‘We’re on life support’: Downtown St. Louis business booster bolts for Grand Center



ST. LOUIS — A longtime downtown booster is moving out of downtown, and he’s making some noise about it.

Aaron Perlut, a founding partner at marketing firm Elasticity and a former board member at Downtown St. Louis Inc., wrote a LinkedIn post this week blasting City Hall for not doing more to deal with drag racing, gunfire and general lawlessness in the area.

“For a region to be healthy, its heart must be strong,” he wrote, after hearing an employee’s car had been broken into right outside the office on Locust Street, the second time in the past few weeks. "Someone get the defibrillator. We're on life support."

The pandemic hit downtown hard, emptying offices, restaurants and entertainment venues, and high-profile shootings, drag racing and late-night mayhem filled the gaps, fostering a sense of lawlessness in the heart of the region. Residents have complained they can’t sleep at night. Business owners have worried the bad headlines will scare clientele away. Others have considered relocating themselves.

A spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones noted Tuesday that she set up a safety committee with public officials and prominent downtown businesspeople last fall, and has seen some results. Peabody Energy, which debated leaving last summer after some of its windows were shot out, announced last month that it would stay on Market Street.

The administration’s move to shut down a nightclub on Washington Avenue linked to several shootings last summer has also made a difference, downtown executives and residents have said.
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