A rendering showing City Foundry from west to east. A 10-screen theater will occupy the building depicted as "Box & Carton."
More than a year ago, St. Louis got its first glimpse of City Foundry, the Lawrence Group's ambitious reimagining of the former Federal-Mogul foundry in midtown. At the time, CEO Steve Smith hinted that a food hall would serve as the anchor of the 14-acre site. But details remained scant about the tenants—until now.
THE FOOD HALL
When construction begins, likely this spring, the former factory building will be cleaned and painted. Natural light will filter through a bank of clerestory windows. Cranes, catwalks, conveyors, trestles, and brake-part machinery will be refurbished and incorporated into the design. Elevated platforms will be used for private parties and pop-up events. (One area has already been earmarked for a DJ and live music, “making the complex more vibey as the day progresses, extending the appeal past the dinner hour.")
The 48,000-square-foot space will include enough room for 20 stalls. “Every food stall [will have] a St. Louis connection," Smith says. "The overarching idea is to build a community of local chefs doing out-of-the-box concepts within their areas of expertise.” Among the occupants who've signed on so far:
Lost & Found, A Burger and Pizza Joint: Named for the reclaimed foundry, the 1,300-square-foot space will specialize in hand-tossed brick-oven pizzas and hot sandwiches, including riffs on the award-winning smash burger at Retreat Gastropub, where Lost & Found owner Michael Friedman served as the executive chef until late last year. It will also offer freshly cut fries and appetizers, as well as local canned beer, wine, and craft sodas—“a few tricks out of my playbook,” as Friedman puts it.
Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
A burger from Retreat Gastropub, where Michael Friedman served as executive chef until late last year
Juice Box Central: Another concept from Friedman, this 400-square-foot, chef-inspired juice bar might best be described as “a timely evolution,” as Friedman says. Juice Box Central will serve made-to-order juices, which will be shaken before being served (as a bartender would a cocktail). Customers will have the option of adding alcohol to create “boozy juice” and punched-up slushies. There will also be vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes, along with breakfast options, yogurts, parfaits, and smoothies.
Hari Manok: Filipino for "king chicken," the restaurant's name is apt: Filipino-style grilled chicken will be the main attraction, along with apropos sides, including pancit, garlic fried rice, pork belly skewers, and freshly made lumpia. Chef/co-owner Britt Simpson, who was raised by a Filipino family, "knows all the family recipes," says Kevin Pellegrino, her husband and Hari Manok's co-owner. The two chefs (pictured below) met at Five Bistro and worked at Olive + Oak before deciding to strike out on their own.
Essentially Tacos: Matt Borchardt, owner of Edibles & Essentials and Essentially Fries food truck, is branching out to Mexican fare. His 480-square-foot space will be just large enough to produce a handful of street tacos served on double-corn tortillas, from the traditional al pastor and carne asada to more unusual offerings, such as braised lamb and duck confit. “We plan to do one thing and do it well,” he says. Sangria, margaritas, and cerveza will add a festive touch.
Sumax: Husband-and-wife team Jason and Maria Sparks, the duo behind popular burger-and-shawarma joint Layla in The Grove, designed Sumax to be fully self-contained and transferable to other food halls and cities. With a name that's a play on sumac, the popular crimson-colored Middle Eastern spice, this 750-square-foot corner space will feature hummus, falafel, and wraps served in freshly made, grilled pita bread. Brisket, lamb, and marinated chicken will be prepared in an onsite smoker, with several vegetarian-friendly options available as well.
Photo by Byron Kerman
"The Reaper" is among the options at Layla, which Sumax co-owners Jason and Maria Sparks also run.
A Whitebox Eatery Spinoff: Brenden Marsden is planning a spinoff of his Clayton restaurant, Whitebox Eatery. The menu will include fresh, customizable salads and homemade soups. (Marsden has yet to finalize the name but hints that the word Whitebox will be somewhere in it.)
Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
While breakfast options abound at Whitebox Eatery in Clayton, the sister concept will likely focus on freshly made salads and soups.
Natalie's Cakes & More: Natalie DuBose opened her first location weeks before the unrest in Ferguson, in 2014. The bakery has thrived, first supplying several local Starbucks and recently opening a satellite location in Chesterfield. As with her other outposts, the signature caramel cake will be available.
Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery: St. Louis’ only microcreamery continues to expand. Boasting an old-school ice-cream parlor vibe and an assortment of naughty and nice flavors (made with and without alcohol, respectively), co-owners Tamara Keefe and Frank Uible will likely offer sweet surprises not found in any of the other Clementine's locations.
The food hall's core hours on weekdays will be 11 a.m.–8 p.m., with the option of opening earlier or closing later, and longer hours on weekends.
Beyond the communal vibe, the food-hall model will offer its occupants economies of scale. “I'm convinced there’s no better way to make money in this business," Pellegrino says. "No servers, no tables and chairs [to buy], and no bathrooms to clean." The eateries can also share food runners to facilitate table delivery, perhaps using GPS technology. And the same point-of-sale system could allow for such offerings as a City Foundry-wide gift card.
