Crown Square Wins Another National Award

On November 15, the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association announced that Old North’s Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street Mall was among the winners of their annual J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation.   At the awards ceremony in Boston, NHRA presented the award for “Best Historic Rehabilitation Utilizing New Markets Tax Credits” to Crown Square.

According to NHRA’s website, the J. Timothy Anderson Awards “honor outstanding rehabilitation and preservation projects based on several criteria, including overall design and quality, interpretation and respect of historic elements, and market success.”   The $35 million Crown Square development was made possible with New Markets Tax Credits, which were used as part of the complex array of financing for the portion of the project that included commercial spaces and the market rate apartments along the 2600 and 2700 blocks of N. 14th Street.

Crown Square was developed by a partnership of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance, with E. M. Harris Construction Co. as the general contractor and Rosemann & Associates as the project architect.

For information about the award-winning residential spaces, contact the Kohner Properties management office for Crown Square at 314-588-7267 (or send an email to crownsquare@kohner.com).  For leasing information about the commercial spaces, contact Susan Sauer of Duffe-Nuernberger Realty at 314-571-7654 (or send an email to ssauer@ndconsulting.com).

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Scenes from Crown Square Ribbon-Cutting / Street Fest

Since we invited all of our board members, staff, and residents to participate in the ribbon-cutting, we didn't get any photos of our own from the other side of the ribbon. This shot was taken by the St. Louis Beacon's photographer and used in their coverage of the event. Click below to read the Beacon's article.

We received a lot of good attention from various local media, including coverage on the day of the event in the Post-Dispatch and on St. Louis Public Radio (and we provided links to those stories in our July 29th post), on Channel 4 earlier in the week (click here for KMOV’s Good News 4 a Change segment with Larry Conners, even though they keep referring to “Crown Plaza” instead of Crown Square), and the St. Louis Beacon (and you can read their article by clicking HERE).

Mayor Slay was one of the speakers. He noted that his mother grew up nearby and expressed her amazement of how much the area has improved recently.

Fifth Ward Alderwoman April Ford Griffin also took the occasion to describe how this project wouldn’t have happened without an engaged community.

The presence of State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (between Mayor Slay and ONSLRG Board President Tino Ochoa in the photo above) was a demonstration of the importance of state support, including investments from the Missouri Housing Development Commission and state historic preservation tax credits.

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An Action-Packed Week in the Heart of a Dynamic Community

We barely had time to recover from celebrating the opening of the Old North Grocery Co-op when we had to shift gears to tend to some other events and activities in the core of what is becoming the busiest neighborhood in the city.  A few illustrations of the dynamic pace of life in Old North this week:

Tuesday, July 27

Old North St. Louis Restoration Group welcomed the Metropolis Wine Club to the gallery at ONSLRG’s office.  Many of these visitors enjoyed their first glimpses of the development that has been transforming Old North in recent years, including Crown Square. 

Thursday, July 29

Crown Square Ribbon-Cutting Celebration and Street Party.  This event warrants its own post, so check back for more scenes from that big day that was years in the making.

Friday, July 30

Cinema St. Louis brought another installment of its monthly screening series to Old North St. Louis.  This month’s feature: The Rink, a locally produced documentary about roller rinks in African American communities.  The event included a lively Q & A session with director Ron (”G Whiz”) Butts and other roller skating stars profiled in the film.

Saturday, July 31

Mike Miller of the Garden Hotline broadcasting from the North City Farmers

The North City Farmers’ Market enjoyed some good media exposure as KMOX radio broadcast its weekly Garden Hotline show live from the market. 

The band Wack-a-Doo contributed to the positive vibes at the North City Farmers’ Market, on the plaza at the St. Lous Avenue end of Crown Square.

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Join Us for the Big Day at Crown Square Today

After years of talk, planning, re-planning, exploring resources, community meetings, more planning, acquiring properties, conducting feasibility studies, holding more community meetings, more planning, construction work, enduring countless questions about when is it ever going to be finished, and a lot of other hard work that defies categorization….

Crown Square is finally ready to host a really big party!

To help set the stage for today’s ribbon-cutting celebration (starting at 4 p.m.) and the street party that will follow, St. Louis Public Radio aired a good report by Matt Sepic about the redevelopment and posted some great photos on their website.  You can listen to the story - or read it if you prefer - by clicking HERE.

And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a good front-page story by Diane Keaggy about the efforts to cultivate a thriving arts-friendly atmosphere in Old North.  You can read that story online - and also see some good photos of the fresh pavement in the street - by clicking HERE.

As noted in the Post-Dispatch article, among the activities at this evening’s street festival will be a snow cone performance by artist Juan William Chavez.  We’re not quite sure what that means - so you’ll have to come out and see for yourselves - but it sounds refreshing on a hot day.

Thank you again to all who made this day possible, and please join Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance in thanking all of them in person at the ribbon-cutting and street party this afternoon at 4 p.m.

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The Word on the Street… Work is about to Begin!

