kitchens and cable and internet services offer an attractive package for students. Priced comparably to similar Wash­ington University campus housing options, room rates are $6,408 per semester in two­ and three­bedroom apartments and $6,890 for a single efficiency unit. Residential advisers are in each building to assist residents and provide social and educational programming, including kickoff events in August and January for resi­dents to meet one another.

To address access considerations, each residential building in the Lofts has a security­locked street entrance and a staffed front desk. The underground parking for residents is served by separate elevators. The university also initiated the addition of 104 pedestrian­scale lamps and blue­light emergency phones along Skinker Boulevard, a main corridor for pedestrian travel between the Lofts and the Washington University campus.

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The 15,000-square-foot United Provisions supermarket includes a wide array of international and gourmet foods, a coffee bar, and a café with a sushi bar.

the buildings relate to the rest of the neighbor­hood, the inclusion of courtyards, the pedestrian­friendly design, the connective pedestrian mews, and the inclusion of significant retail spaces.

Allow adequate time for design and con-struction. Timing for the development of stu­dent housing must be precise and on schedule out of necessity: the property needed to be move­in ready when students arrived in August. To meet that goal, the Lofts’ design and con­struction schedule was very aggressive, with construction starting in January 2013 for the August 2014 opening. The tight timing made the project more of a challenge.

Communicate early and often. The univer­sity’s communication strategy with the business community and residential neighborhood oper­ated on an early­and­often basis—including weekly construction communication updates—that was appreciated by neighbors. Those dedi­cated efforts helped mitigate the inconveniences caused by construction.

Strive for new connections. Before the de­velopment, there was no dedicated passageway between the Parkview Gardens neighborhood and the Delmar Loop. The Lofts’ pedestrian mews has dramatically changed that circumstance by creat­ing a wide pathway for shoppers and residents that links the residential and commercial areas.

Maintain some flexibility for a new prod-uct. Washington University is not typically a retail developer, but it needed to navigate that territory for the development of the mixed­use property. Some flexibility was needed for ad­justment between the original design and actual occupancy. For example, the architect originally designed the retail space for seven tenants fronting Delmar Boulevard. Instead, the Pea­cock Loop Diner and United Provisions grocery store provide two larger commercial anchors in those spaces, with a third, smaller storefront accessible from the mews.

Consider the role of transportation. Build­ing off­campus housing is not about the resi­dential development only: students still need to travel the half mile to campus. Washington University has sought to maximize the conve­nience of alternative transportation options, since typical constraints of on­campus park­ing make it important to minimize the number of trips by car. Equally important was the need to

10 Lofts of Washington University Case Study www.uli.org/casestudies

address the perception of the cycling and walk­ing distance from campus. The institutional and local government improvements of sidewalk and pedestrian amenities, particularly the installa­tion of ample lighting along Skinker Boulevard, have been important contributions to the suc­cess of the Lofts as student housing.

Educate as well as innovate. As a LEED Platinum building, the Lofts has unquestionable sustainability credentials. Yet some of the ac­tive features included with the energy­efficient design are unfamiliar to many students—such as lights with occupancy sensors or heating and air conditioning that turn down when the unit is vacant. Washington University officials noted that it would be useful to provide stu­dents with an orientation explaining how those energy­saving accessories work.

Strive for consistency in unit design. Be­cause of the architecture of the buildings, there are 19 different apartment floor plans. That variation also results in some wide differences in bedroom size. For example, a three­bedroom

apartment may have two smaller bedrooms and one larger one. However, since students all pay the same residence fees for university housing at the Lofts, more consistency in the residential unit design is important. Thus, similarly sized bedrooms among the apartments would stream­line property management considerations for stu­dent housing. Fewer floor plans would also ease Residential Life’s furnishing of the apartments. Any future phase will strive for more consistency in bedroom sizes and apartment layouts.

Don’t underestimate the value of shared spaces. Many residential amenities are neigh­borhood based at the Lofts—nearby restaurants, the ground­floor grocery, and a community gym down the street. The Lofts has no in­house caf­eteria or gym. However, students have expressed a need for more study rooms in the Lofts to pro­vide a quiet space to read or study.

