3 Days & Many Sides of a Comprehensive Revitalization

The past few days have offered glimpses into several aspects of the comprehensive revitalization under way in Old North St. Louis.

A crucial piece of the positive transformation of Old North St. Louis into a dynamic and sustainable neighborhood involves the residents working together to address and resolve the types of issues that affect all communities. ONSL takes this approach through a number of community-building events and activities which allow residents to get to know and build relationships with each other and through Quality of Life meetings held roughly every other month.

On Thursday evening, residents and stakeholders of the neighborhood gathered at North Market Apartments community space for the February Quality of Life meeting facilitated by North Market Place homeowner and ONSLRG’s newest Board member, Kathryn Bentley. Those in attendance heard from Kabrina Forrest, Coordinator for the Family Court Juvenile Division’s Neighborhood Accountability Boards, an innovative, community-focused response to juvenile delinquency. Kabrina reported that ONSL doesn’t have enough incidents of juvenile delinquency to qualify for a new N.A.B., but residents can support and become a part of other Boards that have been established in other neighborhoods. Also on the agenda were updates from the residential and commercial leasing agents for Crown Square, and a report from Kathy Woodard, the city’s Neighborhood Stabilization Officer assigned to ONSL.

Above: Kabrina Forrest discusses Neighborhood Accountability Boards

On Friday and Saturday, the focus shifted to attracting new residents to add to the neighborhood’s diverse and active population. With an open house for new and rehabbed homes for sale on Friday evening, and an open house for rehabbed apartments at Crown Square on Saturday, ONSLRG continues to support efforts to offer housing options for anyone desiring to be a part of the community, regardless of their stage in life and position along the economic spectrum.
Above: visitors to 1412 Hebert admire the kitchen.

Another key component in ONSLRG’s rebirth is strong leadership by residents of the neighborhood, and that was evident over the past few days, as well, with Board members out in force at all three events, to meet their neighbors, greet prospective residents, and share their enthusiasm for the neighborhood.

Above: ONSLRG Board Member Nate Sprehe & his wife Kathy stopped by several of the open houses to show their support.


Below: CAMCO leasing agents Todd Whiteaker and Valerie Henry showed prospective renters around 1314 Warren while ONSLRG Board Secretary Johnnie Owens and member Kathryn Bentley were on hand to answer questions about the neighborhood.

Above: ONSLRG Board President Tino Ochoa and newest Board member Kathryn Bentley outside 1314 Warren.

Below: Karen Heet, ONSLRG’s Real Estate Development Coordinator, greeted visitors at the apartment at 1310 Warren and answered questions about the neighborhood and the Crown Square development.

Below: ONSLRG Board Treasurer Phil Valko stopped by to see the apartments and put in a few good words about the community.

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Crown Square Open House Saturday

You are cordially invited to an Open House of the first Crown Square Apartments to be completed and available for rent.

This Saturday, March 1st, from noon to 2 pm, 1310 Warren and 1314 Warren will be open to the public. Come be part of this momentous event!

Crown Square, the redevelopment of the former 14th Street Mall, is recreating the “town center” of the community with 80 historic loft, apartment and “live/work” units, and 33,000 square feet of commercial space on the former pedestrian mall and adjacent streets.

The $35 million comprehensive revitalization includes the re-opening of 14th Street from Warren to St. Louis Avenue, re-connecting this local commercial district with the surrounding neighborhood. The development will also include the installation of new street and pedestrian lighting, public green spaces and landscaping, and a “transit plaza” that will facilitate ease of use and transfer of vehicular, pedestrian, bicycle, and public bus transportation. The development will enhance the “walkability” of the neighborhood and solidify the goal of maintaining economic diversity in the community.

The redevelopment of the former 14th Street Mall area will complement other rental and homeownership developments that RHCDA and Old North St. Louis Restoration Group have recently completed in the neighborhood, all of them contributing to neighborhood residents’ vision of a true mixed-income sustainable community.

For more information on residential leasing options, contact Todd Whiteaker at CAMCO at (314) 220-3432 or todd@cam-co.com.

For more information on commercial leasing options, contact Susan Sauer of Duffe-Nuernberger Realty at (314) 571-7654 or susan_sauer@sbcglobal.net.

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Crown Square Project Update

The winter weather continues to slow exterior work, but interior work is progressing quickly on the Crown Square project. Four units on the 1300 block of Warren are very close to occupancy (the units open Saturday, detailed in the above post), with many more making quick progress. Masons, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, tapers, and more can be found all over the Crown Square site.