The final piece of the Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street Pedestrian Mall is finally about to be put in place.  After more than a couple years of work rehabilitating 27 buildings spread over 8 blocks and countless hours in construction meetings and coordination of work with scores of contractors, subcontractors, investors, city, state, and federal agencies, the only thing left to be done is putting the street back in.  As of this week, the Missouri Dept. of Transportation has issued their long-awaited ”notice to proceed” - which means that early next week construction crews will get started on the work of building new sidewalks, installing street lights, planting trees, and paving a new street! 

We’re all a bit reluctant to project a completion date since the weather remains a factor beyond our control, but the sight of construction crews hard at work will be a great relief for all of us in Old North St. Louis who were getting tired of answering the daily question of “when’s the street coming?”  Rest assured that a huge celebration will be planned for the grand re-opening and, whether complete or almost-complete, the Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour on May 8 will feature the tremendous progress on and off the street.

While residents and visitors alike may be growing tired of this view, it still is better than the abandoned mall lined with deteriorated and collapsing buildings not too long ago (below).

Almost three years ago, this was a typical view of the buildings along the 2600 and 2700 blocks of N. 14th Street.

So, once again, thank you all for your patience - but we especially want to express our gratitude for all who are making this phenomenal transformation possible, including all current and past staff at Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and our development partners, Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA), architects at Rosemann & Associates, contractors at E. M. Harris Construction Co. and their many subcontractors, the new contractors on the block from R.V. Wagner, and too many funders/investors and public officials to list here (we’ll get to that in a future post) — and special thanks to all at MODOT for approving this final and crucial piece!

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Crown Square Wins Development of Year Award

On Friday, Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis Development Corporation executive director Rodney Crim presented a Development of the Year Award to Crown Square at the city’s annual Business Celebration luncheon.  Crown Square is being co-developed by the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group (ONSLRG) and the Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA).  The $35 million, 27 building redevelopment of the former 14th Street Pedestrian Mall is nearing completion.

Shown on the big screen at the America's Center Ballroom at Friday's luncheon, Mayor Slay (on the left) and SLDC Executive Director Rodney Crim (on the right) presented the award to RHCDA President Stephen Acree, ONSLRG Executive Director Sean Thomas, and RHCDA Project Manager Aaron Burnett.

Celebrating the recognition for Crown Square were ONSLRG's Board President Tino Ochoa, Aaron Burnett of RHCDA, Sean Thomas of ONSLRG, Stephen Acree of RHCDA, Mike Harris, CEO of general contrator E.M. Harris Construction Co., and Phil Krull, Vice President at E.M. Harris.

Watch this site in the coming week for more photos of the progress achieved at Crown Square.

The Crown Square revitalization and Old North also got some attention from the city in the St. Louis Development Corporation’s 2009 Annual Report, which was passed out at Friday’s luncheon and inserted into this week’s edition of the St. Louis Business Journal.   The annual report features a front page photo of Phil Valko, ONSL resident and founder of the Urban Studio Cafe; an inside photo of Crown Candy; and on page, a profile of the Crown Square project (identified as Crown Village) as an example of a new and positive development in the city’s neighborhoods .

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House & Community Tour - Just 3 Days Away! And Some Good Media Coverage Too

Word is spreading like wildfire, with a lot of media folks starting to pick up on how impressive everything is in Old North St. Louis - and how all of it will be on display this coming Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour.   See below for some links to recent media coverage, but first we would like to offer a sneak preview of one of the buildings along Crown Square that will be open on the day of the tour:

The historic rehab of the building at 2607 N. 14th is almost complete. It will offer some phenomenal apartments and fantastic commercial space.

In March of 2008, the building was in pretty sad shape.

This type of redevelopment is winning support from all over the place.   Just this morning, Charlie Brennan had some very kind things to say about the great progress being achieved in Old North St. Louis on his KMOX radio program.  As of today, you can find a link to his interview with Sean Thomas, ONSLRG’s executive director, on the KMOX webpage - or you can click right here to listen: charliebrennanshow050609reonslhousetour

The KMOX website features a link to today's show with comments about the Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour.

Meanwhile, a publication called St. Louis Construction News and Real Estate not only commends the Crown Square development, they have decided to present the development team with their Regional Excellence Award for Neighborhood Redevelopment.  You can read more about that on their website by clicking here.  The judges noted that Crown Square is “one of the largest and most exciting neighborhood redevelopment projects in the city.  In addition to breathing new life into the abandoned buildings along the former mall, this development will restore the 2600 and 2700 blocks of  N. 14th Street as a drivable but pedestrian-friendly street.”  Congratulations to all, including Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s co-developers, RHCDA, our general contractor, E. M. Harris Construction Co., and architects, Rosemann & Associates.

Come see what the buzz is all about on Saturday, May 9 at the Old North St. Louis House & Community Tour.  Click right here for more details or to purchase your tickets online.

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The people who bring you Crown Square…

We are so proud of the redevelopment of the former 14th Street Mall into Crown Square and would like to introduce you to some of the people who have dedicated themselves to this project.

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• Development Team