Recognize that parking is a delicate mat-ter. Complying with required parking ratios can impose major physical and financial chal­lenges to a high­density development. As part of an effort to spur mixed­use and multifamily development, University City has reduced the required number of off­street parking spaces for apartment buildings and retail stores, res­taurants, and office space. “Car­free living” in the neighborhood is also an option endorsed by the Parkview Gardens Sustainable Development Plan that the neighborhood’s mixed uses and excellent infrastructure for pedestrian, bicycle, and mass transit can increasingly support.

However, efforts to reduce parking ratios in the Lofts project have met with mixed results. The Lofts includes 220 underground permit­only residential parking spaces for students, based on a reduced parking ratio that emerged from the PUD process for the project. But students are often attracted to the convenient, inexpensive street parking instead of the garage, taking away retail and employee parking. Moreover, United Provisions, which relies on street parking and shared lots, would benefit from having some dedicated parking for its store.

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Washington University added 104 pedestrian-scale lamps and six blue-light emergency phones along Skinker Boulevard, a main corridor for pedestrian travel between the Lofts and the Washington University campus.

OTHER PARTICIPANTSStructural engineeringLeMessurier Consultants Inc. Cambridge, Massachusetts

KPFF Consulting EngineersSt. Louis, Missouri

Sustainability consultingOpen Field Designs Inc.St. Louis, Missouri

Parking consultingWalker Parking Consultants Chicago, Illinois

Landscape architectureStephen Stimson Associates Cambridge, Massachusetts

DTLS Landscape StudioSt. Louis, Missouri

Mechanical, electrical, plumbing/fire protection engineeringRoss & Baruzzini St. Louis, Missouri

Civil engineeringCole AssociatesSt. Louis, Missouri

Traffic engineeringCrawford Bunte BrammeierSt. Louis, Missouri

General contractingParic Corp. St. Louis, Missouri

IntervieweesCheryl Adelstein, assistant vice chancellor of

community relations and local government affairs, Washington University

Joe Edwards, local business owner and developer, owner of Peacock Loop Diner

Laura Jenks, chief of staff to the executive vice chancellor for administration, Washington University

Jamie Kolker, assistant vice chancellor of campus planning, director of capital projects, Washington University

Lyda Krewson, Ward 28 alderwoman, City of St. Louis

Nancy Marshall, project manager, capital planning, Washington University

Brian Newman, project manager, capital planning, Washington University

Andrea Riganti, director of community development, City of University City

Peter Tao, architect, Tao + Lee Associates

Henry S. Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration, Washington University

Lofts of Washington University Case Studywww.uli.org/casestudies 11

PRO JECT INFORMATION

Development timeline

Planning started Fall 2010

Construction started Winter 2013

Sales/leasing started Spring 2014

Phase I completed Summer 2014

Gross building area (GBA)

Use Building area (sq ft)

Residential 272,800

Retail 22,200

Parking 106,800

Total GBA 401,800

Land use plan

Site area (acres) % of site

Buildings 1.84 42

Landscaping/open space/other 2.53 58

Total 4.37 100

Residential information

Unit type Number of units Unit size (sq ft) Typical rent

Efficiency 58 256 $6,890 per semester

Two bedroom 19 646 $6,408 per room per semester

Three bedroom 168 752 $6,408 per room per semester

Total 245

Number of beds

Completed 414

Potential future 186

Total 600

Retail information

Percentage of retail gross leasable area (GLA) occupied 100

Annual rent range $20–$30 per sq ft, triple net

Average length of lease 5–10 years with additional option(s)

Key retail tenants Retail type Approximate GLA (sq ft)

United Provisions Grocery 15,000

Peacock Loop Diner Restaurant 5,000

Development cost information*

Site acquisition cost $1,000,000

Hard costs $55,000,000

Soft costs $13,000,000

Total development cost $69,000,000

*for Phase I.

12 Lofts of Washington University Case Study www.uli.org/casestudies

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