Blog > Blog > Archive by tag 'Tower Grove East'

January 20, 2010 at 1:40 pm

It’s been far too long since I have relayed my thoughts on the state of the investment real estate market, so in the spirit of the season, here is a quick rundown of my current investment market impressions in South St. Louis, Missouri:

  • Single-Families – There is no doubt that the $8000 homebuyer credit had a positive impact on house sales in the fall. September and October were especially productive. With the deadline for the credit originally set for November 30th, buyers were in a frenzy to find and close on properties prior to that deadline. Of course, when the program was extended until April 30th, 2010, the sense of urgency wore off. Couple that with the typical slowdown during the winter holidays and the market for these properties has been particularity slow for the past month or so. The good news is that with the holidays now over and the new homebuyer credit deadline  approaching in a little over three months, the market should see a nice resurgence soon. After April 30th though, its anybodies guess what is going to happen. So if you are in the middle of am rehab or thinking of selling a house, I would hurry up.
  • Condos – Not much to say here other than to avoid them. There have been some pretty good deals out there as of late, but the big issue is that buyers can’t get condo financing right now. Unless you can make sense of renting a condo or seller-financing it, I would stay away from them until something changes financing-wise.
  • Multi-Families – Where last year seem to offer a steady mix of 2-family and 4-family foreclosures, the last few months have been very heavy on the duplexes. Since the fall, however, things have been very heavy on the duplexes. Some of the single bedroom properties don’t present the greatest deals, but there heavy been a  fair amount of 2+ bedroom properties that heavy been pretty solid. It seems that a great many of the 4-families out there have already been foreclosed and sold, so it is possible that this might be somewhat of a permanent trend.
  • Apartment Rentals – November and early December were great for renting mid-level apartments. We moved a lot of inventory during that time. The properties that seemed to be getting less activity were the cheap units ($450 for single) and expensive ones ($650 for single). There hasn’t been much of a resurgence following the holidays as seems to happen some years. Lots of window-shoppers out there requesting showings, but not many pulling the trigger. Average would probably be the best way to describe the current amount of rental activity.
  • Neighborhoods – When looking for investment properties, location and price are always big factors. But the one thing it is hard to control is where all the good inventory is coming from at any given time. Much of last year produced a glut of quality foreclosures and short sales in neighborhoods like Tower Grove South, Shaw and Tower Grove East. But since the fall, things seem to have shifted increasingly eastward, with the best deals coming up in Tower Grove East, Fox Park, McKinley Heights, and Benton Park. Areas further south such as Benton Park West, Gravois Park, Dutchtown and Bevo continue to have a solid flow of inventory coming through as well, obviously rentability and resale remain a concern.
  • Best Investment Bets – So what’s the moral to this story? Obviously you should be on the lookout for all types of property in any quality area, but if I had to point you in one direction it would be Tower Grove East. Despite the sluggish economy of the past few years, or maybe even because of it, this neighborhood is really changing fast. There has always been a nice housing base, but the vast amount of foreclosures on derelict and substandard properties recently in the neighborhood has created a huge influx of development in the vicinity. Pricing hasn’t really caught up yet so there remain some pretty good deals. Look out for properties of all types there. Also pay attention to the increasing number of singles and duplexes in Benton Park and McKinley Heights. Benton Park West and Gravois Park within one block north or south of Cherokee is also a place to watch.

December 16, 2009 at 4:23 pm

With the success of the 3-lane configuration test on South Grand, the powers that be decided to leave the bollards and concrete dividers creating the effect in place. The idea was that it would help people get used to the new layout, which is looming. The only problem is that those chunks of concrete are ugly. Read more

September 14, 2009 at 5:34 pm

I haven’t posted anything about the proposed changes to the streetscape on South Grand since early last year as these projects tend to drag on forever. Thankfully, it looks like things are finally coming together.  In fact, the 3- lane proposal (my personal favorite) is actually being tested right now. Read more

August 4, 2009 at 7:01 pm

Let me go on the record as saying I love historic architecture. It humbles me to think that with all the technological advancements of the last 100 years, the buildings of 100 years ago display a level of craftsmanship that seems to be lost in the modern day. That being said, our current system of preserving these historic structures misses the point entirely 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

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

November 5, 2008 at 5:32 pm

I was driving through Tower Grove East yesterday when I saw this curious sight. Apparently, when the owner of this building needed to put a handrail up in front of their building, they looked no further than the bedroom. I can’t make up my mind if they are trying to be creative or trying to be thrifty. Either way its certainly an unusal sight.

May 29, 2008 at 12:00 am

Fox Park is one of those South St. Louis neighborhoods in the midst of a transition. Unfortunately, like surrounding neighborhoods such as Benton Park West and Tower Grove East, the current downturn in the market has stalled the progress of redevelopment in the area. But all I see when I pass through the area is the untapped potential. Read more

April 29, 2008 at 2:22 pm

This project has been under development for a while now, but it’s good to see that the condos on the southeast corner of Sidney & Nebraska are coming along. Located in a former Phillips 66 auto repair shop at 2600 Nebraska in the Tower Grove East neighborhood of South St. Louis, these condos will be a welcome addition to the landscape. I don’t know much about the project at this point other than that the condos are said to be “loft” style. Read more

April 9, 2008 at 2:36 pm

South GrandIt took a little long than expected, but I finally got my hands on original copies of the pictures and proposals for the South Grand Great Streets Initiative proposal. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check last week’s post regarding the planned streetscape improvements for this prominent South St. Louis commercial corridor. You can download the proposals by clicking on the appropriate links below: Read more

April 4, 2008 at 4:32 pm

South Grand 4-Lane BasicThis past Monday (March 31, 2008) I attended a public meeting showcasing the proposed designs for streetscape improvements along South Grand between Arsenal and McDonald. Being touted as an “example project” of East-West Gateway’s new “St. Louis Great Streets Initiative”, the project would take significant steps to beautify the area, slow down traffic and make it more pedestrian friendly overall. 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.