From the Ground Up: Vue on Walnut

Owner/developer: Walnut Development Partners LLC
General contractor: E-404 Construction LLC (Chesterfield)
Architect: VE Design Group of Mo LLC
Engineers: Lee Engineering and Associates LLC, civil; VE Design Group of Mo, structural; and Timberlake Engineering Consultants LLC, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (Columbia)
Size: 219,000 square feet
Estimated cost: $23.6 million
Lender: Great Southern Bank
Estimated completion: August
Project description: The L-shaped Vue on Walnut is designed with over 100 units on four stories, with frontage on Walnut Street and Jefferson Avenue. It wraps around the old Hotel Marquette building, home to the Aviary Cafe and 1984 arcade. Development partners Sam Chimento, John Rooney and Mike Burkhart bought the 1.7-acre lot from the Foster family’s Castlebay Real Estate Holdings for $1.9 million. Burkhart is business manager of Willard-based VE Design Group, and Rooney is CEO of E-404 Construction. With 348 beds in studios to four bedroom-units, Rooney said the student housing complex is 30 percent preleased. “Our big season is coming,” said Rooney, a 1978 graduate of Missouri State University. “When I graduated, I said I’m going to come back here. It’s taken me a long time.” The Vue on Walnut features a rooftop pool and cabana, a courtyard, 24-hour fitness room and pet park, as well as a 130-space parking garage. Rooney said a 3,000-square-foot commercial space on Jefferson Avenue is available for lease, as well.