St. Paul Real Estate

Touristing

by G. Sax

I like to get my "out" on, but Mondays aren't the typical draw. Nevertheless, the wife and I did some bar hopping, taking in small drinky and eaty treats along the way. The Happy Gnome was our final stop, and the middle child was The Bulldog in Lowertown. But the reason I'm writing this week is the first stop of our trio, the Barrio in Lowertown, right next door to The Bulldog.

We sat by the window, looking south across Mears Park. We've dined upon Mears before from LoTo on the ground floor of Galtier Plaza, but that was an inferior eastward view—at least in terms of the current hipness barometer. LoTo is certainly a clean and modern (and delicious) eat-a-drinkery, but it lacks that Minneapolisness that is raving through downtown St. Paul these days.

My pass through Barrio got me to thinking that living and touristing in cities are entirely different beasts, Chicago's Navy Pier, New York's Times Square, San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, Los Angeles's Hollywood and Highland. These are national points of interest. But for the locals, not so much.

I think it's okay to go where you're supposed to go. Cities spend millions to get tourists to spend billions on their most obvious charms.

In Minneapolis, Block E was designed to be the epicenter of downtown life, and though the entertainment complex has had its troubles, it sits so squarely in the middle of downtown that it can't help but be relevant to a tourist's Minneapolis experience. Hooters and Hard Rock are where they are for a reason.

What does St. Paul have? The Capitol building? What's good eats near there? White Castle, McDonald's, the Sweetwater Bar and Grill inside the Kelly Inn? St. Paul is capable of exciting, urban gastro flair on Grand Avenue, but Grand lacks a first-tier obviousness that a city should have. West 7th, especially near the Xcel Energy Center, is arguably the center of downtown nightlife, but what happens when hockey season's over? We could use another obvious core for the casual traveler and someplace to park the car once for the casual Minneapolis resident.

While at Barrio, we read recent reviews of the place on Yelp:

"Another grand opening in Saint Paul of another outpost of a Minneapolis restaurant." – Dee T., Saint Paul, MN

"This is the exact same bar as on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. It makes a nice 1–2 punch with The Bulldog next door. Finally some real life in downtown St. Paul." – Dan S., Minneapolis, MN

Barrio's food was passable if not overpriced, but the vibe was something so far from the Gopher Bar, Savoy, or Alary's that it may ruffle the standard St. Paulite. Maybe Barrio won't compete with my established saintly city favorites, but it shouldn't have to. I'm not the intended audience. And that's perfect.

Downtown St. Paul condo market snap shot

Things seem a little slow downtown these days so I thought I would look at some numbers.  I have to say the condos are not doing as well as the rest of the market but the situation has improved from what it was two years ago.

The absorption rate for downtown is at 11.6 months, which is twice as high as it is for the rest of the St. Paul real estate market. There are 140 units on the market and 12 have sold in the last 30 days. Of the 140 on the market the average time on the market is at around 211 days, with an average list price of $286,606.

The twelve units that sold in the last 30 days were on the market for an average of 94.5 days and the average sale price as $204.95  It should be noted that the average list price of these units was $218.

Here is a break down of the buildings with the most units on the market.  It should be noted that these are also the biggest buildings. IThe average list price at The Lowery is a little high because a few of the units on the market are one million plus pent house units.                                                    

Units on the market	Address	Name of Building	Average Cumulative Days on Market	Average List Price
19	78 10th St E	The Pointe	211	$159,320
30	406 Wacouta	River Park Lofts	169	$247,410
20	350 St. Peter	The Lowry	250	$594,029

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Retail

By Erik Hare

There’s been a lot of press about residential real estate, both on the upside and the downside.  There’s a great deal of interest in where people live, and it’s only natural – we all have to live somewhere.  But this isn’t the only kind of real estate there is.  Retail establishments, particularly small spaces that are logically best suited for entrepreneurs, are taking it much harder.

Saint Paul is not much different.  A concerted effort has filled many of the spaces along the skyway level, creating a bustle of activity during the day.  It’s been a wonderful transformation that’s happened even as the rest of the economy took a dive.  The problem comes at the street level, where things become much more difficult.

A good example of the street retail is undergoing can be seen around Mears Park in Lowertown.  Two new bars have opened up on the north side of the park in the last two years, The Bulldog and most recently Barrio.  On the south side, things have been a little more difficult for the Strauss building (pictured).

