Downtown population grows by 6% during 2008

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Downtown population grows by 6% during 2008

A new report by the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis shows that demand for downtown living remains strong. At the end of 2008, the downtown residential population grew to 11,800, an increase of 6% over the 2007 figure.

Growth in the metro area averaged 0.4 %. Despite national economic and housing woes that restricted new residential development and limited mortgage financing for condominiums, people continued the decade long move back to the city's urban core. Since the year 2000, almost 5000 people have moved into downtown St. Louis.

Each year, the Partnership surveys the downtown real estate community to develop an informal but comprehensive "census" of occupancy for both for-sale and rental projects.

One of the most telling trends from the Partnership's latest annual Housing Report was the conversion of recently constructed or planned condominium developments to apartments. As a result, the Partnership noted a significant reduction in inventory of new condominium offerings that reduced a potential oversupply while adding to the inventory of apartments. And, despite the addition of 400 apartments in 2008, rental occupancy rates for apartments open a full year increased from 88% to 90%

The almost 12,000 downtown residents were attracted to new retail and restaurant offerings including over 100 shops, cafes and services added sine 2004. Among the latest features cited as making downtown more livable are fitness centers, an animal hospital, an urgent care center, and added open spaces areas such as Old Post Office Plaza and CityGarden - both under construction and set to open shortly. Also under construction is a Schnuck's market, bringing downtowners a full service grocery store.

The Downtown St. Louis Housing Report projects 225 new residential units will open in 2009 and 500 units will open in 2010. The complete report is available by visiting www.DowntownSTL.org .