Blog > Blog > 2008 > July

July 31, 2008 at 12:24 pm

I saw this painted on the front of a building on the 37XX block of Pennsylvania this morning and thought it really summed up the current copper theft situation. On one hand the message is funny, while on the other its just sad.

I’m never one to advocate for the government to get involved in peoples lives, but this theft has to stop. This is beyond a local issue. We need to get scrap yards in both Missouri and Illinois to stop the flow of this stolen copper. This don’t ask, don’t tell policy on where scrap comes from and who is collecting it has to come to an end.

July 31, 2008 at 12:09 pm

The side of Park West Grille (2917 Jefferson Ave) just got a face lift. Check out this great looking mural that now advertises the site as you drive along the burgeoning South Jefferson Commerical District. It adds a nice touch to the strip, don’t you think.

July 29, 2008 at 6:23 pm

When stalwart builders are closing up shop in droves, its always great to see a success story. I’ve posted about Sage Homebuilders in the past, but I wanted to point out a couple of newer projects they are working on. I was driving down a few back-roads in Richmond Heights the other day and stumbled upon a couple of houses being demoed on Hoover.

When I saw the Sage signs in the yard, I was impressed by what I saw. You can see both of the planned properties for yourself on the company’s current For Sale page. According to their website, one of the homes is already presold. Pretty impressive for a $600,000+ home in this market. Not only are these homes quite attractive and unique, they’re green developments too. Hopefully Art House will get underway soon. Keep up the good work guys.

July 29, 2008 at 3:07 pm

I know I focus a lot on local matters on this site, but I also like to keep up on national and regional real estate investment news as well. Whether I find info via magazines or online, I always think its a good idea. Seeing as most of this news is beyond my ability to verify, I usually take these stories at face value. Maybe I should rethink that policy.

Check out this article from the June issue of Multifamily Executive entitled A New Brew. Its about St. Louis’ own Lemp Brewery in Benton Park. WHile its great to see the property in the national media, the artilceis less than accurate in terms of details. THe article acts as if the redevelopment of the old brewery had already started. I don’t knwo who they have been talking to, but maybe they should verify their sources. Makes you wonder how many other articles out their are balogna.

July 29, 2008 at 2:07 pm

After over 10 hours of tinkering, I have finally managed to get this section working correctly. This spot on the homepage will be home to stories that warrant your attention, but don’t deserve a full blog entry. I would be posting a lot more often, but setting up the images, thumbnails, and tags for each post is really time consuming. With this new format I will be able to keep my readers more up-to-date on relevant material. As this is fleshed out over the next few days feel free to shoot me any feedback you might have. Enjoy.

NOTE: You’ll notice that some other sections of the blog are looking a bit rough as well. I’ll still in the middle of making a few other changes, so bear with me.

July 23, 2008 at 10:09 am

We have finally gone to the next phase of the process on the Connecticut rehab. The tile has been laid, the hardwoods have been refinished, the drywall is completely done, the front porch is coming around, both the front and rear doors have been replaced and all the utilities are done. Its finally starting to feel like a house. Read more

July 22, 2008 at 1:42 pm

Ever since Anheuser-Busch and InBev came to terms on their merger/takeover, I have been thinking a lot about St. Louis’ future. Whether or not St. Louis retains an important role in the Anheuser-Busch InBev corporate structure, there is no doubt that changes are on the way. Read more

July 21, 2008 at 3:49 pm

In March, I posted a story about duplexes suddenly becoming a viable, cash flowing, option for prospective investment real estate buyers. Four months later, I’m here to highlight the topic again. But this time, I’m not talking about two families. They are still an increasingly attractive buy, but the real surprise in the past few months has been how lucrative buying up single families has suddenly become in the St. Louis investment real estate market.

Read more

July 18, 2008 at 1:23 pm

Established businesses continue to expand, and new ones are just around the corner. That pretty much sums up the current Morganford experieince. With the exception of Manchester Avenue in Forest Park Southeast (The Grove), I can’t think of any other St. Louis commercial district that has seen a more significant turnaround that Morganford. I’ve touched on this strip in the Tower Grove South neighborhood in previous posts, but the news just seems to keep coming. Read more

July 8, 2008 at 2:06 pm

I always love unexpected developments. If you have been following the death of the Fleur de Lis project at Jefferson & Arsenal, you will understand why the lack of activity at the site is so upsetting. I have really started to get used the fact the the lot might sit there for years. And then I drove by site this afternoon. The new home of a large sign displaying a new upcoming project: the Hydraulic Brick Lofts. Read more

July 3, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Whenever I become irregular in my posting schedule, I always feel like I owe you readers an explanation. What with my ongoing rehab project on Connecticut and a rather frantic amount of real estate transactions to handle, I have had a hard time keeping up with everything, but that is no secret. What is a secret, is the third factor that has been in play. This third factor, which has been especially time consuming in the past couple of weeks, is setting up a new brokerage. Read more