The renovation was finished in 2003, just in time for the tail end of the market boom.  With 3 floors of apartments, the Strauss building quickly filled up with residents who wanted to be right in the heart of the city and the wonderful amenities.  The first floor was designated retail, and it has yet to fill up.  Most of it has never even had a client in all this time. 

What’s wrong with the Strauss Building?  Absolutely nothing, especially if you ask the renters.  In fact, the columns topped by delicate arches and filled with wide windows facing Sibley Street are architectural treasures.  It’s a perfect space for any number of things, including a fancy restaurant or a specialty retail outlet.  There just isn’t a lot of demand for these sorts of things, so the space has been idle.  Someday, someone will snap it up and create a Saint Paul institution.  But while it’s always been difficult to get a loan for a boutique retail operation, right now it’s nearly impossible.  It’s unlikely that anything will happen soon.

So the Strauss Building waits for someone with the capital it takes to do something that makes the city proud.  It’s nearly impossible to walk past it and not come up with a few plans for this magnificent space, but dreams take a lot of cash to become a reality.  The current economic situation doesn’t make it likely that retail spaces, even those as amazing as the Strauss Building, will be filled up soon.  Even though the apartments were a huge hit, the retail struggles.

The new places across Mears Park give us hope that the wonderful Strauss Building will find its retail tenants soon.  As Lowertown continues to grow and develop, there will be more and more demand.  But it’s still terribly sad to see such a building be left empty in this market, even though retail space isn’t first on everyone’s mind.  Someday this will all change, but in this climate it’s hard to see it happening soon enough, especially for us dreamers walking by.

Parking Meter Debit Card

I hate to make a closely guarded secret public but I did promise I would publish this information if I ever found it.  [see "armless robbers"] The parking meters in  St. Paul only take quarters and a quarter lasts a few seconds . . . that might be an exaggeration but it is my blog. The ramps are nice but most of my visits to downtown last less than an hour so they are kind of impractical.

After years of paying parking tickets . . or lets just say collecting parking tickets I learned that it is possible to buy a debit card that works in the meters.  I bought such a card and had $50 put on it.   The card works in any parking meter in St. Paul and money can be put on it for Minneapolis. There isn't any information about this on the City of St. Paul web site, it is kind of like the permit parking system, cloaked in mystery.

The only way to get the cards is in person at these locations:


1. Citizen Service Center, room 110 at City Hall, 15 W Kellogg Blvd. (65...

2. A vending machine is located in the skyway between the RiverCentre Ramp and the Xcel Energy Center.

3. Public Works, Traffic Division at 899 Dale Ave N. (651) 4...

The initial purchase of a card is $5.00. You may load up to $100.00 on the card.It may be used in either Minneapolis or Saint Paul, however, the card separates the accounts. The money loaded in Saint Paul can only be deducted in Saint Paul and the money loaded in Minneapolis may only be deducted in Minneapolis.All Saint Paul meters are equipped to receive payment from the debit card.

Note: The only location that has free parking is the Dale avenue location, the rest of them have meters. 

Downtown Numbers Lag

Last month I wrote about absorption rates for the seven county metro area. For Ramsey county and St. Paul the absorption rate is less than five months.  That means at the current rate of sales if no more homes were listed the current homes on the market would be absorbed or purchased by buyers in less than five months.  Absorption rates were much higher last year and the year before when the inventory of homes on the market rose and home sales dropped.

Currently in downtown St. Paul the absorption rate is slightly over nine months almost double the absorption rate for the rest of the county.  Average cumulative days on market for the 136 condos on the market is  around 206 days and the average list price is $288,344.  Since the beginning of the year 27 units have sold for an average price of $211,000 and were on the market for an average of 230 days.

Much of the housing in downtown St. Paul was built in the last five years.  it is very common for sellers to owe more on the units than they can be sold for.  There are still new units available in several buildings and some of the new buildings that were being planned are not being built.

There are some bargains downton and there are also some units that seem to be a bit over priced. Amazingly there are not all that many foreclosures and because the housing is all in buildings there are no registered vacant properties either. 

College Avenue

Every city has a College Avenue, or College Street.  St. Paul is no exception, College Avenue is close to downtown, just two blocks off of Summit Avenue and one block from Mulberry street.  college Avenue is one block long and these condo's are the only homes on the street.  The building was built in 1898 . . actually there are two buildings, so close together that they look like one. They were converted to condos many years ago. I once lived a block away and remember when they were converted, they had been apartments.  There was a Mission school on college avenue in 1851, the mission is gone but the street is still there.