As always, many more pictures are available on the Old North St. Louis Flickr Page in the Crown Square Set.

View of the Arch from 14th St. just north of Warren.

View of the arch and 14th St. from the 2800 block of 14th St.

Looking north on 14th St from the middle of the 2600 block.

Work along the 1400 block of Montgomery.

Historic stairway in 1310 Warren.

Rear side of 1308 Montgomery. Windows are in place and mason is working on east side.

Kitchen inside 1310 Montgomery.

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Crown Square Construction Update

While the weather continues to be cold and stormy, progress on Crown Square has pushed on. Interior demo has progressed to more buildings, and the carpentry, masonry, and mechanicals crews have quickly moved in. Some of the units on Warren are nearly completed, needing only finishing touches.

You can see a bunch more photos from Tuesday and the entire project on our Flickr page in the Crown Square Set.

Renovation Progress on the former mall.

View down the 2800 block of N. 14th toward the north end of the former mall.

View of one of the kitchens on Warren.

Tuckpointing progress at St. Louis and Blair.

Framing inside the Peter’s Dry Goods building (& former JCPenney’s).

Buildings on Warren getting closer to completion.

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Crown Square Construction Update

A bit of snow and some bitterly cold whether has not stopped progress on the Crown Square Project. Concrete work, framing, demo, and trim work among other tasks have gone ahead full steam. The buildings on Warren are receiving final details such as historic trim, while buildings on the mall are well underway in demo and rebuilding. As you can see below, the Worths in the terrazzo at the entrance to the new ONSLRG office has been salvaged to be a part of the community history museum.

More pictures are available in the Crown Square set on our Flickr Page.

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Great Ideas, Energy, & Dialogue at Crown Square Charrette

Despite frigid temperatures and a last-minute change of location, a strong contingent of about 60 ONSL residents, stakeholders, outside friends, and partners of Old North showed up on Saturday at the North Market Apartments Community Room for the public spaces planning charrette. Our new ONSLRG office camera captured some video of the team presentations, so stay tuned for a later post with a link to some of the highlights. In the meantime, the photos below show glimpses of the healthy exchange of ideas that took place among the participants.

The program began with a welcome from 5th Ward Alderwoman April Ford Griffin who commended ONSLRG for its determination and vision, as evidenced by the preservation in progress at the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, despite great hurdles and doubts from outside skeptics. After introductory comments, the participants were divided into 5 teams, each with a mix of neighborhood residents and design or planning professionals. By early afternoon, the teams had come up with long lists of suggestions, ideas, and drawings of what could be done to promote sustainability while connecting the former pedestrian mall to the broader neighborhood in a way that can be attractive, safe, and dynamic. At the conclusion of the team presentations, each individual placed colorful sticky dots next to the ideas that appealed to them the most.

We’ll post more later on the many great ideas recommended by participants, but some of the most popular concepts (based on preliminary tabulation of sticky-dot votes) included proposals to:

-bring more of the activities of the buildings outside through use of French balconies on the buildings and rooftop patios;

-promote building density by building on empty lots or even through “temporary liner buildings”;

-use public art and/or water features in a way that is interactive (with the example of the “Jumping Waters” at Missouri Botanical Garden);

- knit the former mall into the original street grid of the neighborhood by extending development beyond the 2600 and 2700 blocks of N. 14th, from North Market on the south up to Wright Street on the north;

-establish a bike-focused park and ride section in the parking lot with bike racks and bicycle rentals (or even free “rentals”) to promote bicycle usage and connectivity to bike lanes and other nearby bike-friendly amenities, such as the Riverfront Trail and the planned redevelopment of the Iron Horse Trestle elevated trail;

-build “soft curbs” along 14th Street to allow for flexibility in uses, from parking lanes to street festivals and farmers markets during times when the street could be closed off.

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Location Change For Charrette on Saturday!!!

We have a slight change in plans for tomorrow’s charrette. We had scheduled to hold the event at Confluence Academy’s Cafeteria Annex, but will need to move the location to the North Market Place community space at 14^th and North Market. The address is 1400 North Market St, St. Louis, MO 63106.

Please help spread the word to anyone you know who plans to attend.

Also, we will tour the Crown Square site, so please dress warmly; the high tomorrow is scheduled to be 21 degrees, with most of the day only in the mid to upper teens.

