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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Crown Square Construction Update

Work on the transformation of the 14th St. Mall into Crown Square is now in full swing with demolition on both ends of the mall. Elsewhere on the site, buildings continue to span the spectrum. Some on Warren are just waiting for windows, others are still in the masonry and carpentry stage. Rough ins continue on several buildings as well as insulation and drywall. The weather lately has slowed progress a little, but things are still moving right along.

As always, more photos are available on our Flickr page in the Crown Square set. Newest pictures are first.

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Crown Square Update

Exciting times continue in Old North St. Louis as the Crown Square project enters a new phase. Construction is spreading around the 14th St. Mall. Interior demolition is well underway in the Parks Building across from Crown Candy Kitchen and the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group office, in full view of all the patrons. The interior of this building is being completely gutted, as it was destroyed by fire several years ago. Several more buildings will be starting soon as well.

On the rest of the site, framing continues as well as rough ins, brick work, and drywall. The two buildings on the 1300 block of Warren continue to receive finishes.

Check out more pics from today and previous update on our Flickr Page in the Crown Square Set.

Demolition in the Parks Building

Foundation for addition at 2826 N. 14th.

Buildings on the 2800 block of N. 14th

Parks Building

1300 Block of Warren, awaiting windows. Finishes are also being installed in these two buildings.

Rough ins

Brickwork on 1400 block of Warren.

Concrete on Blair

Stabilizing the south wall of 2605 N. 14th Rear.

Drywall is going in on St. Louis Ave.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation

Crown Square Progress Report

Framing, masonry, mechanicals, and some finish work is the story in Crown Square right now. Not a whole lot has changed in the past few days because of the well deserved break for Thanksgiving. Some windows should start arriving late next week so some buildings will start to have a nearly complete look. More buildings will be starting soon as well. As always, more photos can be found on our Flickr page in the Crown Square set.

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Crown Square Financing Complete and Photo Update

Tuesday was another big day in Old North St. Louis. RHCDA and ONSLRG closed on the financing package for the commercial component of the Crown Square project. This portion includes 38 market rate apartments including some live-work units, and about 33,000 sq. ft. of retail space. The buildings included in this component are all on the 14^th St. Mall. Construction will start immediately, but will mostly be interior demolition and stabilization for a while.

In other news, construction on the residential component of the project is moving right along. Framing, brickwork, and mechanical installation crews are all over the site. Finish work is proceeding in the two buildings on the 1300 block of Warren. The first shipment of windows will be arriving on site soon as well.

In preparation for interior demolition, trim samples were removed from some of the buildings on the Mall on Tuesday. You can see some of the interior of 2600 and 2601 N. 14^th St. in the photos (buildings on either side of the south end of the Mall). Keep in mind that the Peters buildings (JcPenney, 2600) was pitch black except for our flashlights and camera flashes. Complete darkness and a poor floor are not good, so some of the shots are a little blurry. In all, there are 88 new pictures. See the rest on our Flickr page in the Crown Square Set.

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Crown Square From November 13, 2007

Your photographer has been a bit busy lately, but I just wanted to alert our readers that may care that the update photos for the week including November 13 are now up. Pics can be found on Flickr. Even if they do not get posted right away, there will be pictures from every week, typically taken on Tuesdays.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation

ONSL on Fox 2

Fox 2 aired another story on Old North St. Louis tonight. Crown Candy, Crown Square, and North Market Place were featured.

You can watch the video at Myfoxstl.com.

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Crown Square Construction Update

A little later than normal, but here is last weeks Crown Square update. Current work includes framing, mechanicals and utilities, drywall, and cabinetry and trim. Photos are from Thursday.

Check out more pics from Thursday and other days on our Flickr page under the Crown Square tab.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation, real estate

ONSL On Channel 4 (Updated)

An interview with Old North St. Louis Executive Director Sean Thomas will be part of a story on the north side Metrolink corridor that will air tonight at 5:00 and 6:00 on KMOV Channel 4. The story will focus on how the possible Metro expansion will benefit the neighborhood, specifically tying in to the Crown Square development.

We will hopefully be able to provide a link to the story later tonight. Check out the story on kmov.com.

Lisa Manzo of KMOV talks with Sean Thomas and someone riding through the neighborhood. Crown Square construction can be seen in the background.

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• Crown Village, ONSL amenities, ONSL in the news

Crown Square Weekly Construction Update

New progress photos from yesterday, October 30. Framing continues to be the major work item across the site. More mechanicals are also going in. Down on Warren trim is being installed at 1310, and the kitchen cabinets have arrived. Other work on site includes brickwork and the ever present interior demolition.

Check out the rest of the pics in the Crown Square set on Flickr. If the pictures are bad on your monitor like they are on mine, check out the Flickr page. They are clear there.

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• 14th Street Mall, Crown Village, Historic rehabs, Pictures, Renovation