Maya Cafe to become Casa Maya under new ownership

What Happened? Pied Piper of Maplewood Marty Simpson spends $4 million on vision for ‘children’s neighborhood’

By Margaret Jackson –
Oct 26, 2003, 11:00pm CST Updated Oct 23, 2003, 9:03am CDT
Marty Simpson plans to transform Sutton Boulevard in Maplewood into a children’s entertainment district.
Over the last six years, Simpson has spent nearly $4 million buying property in Maplewood. Now, he’s talking with a children’s theater group, a circus company and a restaurant operator about creating a neighborhood that caters mainly to children.
“The people moving into Maplewood are young families with kids,” said the 40-year-old Simpson, who plans to invest several million dollars more in the district.
His inspiration is his 3-year-old daughter, Mia, who has survived neurosurgery, radiation and chemotherapy to treat a brain tumor.
A California native, Simpson moved to St. Louis in the early 1980s to attend Washington University, where he earned degrees in biology and sociology. An HIV counselor by training, Simpson and business partner Jay Schober also operate Specialized Testing, a 10-year-old Maplewood company that contracts with Quest Diagnostics Inc. and Laboratory Corporation America to provide health screening tests. Schober also is Simpson’s partner in the building that houses the Focal Point, a small concert venue.
Simpson is paying for the Maplewood redevelopment using the money he made developing real estate in Florida. Tom Hager of First Service Bank and Tom Brewster Jr. of Pioneer Bank are financing the acquisition and renovation costs.
Simpson’s plan calls for converting space on the second floor of some of his buildings into condominiums. Selling the units will help offset the virtually free rent the children’s organizations will pay and, at the same time, bring residents back into downtown Maplewood, he said. Simpson also has purchased an apartment building overlooking the Sutton Loop area that he intends to convert to high-end condominiums.

2 COMMENTS

Thomas Thompson January 24, 2020 At 4:19 pm

What Happened? Pied Piper of Maplewood Marty Simpson spends $4 million on vision for ‘children’s neighborhood’

By Margaret Jackson –
Oct 26, 2003, 11:00pm CST Updated Oct 23, 2003, 9:03am CDT
Marty Simpson plans to transform Sutton Boulevard in Maplewood into a children’s entertainment district.
Over the last six years, Simpson has spent nearly $4 million buying property in Maplewood. Now, he’s talking with a children’s theater group, a circus company and a restaurant operator about creating a neighborhood that caters mainly to children.
“The people moving into Maplewood are young families with kids,” said the 40-year-old Simpson, who plans to invest several million dollars more in the district.
His inspiration is his 3-year-old daughter, Mia, who has survived neurosurgery, radiation and chemotherapy to treat a brain tumor.
A California native, Simpson moved to St. Louis in the early 1980s to attend Washington University, where he earned degrees in biology and sociology. An HIV counselor by training, Simpson and business partner Jay Schober also operate Specialized Testing, a 10-year-old Maplewood company that contracts with Quest Diagnostics Inc. and Laboratory Corporation America to provide health screening tests. Schober also is Simpson’s partner in the building that houses the Focal Point, a small concert venue.
Simpson is paying for the Maplewood redevelopment using the money he made developing real estate in Florida. Tom Hager of First Service Bank and Tom Brewster Jr. of Pioneer Bank are financing the acquisition and renovation costs.
Simpson’s plan calls for converting space on the second floor of some of his buildings into condominiums. Selling the units will help offset the virtually free rent the children’s organizations will pay and, at the same time, bring residents back into downtown Maplewood, he said. Simpson also has purchased an apartment building overlooking the Sutton Loop area that he intends to convert to high-end condominiums.
Tom Thompson January 7, 2020 At 8:40 pm

I designed and renovated the expansion of the Maya Cafe, and the rest of that complex that Jay Schober owns. I also designed and renovated the original Maplewood City Hall and Fire house across the street occupied by Studio X. Along with a requested favor from Jay to design and renovate his Maplewood Cafe on Manchester Rd. So it would not need a new license to reopen from Maplewood City. In return for all my: Intellectual property referring to creations of my mind. And labor. I was to receive the second floor of the 2737 Sutton Blvd, Maplewood, MO 63143. This address is part of a a building or complex of buildings containing a number of individually owned apartments or houses. This agreement never materialized. And all of my efforts “Pirated” It has left me “poor, old and working as a servant of others.” -Michelangelo Buonarotti. I am just another Starving Artist, struggling to make ends meet. Thomas E. Thompson PS The black railings in front of the Maya Cafe in this picture. I welded for good old Jay.

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