Blog > Blog > Archive by tag 'green'

February 9, 2010 at 1:57 pm

Tucked away, in the heart of the historic Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri is a vacant lot. An, unfortunately, common site in this city of ours. But if group of developers has there way, by the end of the year there might something a little different at 4136 Flad: a high efficiently, green home.

This project would be developed by a partnership between The Fit House developers and St. Margaret Housing Corporation in Shaw. The thing that really makes this project stand out, is it’s contemporary design and creative use of natural elements. In this age of technology we live in, people see to dismiss natural ways to control temperature and lighting in homes. This design doesn’t do that. It is laid out in such a way that it will use natural sunlight and thermals to increase the flow of air throughout the house. Not a groundbreaking concept, but a lost art. They also incorporated a green roof into the design to control temperatures.

They will also be incorporating other elements such as solar panels, a hydronic water handler, and lots of insulation to keep energy consumption to a minimum. The design looks pretty exciting too. Very open and modern. And very different from most of the other properties in Shaw. Of course, these differences could be a hurdle in and of themselves. Read more

January 12, 2010 at 6:50 pm

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.

Link

December 4, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Gut rehabs of LRA (Land Reutilization Authority) have been few and far between in the past eighteen months, with construction financing has been virtually nonexistent in this economic climate. So you can count me surprised when I got a call from a friend saying that this 4,932 sq ft monster in Marine Villa was going to be turned into a single family home. Read more

August 14, 2009 at 4:56 pm

I have been admiring the LEED-certified green projects of Ecourban Homes for a couple of years now, but their new stuff shows even more promise. Continuing to add sensible contemporary elements into their projects, this new lineup of bungalows is all just great. Read more

March 6, 2009 at 6:59 pm

I’ve been tracking the progress of the green rehab at 4512 Manchester in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood for some time now, and I am happy to say it looks like it is nearly complete. Read more

October 21, 2008 at 5:04 pm

I just came across a bit more information about the one of the projects in Forest Park Southeast (The Grove) that I spotlighted yesterday. It turns out that this building at 4212 Manchester is going to be a green development. Surprisingly, this would be the first green development in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. Plans submitted to St. Louis City estimated that the project would cost $2.1 million.

I found that information on Forest Park Southeast’s website. While I was there, I also found another interesting bit of information about the neighboring parcels at 4542-44 Manchester. Here is what the site says is going on with the property:

Developer: Peter George, Blue Shutters Raineri
Description: Request the purchase of two vacant LRA lots to be developed as a 24,000-36,000 square foot retail/office building. The developers are assembling properties for the project.
Estimated Project Cost: $4.2 million
Development Committee Action: Supported request to purchase two vacant LRA lots.

If this project could actually get off the ground, there would be an impressive amount going on along this block. With Mia Rosa alread finished, and the Sitelines Project underway, this could add yet another pip to the collar.

October 9, 2008 at 5:00 pm

I’ve seen quite a few Blue Brick signs in various areas of South St. Louis over the past couple of years, but never really took the time to find out more about them. A few weeks ago, Brad Roell, co-owner of Blue Brick, contacting me through this blog to see if I wanted to check out some of their projects. I accepted his invitation. Read more

February 22, 2008 at 5:30 pm

I was cutting through the South City neighborhood of Benton Park West a few months back and stumbled across something that was quite a shock to me: contemporary, green infill. The specific house I came across was at 3140 Pennsylvania (picture to the left). When I took a peek inside, I was surprised how nice the place was. It had so many of the features, which I would love to see incorporated in more area developments. It turns out that this building has a been given a Platinum LEED rating (for green construction) and is the product of modular construction. This project is just the 10th in the country to be given such a high LEED rating.

The sale price of $274,900 seems a little high for the area and product, but its great to see a project like this. Design-wise, the project misses the mark on a few points, but I’m still a fan. The home isn’t all that big and I’m still not totally sold on the exterior finish. Stylistically its ok, but the quality of materials and craftsmanship outside seem to be below that of the interior. They did recently add some rather attractive aluminum trim on the exterior, which made an improvement.

The best part is that this just appears to be the tip of the iceberg. Developer EcoUrban has already constructed two additional homes at 3103 and 3105 Magnolia in the nearby Tower Grove East Neighborhood. They also have plans for twelve additional 2 and 3 bedroom townhomes in Tower Grove East. There is also rumor that they are scoping out other areas in the city for similar development. Very exciting stuff. I’ll post more details and pics when they come available. If you want to follow their progress yourself, make sure you check out their website.

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