The school used to be where the history center is today.  The best view of this building and of downtown, especially at sunset is from the parking lot of the Arch diocese building.  The lot is on Kellogg Blvd and Mulberry Street.  If you have never heard of College or Mulberry, don't worry they are both one block long and no one has heard of them. . . except the people who live and park on them.

One of the things I always notice when I stand in the parking lot is the wonderful mix of old and new. I can see the church steeples, and the landmark center, and buildings that were built less than ten years ago and a couple that were completed last year. It is the mix of old and new that gives the area it's charm.

Irish Spring

by G. Sax

It felt good to be in downtown St. Paul yesterday instead of in a cubicle. The weather was warm enough. The air smelled fresh and full.

I think I enjoyed the people-watching most. I saw office-attired workers with visible plastic key cards skulking in corners and on cell phones while taking smoke breaks. I saw hockey fans bopping around bars and restaurants in anticipation of an evening game. I saw local residents taking their dogs out for exercise in local parks around their centralized and high-rise neighborhood. I saw little kids on spring break excited for something or other.

In order to have a vibrant urban core, you need things like this. It's grand to have employment, entertainment, housing, and even children somewhere even more "city" than Grand Avenue.

Oh, wait, I know what those kids were waiting for. There was a big St. Patrick's Day parade that rumbled through the heart of downtown yesterday afternoon. I was in it. That's me pointing at the camera, wearing the green "7-Up" hat (see below). My friend Neza took it from the crowd and had it posted to my Facebook page well before I composed this. So I borrowed it to share further.

Pop!!

By Erik Hare

Tournament time in Saint Paul is when a lot of people are out around Downtown from all over Minnesota.  After this, the dirty snow starts to melt and we all tend to enjoy a few more nights out on the city.  One great place to do this is Pop!! at 6 E 6th Street, a restaurant and bar dedicated to all things pop culture.

The menu is affordable, with most dishes in the $7 to $12 range.  There are two types of pizza and two types of pasta at all times, along with some interesting appetizers.  They have a wide variety of special drinks and beers, too.

 Pop!! specializes in a lot of seafood, giving them a niche in the Downtown scene.  Yesterday’s special was a grilled Ahi Tuna on a seafood platter that got rave reviews from everyone there.

Everything is bright and cheerful, including bartender Bob Parker (pictured).  The décor is a bit pink without being neon, accented with displays of pop culture icons and other bits of fun.  That’s what Pop!! is all about, the kind of relaxed fun that is the real Saint Paul. 

Pop!! is located in what many used to know as Fhima in the Lawson Common development.  You can find it on Wabasha and Sixth, across from Ecolab headquarters.  The many different nooks and corners of this kitschy and fun restaurant make a great addition to the developing scene in Downtown.  It may be a bit less crowded after Tournament time, but there will always be something happening.

Artist lofts

These were taken at Schurmeier lofts on 9th Street in downtown St. Paul.  The building was a carriage factory but I guess we don't make carriages any more of much of anything else for that matter.

When I first started in the business as a Realtor I really didn't want to sell condos at all.  These days lofts are a big part of my business and I like working with them.  Some of my clients are artists so the job is a little different.  I may find a huge sculpture being built in the middle of the loft.  The artist usually doesn't want it in any of the photos so it is a challenge to get the photos I need.

I like the idea of artists lofts.  They are home businesses where the owners can have a work space, a living space and sometimes a show room.  The loft in the picture has plenty of space for both working and for living or just for living. 2600 square feet of finished space with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. The bottom photo was taken in the top level of the elevator shaft which has been converted into living space.

The idea of giving an old building a new use is a good idea.  We talk about "green building" well this is recycling. I am not an expert but I suspect that it is greener to reuse that it is to tear down and construct a new building. Part of the charm of these places is the hardware and left over from the buildings last use.  This unit has the elevator doors, a scale and in the elevator shaft you can see the wheel from the pulley that was used to make the elevator go up and down.

Most of these lofts are not used as artists lofts, which is fine. You don't have to be an artist to live in one.

Flowers or Condos

I am getting calls from people who are looking for condos in downtown St. Paul for around $100,000. We do have them. I found 10 units priced under 100K.  Here is a list. It is becoming more common for people who live out of state or who live in the state but far from the twin cities to buy these condos and live in them when they are in town or to use them as a kind of summer or winter cabin in the city.

If you are not looking for condos that are priced below 100K just look at the flowers and ignore the list.