Blog > Blog > Archive by tag 'infill'

March 2, 2010 at 7:17 pm

Even in the best of economic times, real estate developments fall through all the time. In a recession, this trend can become an epidemic. One seeming victim to this trend is the proposed Pelican Place project at 2232 and 2256 South Grand in the Compton Heights neighborhood.

The Planning & Urban Design Agency of the City of St. Louis published development details back in August of 2006. The former YMCA building at the site was to be torn down and replaced by a mixed-use development. The historic Pelican building at the corner of Shenandoah and Grand was to be restored to historic alignment, which would have seen the removal of the the ghastly 1-story addition to the north. The plans looked pretty great.

In 2007, demo began on the Pelican building and leasing signs for the finished project went up. Things looked like they were on the fast track. Unfortunately, over the following two years, nothing seemed to happen. Other than the grass at the site becoming overgrown.

In May 2009, the St. Louis Post Dispatch was reporting that the project was still moving forward with Snap Fitness as the anchoring tenant in the 37,000 Sq Ft project. Nearly one year later, the site remains untouched. The poor economy, as well as the sluggish sales at the nearby Compton Gate Condos seem to be the likely holdups.

Thankfully, the surrounding area has continued to improve in terms of residential development. Once things start top loosen up economically, this project seems to stand a good chance of actually coming together. In some form or another. South Grand between Arsenal and I-44 has become a pretty nice stretch, but a project like this could really push things over the edge. Hopefully something gels sooner rather than later. Here is a look at the current site.

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

February 5, 2010 at 2:47 pm

Although they have been leasing units since November, I just now got a chance to take a look at the recently completed Courtyard Lofts at Polar Wave project. Located at 2222 Gravois Ave in the St. Louis, neighborhood of Benton Park, the 14-townhome project is located in the same building as Shock City Studios and Bittersweet Bakery among other businesses.

When driving by the complex along Gravois, you might miss the residential component to the project entirely. That’s because the vehicle access to the courtyard is in the rear, via Sidney Street. There is a gate-entry along Gravois, but any tenant coming to the complex in a car would come around back. From that angle, they can access the underground garage for the project, which provides 2 parking spots per tenant as well as a bike rack.

Most of the units are 2 bed, 2 bath, but there are a few that are 1 bed due to handicap access and site restrictions. Finish levels seen to be of a very nice quality with concrete floors on the first level and carpeting upstairs. The picture gallery below does more just than I can put to words. Overall, I would say the the project is very impressive. I really didn’t notice anything that I didn’t like during my visit. It looks like the commercial and residential additions provided by the Polar Wave project are going to be a great long-term addition to the fabric of Benton Park.

Prices run from $850 for a 1 bed, 1 bath unit to $1495 for the oversized 2 bed, 2 bath. The units are currently be leased by Julia Mittelstadt of Prudential Alliance Realtors. For more on the units currently available, please click here: available townhomes.

December 3, 2009 at 2:42 pm

The Post Dispatch is reporting that Cardinals President Bill Dewitt III has informed them not to expect any changes in the 2010 lineup at the future Ballpark Village project location. 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

August 4, 2009 at 12:44 pm

Don’t know how I missed this one, but it seems that Amy and Amrit Gill, of Restoration St. Louis fame, have a whooper of a project on the horizon. Over 37 residential and 11 commercial units over 67,000 square feet along Manchester to be exact. Read more

July 28, 2009 at 4:13 pm

Love it or hate it, the three infill homes at 2650-58 Michigan in Tower Grove East are now complete. They could do well with a bit less siding, but overall, the project looks to be a nice addition to the area. Read more

May 21, 2009 at 5:59 pm

What do Winghaven in O’fallon and North St. Louis have in common? Not much, but if developer Paul McKee has his way, his company McEagle Properties will have been the brains behind the (re)creation of both areas. Beware of bulldozers! Read more

April 21, 2009 at 9:35 pm

More than two years after plans were first unveiled, it looks like the Georgian Square project, in the South St. Louis area known as Bohemian Hill, is finally getting underway. The size of the project, however, has been scaled back. A lot. Read more

April 10, 2009 at 2:21 pm

In the two weeks since I last took pics of this infill project on Michigan at Magnolia in Tower Grove East, an unbelievable amount of progress has been made. Read more

March 30, 2009 at 5:44 pm

It looks like the section of Magnolia Avenue, between Minnesota and Michigan is continuing to get attention. Just half a block away from the two recently-built infill homes from EcoUrban, The Meyer Group is building three (maybe four) new single family homes. Read more

January 23, 2009 at 3:28 pm

The Union Club, a project being developed by St. Louis-based Gilded Age at Lafayette and Jefferson looks like it is being finished up. The commercial space appears be idle, but their is a banner on the side of the property advertising that leasing will be available this spring. No word on whether this was a planned move for the development or a revision due to slow sales. Either way, it will be nice to see the building fill up. Check out the final exterior pictures below or click here to see detailed info on the units.

October 31, 2008 at 11:21 am

Last October a pair of big projects were announced for the northern section of the Forest Park Southeast (The Grove) neighborhood. One was to be developed by Jerry King of Citirama fame (Gaslight Square) and the other by Saaman. I was as excited as the next guy about these projects, but following the collapse of Saaman and the continual silence about the projects I just assumed they were dead like so many others. Turns out I was wrong. 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 20, 2008 at 9:40 pm

As with Benton Park, there are a lot of smaller sized projects going on in Forest Park Southeast (aka the Grove). While most of these projects are being worked on by Amy and Amrit Gill’s Restoration St. Louis, but there are other developers in play. I have spotlighted some of these projects in the past (see Update on activity in FPSE and 3 developments in FPSE), but some are new Read more

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