Though the space will include enough room for 20 stalls, it will open with only 15 to give operators the best chance to succeed and to give developers a chance to see what else might be needed. “We need to allow ourselves some flexibility after it opens for what we cannot foresee," Smith says. "It could be more stalls, more seating space, more performance space.”
Already, the project has morphed since its inception: It turns out the food hall is just one of several significant anchors slated to open next year.
THE OTHER ANCHORS
“The first go-round, there was just the foundry building,” says Brad Beracha, the Lawrence Group's director of culinary services. Then, four months ago, several other large-scale tenants came into play, the "kinds of quantum leaps [that] will change the complexion of an entire project.”
Punch Bowl Social: Located at the east side of the development, the 26,000-square-foot establishment will house eating, drinking, gaming, and entertainment. Mississippi native Robert Thompson opened Punch Bowl Social's first location in Denver in 2012. Since then, 10 other locations have sprouted up across the U.S., and at least six more are slated to open this year. "Each new Punch Bowl Social is designed specifically for the local market," notes the restaurant's website. (The Instagram photo below shows one of Punch Bowl's other sprawling spaces.)
Fassler Hall: Fashioned after a German beer hall, this Tulsa-based regional chain will offer three dining areas across 13,000 square feet: a full-service restaurant with operable garage doors on the ground floor, a mezzanine overlooking the food hall on the second floor, and an indoor/outdoor rooftop biergarten on the third level. (The below photo shows the patio at the Tulsa location.)
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: Located at the development's west end, Alamo will include 10 screens and nearly 1,000 lounge-style seats, with food-and-drink delivery service available at your seat. Currently in 23 cities, Alamo has been lauded by Entertainment Weekly ("#1 Theater in America"), Wired.com ("Coolest Movie Theater in the World"), and Fandango.com ("One of the Best Theaters in the Country"). It takes an avant-garde approach to movie-watching: “We have zero tolerance for talking or cell phone use of any kind during movies," its site notes, "and we aren't afraid to kick anyone rude enough to start texting their friends during a show right out of the theater.”
THE IDEA
There's a certain serendipity to City Foundry's beginnings.
While his son was attending Georgia Tech years ago, Smith visited Ponce City Market (pictured below) and Krog Street Market in Atlanta. What he saw was remarkable: once-shuttered industrial buildings transformed into bustling culinary hubs, something akin to New York's Chelsea Market.
Traditionally, Smith explains, shopping centers were anchored by department stores, which drove the traffic to the rest of the center or shopping mall. “But that model is changing," he says. "The new model is designed around local, authentic, original food—most of it fast-casual—which attracts the current generation. It’s something you can’t get on the internet and you can’t transact through Amazon.” (At a recent real-estate conference in Las Vegas, the idea of an urban food-hall marketplace was compared to being “in the bottom of the ninth inning in the first game of the season.” In Atlanta alone, three more food halls are in the works.)
“Steve’s mission was to figure out where it could be done in St. Louis," says Beracha. "And he found the perfect spot."
Located just north of Highway 40 in midtown, the Federal-Mogul foundry had collected dust, rust, and graffiti after closing in 2007. The Lawrence Group had already made significant investments in the neighborhood, opening Triumph Grill, The MOTO Museum, and Hotel Ignacio, among other projects. Then, in September 2015, IKEA opened its first location in the heart of the city, building on the momentum of the Cortex Innovation Community. Several months later, the Lawrence Group purchased the former foundry site, announcing plans for a food court, as well as offices and stores. "One could argue that without Cortex, IKEA wouldn’t be here," says Beracha, "and without IKEA, City Foundry wouldn’t be here.”
The site is defined by "relatively hard barriers," says Smith. Highway 40 is immediately to the south, IKEA is to the west, Saint Louis University is to the north, and more of SLU's campus and Grand Avenue is to the east. "And we own everything in the middle," adds Smith.
Safety and security were prime concerns while planning the complex. “The primary access is off Vandeventer, from the same access point as IKEA," Smith says. "We own the street that leads into the development, and we control the 1,000 parking spaces within, all above grade... I compare it to IKEA. There, people know they’ll be on a private lot and that it’s secure and well-lit. In other areas of the city, you typically have to cross a public way to get to your destination. We’ve taken that out of the equation.”
Beyond the food component, the $230 million-plus development calls for several dozen retailers and office space. (Eighty-five percent percent of the latter is already leased.) A pedestrian-only streetway—used for events, art fairs, concerts, a farmers' market, street performers—will run through the complex, and a new bike path will connect the site to other neighborhoods. And an existing railroad trestle is slated to become an elevated walkway, “a downscaled version of New York’s High Line, which will be visible from the highway,” says Smith.
Beracha envisions City Foundry as a stop before or after a performance or sporting event at a nearby venue, as well as a destination unto itself—like “creating a neighborhood from the inside out.”
“It’s a complicated space, one meant for wandering and discovering: different foods, new dining concepts, structural elements," says Smith. "The whole thing will be experiential.”
