I-64 reopening implications

Although the impact of the Interstate 64 closure through St. Louis over the last two years has been less severe than most feared, it still had an impact nonetheless. Since we’ve all be inundated by news on the subject lately I won’t bore you with rehashes of other articles, but I did want to point out a couple of real estate-related affects.

The obvious one is that this closure has had an impact on anyone owning properties along the construction zone. Areas like Maplewood, Richmond Heights and Dogtown were probably the most negatively affected. The number of “For Rent” sings in these areas has been higher since the second phase of the project as would be assumed. Owners selling their homes have also had a harder time (at least at the prices that wanted) since most people would be reluctant to move-into an area in the midst of a traffic inducing construction project. Now that the project is over, and the flow of traffic goes back to normal, these areas can go back to their normal patterns.

Since I don’t do a ton of transactions in the areas listed above, I haven’t really witnessed this impact first hand. The one thing that I have had to deal with over the last two years is the pain in getting to title companies. For whatever reason, most title companies I have to use on all these foreclosure deals are around I-64. First American in Brentwood, Mokan, Investors and Continental in Clayton, and Bankers & Lenders as well as a few others further out. With having to drop off earnest money or show up for closings a couple times each week, the overly-long routes to these places have proven to be a huge pain.

For the time this reopening is going to shave off these trips, I am most thankful. If you are an agent yourself or an investor who buys a lot of properties I’m sure you can relate. It’s nice to be able to get where you are going without going in a circle. It’s good to simply be back to normal.