“Off the grid” development in FPSE

Things have been a little quite on the development front in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood of St. Louis this year. With Amy & Amrit Gill’s Restoration St. Louis starting no high-profile projects in 2009, changes have been slow compared the previous two years. Things might be changing to 2010.

The Post Dispatch ran a full article yesterday on the Gill’s rumored green project along Manchester. Details are similar to those previously reported, with 24 new apartments and about 10,000 of street-level commercial proposed for th vacant lots at 4190 and 4556 Manchester.

The biggest news, however, is that they intend for this project to be no only green, but totally “off the grid.” That’s right, no connection with Ameren UE at all, by using things like geothermal heat, solar panels and wind turbines. Of course, at $3.6 million per 18,000 sq ft building, this project wouldn’t be cheap. And with as much as $250,000 of the projects funds potentially coming from federal stimulus money and $400,000 from federal tax credits, those costs will partially subsidized as well.

One has to wonder if a totally “off the grid” project is really a smart option with the current financial market and limited battery technologies, but one thing is for sure At least the Gill’s can’t be accused of lacking ambition.

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