Plaid Summer Tour: Rock stars that became property developers

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Rock stars that became property developers

When we announced the addition of St. Louis to the PlaidNation tour route, we heard a lot of buzz about Shock City Studios. Twitter friend Marianne Richmond ensured us that we would not be disappointed.

Why profile a recording studio? You need to meet Doug and Chris to understand why. Two musicians with successful recording careers wanted to open a recording studio. Not unlike the dream of many musicians, right?

Here's where the story of Shock City Studios gets exciting. Doug and Chris didn't just take some skanky space and set up some recording gear. They bought what is essentially an entire block in St. Louis. They took over an abandoned ice factory and renovated the space into a state of the art studio. Mix Magazine calls it one of the coolest studios in the nation.

But the development story doesn't end there. With thousands and thousands of additional square feet in their building, they saw bigger potential. They've built out the space as wonderous new office and retail space. (A bakery was in the process of moving in during our visit.) And they're building homes. Super cool condos that take advantage of the unique architecture.

All of the space pays homage to its ice factory roots, while at the same time incorporating stunning new architectural highlights.

How did two musicians make it all happen? This is a massive project, with an over $10 million dollar development budget. Doug and Chris worked with the city, investors and various grant programs that are available in St. Louis. They brought a sense of energy and vibrancy to city planners who normally only get to work with "property development types." From the sounds of it, their enthusiasm about an exciting project helped them get the attention they deserved to push things through.

Doug and Chris are an outstanding example for other business people, and proof that sometimes doing something outside of your normal comfort zone can pay off big time. Even if it's something that you've never ever done before.

When it's complete, the Shock City Studios complex will house a variety of interesting businesses, residents and one of the hottest studios in the country while bringing a block of St. Louis architecture back to life. Not bad for a couple of slacker musicians.

Follow Shock City on Twitter, and visit Shock City Studios.com when it's time to record your new album.

Labels: architecture, st. louis