By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis – St. Louis City aldermen are expected Friday to approve a major change to the Delmar Loop streetscape.
Developer Joe Edwards wants to build a ten-story high-end hotel between the Pageant concert venue and the Pin-Up Bowl.
Edwards has headed a number of building projects along the Loop. But he's never come close to the hotel's $21 million price tag.
Edwards says a hotel is the last big thing needed in the Loop.
"Our box office at the Pageant gets lost of requests from people, you know, 'where's the closest hotel?'" Edwards said. "And they're always kind of dismayed to find out it's two or three miles away. I know when Bob Dylan performed three nights in a row a few years ago, people came from South Carolina and California - they all would have stayed there."
Even with aldermen's approval, Edwards says he will not start construction until all the financing is in place.
Edwards says even with all his experience in development, this project is a risk that he feels he needs to take to help cement the Loop's comeback.
"I could build a real typical, low-end hotel for quite a bit less. But I think to have it really succeed and have it be exciting for people, I try to always do things in a first-class way so it'll be exciting long-term."