by Matt Kastner 
Even in the best of economic times, real estate developments fall through all the time. In a recession, this trend can become an epidemic. One seeming victim to this trend is the proposed Pelican Place project at 2232 and 2256 South Grand in the Compton Heights neighborhood.
The Planning & Urban Design Agency of the City of St. Louis published development details back in August of 2006. The former YMCA building at the site was to be torn down and replaced by a mixed-use development. The historic Pelican building at the corner of Shenandoah and Grand was to be restored to historic alignment, which would have seen the removal of the the ghastly 1-story addition to the north. The plans looked pretty great.
In 2007, demo began on the Pelican building and leasing signs for the finished project went up. Things looked like they were on the fast track. Unfortunately, over the following two years, nothing seemed to happen. Other than the grass at the site becoming overgrown.
In May 2009, the St. Louis Post Dispatch was reporting that the project was still moving forward with Snap Fitness as the anchoring tenant in the 37,000 Sq Ft project. To this day, the site remains untouched. The poor economy, as well as the sluggish sales at the nearby Compton Gate Condos seem to be the likely holdups.
Thankfully, the surrounding area has continued to improve in terms of residential development. Once things start top loosen up economically, this project seems to stand a good chance of actually coming together. In some form or another. South Grand between Arsenal and I-44 has become a pretty nice stretch, but a project like this could really push things over the edge. Hopefully something gels sooner rather than later. Here is a look at the current site.
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