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Crown Square Construction Update

We took a break from Crown Square updates over the holiday’s, but the construction workers have not. Plenty of work has happened since December. Interior demo is evident throughout the mall. Framing and brickwork is underway on many buildings. Mechanicals are being installed on some buildings. Windows are finally in the buildings on Warren. Kitchen cabinets and historic trim have been installed. Sidewalks have been poured.

Don’t forget about the Charette for public space planning for the mall. It’s this Saturday, starting at 9:00 am at Confluence Academy. More information, including how to RSVP can be found here.

You can see many more pictures on our Flickr page under the Crown Square Tab.

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Crown Square in Nationl Magazine

Architect Magazine recently published an article on architecture in St. Louis. One of the featured current projects was the renovation of the 14th St. mall into Crown Square.

The next chapter in the story of a great American city is taking shape

Source: ARCHITECT Magazine
Publication date: December 1, 2007

By Margot Carmichael Lester

Home to American icons the Gateway Arch and Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis is getting a new, edgier reputation thanks to a rise in biotechnology and medical research at Washington University. But this is just one reason biotech and pharmaceutical companies are setting up shop here; there are also the area’s central location, good economy, and dual appeal as college town and Midwestern urban hub.

“We have some of the oldest housing stock in the country, with neighborhoods that predate streetcar-type urban neighborhoods,” explains Robert Wagstaff, a principal of local firm Rosemann & Associates. “As the urban lifestyle becomes increasingly more popular, this is a great strength. We have what people want—we just have to rehab it and make it accessible.”

14TH STREET MALL REVITALIZATION
Architect: Rosemann & Associates, St. Louis
Developers: Regional Housing Community Development Alliance and Old North St. Louis Restoration Group
Expected Completion: 2009
Estimated Cost: $26 million
Redeveloped in the ’70s as a pedestrian mall, this Northside neighborhood conversion will include 78 mixed-income apartments and 26,000 square feet of commercial space.

Read the full article here.

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Join us THIS SATURDAY for a Charrette on Public Space Planning for 14th Street (Updated!!!)

Crown Village Associates, LLC
(a partnership of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance)

CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO THE CROWN SQUARE PUBLIC SPACES CHARRETTE

WHEN: Saturday, January 19th, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
WHERE:North Market Place community space at 14^th and North Market
1400 North Market St,
St. Louis, MO 63106

Confluence Academy Annex Cafeteria
3017 North 13th Street
St. Louis, MO 63107

Background:
Our neighborhood is witnessing the culmination of years of effort to find a way to redevelop the former 14th Street pedestrian mall. In 2007 Crown Village Associates, the partnership of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group (ONSLRG) and Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance (RHCDA), broke ground on the $35 million historic rehabilitation of the largely vacant and abandoned 14th Street mall and a number of buildings on the surrounding blocks into Crown Square, a comprehensive mixed-use/mixed-income development that will stabilize and invigorate the central part of the Old North St. Louis neighborhood.

27 buildings are being completely rehabilitated as a part of this housing and economic development initiative. 33,500 square feet of new high-quality street-level commercial/retail/restaurant spaces will be created, constituting the neighborhood’s first significant new economic development in decades—and a boost to the local economy and tax base. 80 units of rental apartments, townhouses, lofts and live/work spaces—reasonably divided between affordable and market-rate units will be completed as a part of this redevelopment effort.

With construction now underway, we are asking the community for input regarding the public spaces associated with this redevelopment. What street, sidewalk, parking, lighting, landscape and other public space features will make this development more valuable to the neighborhood and to the city as a whole? In a broad sense, what are the priorities to make this the most dynamic space possible? We anticipate discussion to center around three main focus areas:
1. Physical Space
2. Events and Programming
3. Neighborhood Connections
The Charrette will be a collaborative session in which neighborhood stakeholders, designers, planners, and other professionals draft solutions to a design problem while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people. After a short introduction, attendees will divide into sub-groups to discuss ideas, and then present their work to the full group as material for future dialogue.

What We Hope To Accomplish:
The renovation of the former 14th Street mall into Crown Square is the largest development in Old North St. Louis to date, and will certainly generate further interest and development in the neighborhood. With the public spaces of Crown Square, we hope to lay fertile ground on which future developments, events, and activities can contribute to the creation of a dynamic urban village.

Morning refreshments and lunch will be served.

Please RSVP to Karen Heet at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group Office
314-241-5031 or via email to karen@onslrg.org.

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