Open House & Reception at ONSLRG’s New Office -Thurs, Jan. 7, 4-8 p.m.

Click on the link below to download this flyer as a PDF.

onslrg-open-house-jan07-2010

Our December newsletter didn’t get out in the mail, but the cover story still works as an invitation to the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s Open House on Thursday, January 7.  Come on out and join us in celebrating the opening of ONSLRG’s new office, the Crown Village Gallery, the Old North Community History Museum, and the neighborhood information center for current and prospective residents.  We’ve been working out of the new office since November, but the open house will be our first opportunity to show off the space for all of our members, friends, supporters and neighborhood residents.  So, please join us on Thursday, Jan. 7 from 4 to 8 p.m. and help us in spreading the word about this cool, new space at Crown Square in the heart of Old North.

With just one day left in 2009, you can still make a tax-deductible contribution to Old North St. Louis Restoration Group to support the preservation of Mullanphy or any of our other work to revitalize the physical and social dimensions of Old North St. Louis in a manner that respects the community’s historic, cultural and urban character.  To make an online donation, just CLICK HERE.  

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Holiday Greetings from Old North!

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Trivia Night Benefit for Mullanphy Hostel Plans - Jan. 15

This past year has been incredibly busy on many fronts, but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about the preservation of the Mullanphy Emigrant Home - or plans for its eventual full development.  Moving beyond that initial stabilization and buttoning up stage takes a bit of planning and feasibility assessments - and all of that costs money too.  So, to help us with that next step, you can support this great cause and the plan to establish and develop a world-class hostel at the Mullanphy Emigrant Home by coming out to the “sort of annual” Friends of Hostelling trivia night on Friday, January 15, 2010.

To register in advance, follow the instructions at www.moonlightramble.org.  Feel free to print and distribute the following flyer for the event to all of your trivia-minded friends and/or everyone you know who cares about preserving our irreplaceable historic, cultural, and architectural landmarks.

a table of Mullanphy supporters at last year's trivia night

With just a few days left in 2009, you can still make a tax-deductible contribution to Old North St. Louis Restoration Group to support the preservation of Mullanphy or any of our other work to revitalize the physical and social dimensions of Old North St. Louis in a manner that respects the community’s historic, cultural and urban character.  To make an online donation, just CLICK HERE. 

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Open House for Crown Square Apartments

It’s short notice, but if you’ve been waiting for the Crown Square Apartments to become available, now is the time.  On Saturday from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m., Crown Square Apartments will have an Open House for prospective tenants. 

As the flyer above notes, Crown Square offers a mix of unit sizes and types, from the more traditional to some that have more of a loft style.  So, if you’re in the market for a 1, 2, or 3-bedroom apartment in a phenomenal setting, come on out Saturday or give the leasing agents from Cohen-Esrey a call at 314-588-7267.  Please note that the starting point for the open house is at the Cohen-Esrey leasing office, 2323 N. 14th (at North Market), 2 blocks south of the former 14th Street Mall.

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Much to be Thankful for in Old North St. Louis

Despite the difficult economic times, Old North St. Louis has had a lot to be thankful for this year.  In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we’d like to put the spotlight on just a dozen improvements, achievements or positive developments in Old North during 2009.  By limiting this list to just 12, that means several other worthy events, occasions, or successes won’t be covered here.  So, stay tuned, we’ll try to get around to acknowledging those in later posts.  As it is, the following list includes many items that deserve much more space than a brief mention and a photo or two, but we’ll have to settle for that for now. 

1) Jackson Park Improvements

Part of the improvements at Jackson Park included new playground equipment.

2) Support for the Old North Grocery Co-op - Thanks to a very generous 3-year grant approved by the Missouri Foundation for Health, we now will be able to launch the Old North Grocery Co-op at 2718 N. 13th Street.  More funds still need to be raised, but the support of MFH ensure that we can get up and running in 2010.

Something like this will be coming soon to ONSL: interior of a grocery co-op...in a neighboprhood called Old North Knoxville.

Planning for the grocery co-op has benefited from help provided by UMSL’s Community Partnership Project and a diverse group of people serving on our co-op planning committee.  The whole effort has grown out of our successes with other food-related efforts, which is why that deserves mention here…

3) Continuation & Expansion of a Variety of Other Healthy Food Initiatives - this year we hosted the 3rd season of the North City Farmers’ Market (thanks again to the ongoing support of the Missouri Foundation for Health!); we enjoyed a bountiful crop of produce grown in the the 13th Street Community Garden; and we started a new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) arrangement with Family Harvest (with weekly deliveries by farmer Rusty Lee).

A healthy dialogue about plants in the 13th Street Garden

4) Opening of 2700 N. 14th Street as the new office for Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, the “Yet-to-be Named” Gallery, and space for neighborhood information and expanded support for neighborhood improvement initiatives.  We’ve posted some views of the exterior of the building and the gallery space in an earlier post, so now we’ll show off some other views of the interior space. 

5) Crown Square Apartments - NOW LEASING!…Yes, now that water and sewer connections have been completed on the 2700 block of N. 14th and nearing completion on the 2600 block, that means our leasing agents at Cohen-Esrey are actually showing apartments and signing leases with people who are taking advantage of the opportunity to live in the heart of Old North at Crown Square.  Give them a call today if you don’t want to miss your chance.

6) Work is in progress making it possible for the return of the street to the 2600 and 2700 blocks on N. 14th Street!  This is the part that is largely hidden behind the construction fences, but rest assured that it’s actually coming soon, thanks to the hard work of our partners at the Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA) who have been navigating the complexities of a myriad of regulatory agencies and funding sources.  Stay tuned for more on that topic in a future post.

7) The opening of the Urban Studio Cafe.  The cafe has been warmly received by the community and has turned into a favorite neighborhood gathering spot for residents and outsiders who want a quick cup of coffee, a wireless signal for some web-surfing, a sweet pastry or a nourishing sandwich or cup of soup.

Acquisition and stabilization of endangered historic buildings by ONSLRG.  Earlier in the year Old North St. Louis Restoration Group acquired 8 vacant and deteriorated buildings from the City’s Land Reutilization Authority (thanks to support from Alderwoman April Ford Griffin) with the goal of stabilizing them so that they could survive long enough to be acquired and rehabbed by others.  Since then, ONSLRG has succeeded in selling 2 of them to rehabbers, has started exploring plans for redevelopment of 2 others and contracted with E.M. Harris Construction Company to carry out urgen stabilization work at the remaining 4.

9) Completion of historic rehabs at several owner-occupied properties.  While ONSLRG is investing funds to make it possible for future rehabs, several rehabbers have completed (for the most part) on major efforts to preserve and rehab formerly abandoned buildings.  Two of these, 3240 N. 19th Street and 1303 North Market, were featured at ONSLRG’s Annual Old North St. Louis House Tour in May.

3240 N. 19th Street has enjoyed a remarkable comeback from its previous condition as an empty shell missing its back wall.The former charcoal warehouse on the 1300 block of North Market has a new life as a cool, loft-like home.

10) Acquisition of other vacant properties and start of rehabs by individual rehabbers.  The work has only just begun at several other vacant buildings, but individual rehabbers in different parts of Old North are currently in the midst of bringing new life to long-neglected properties on Palm, Benton, North Market, and Monroe, among others.  One of these buildings, at 1307 Benton, is in the able hands of James Cox, right on the heels of getting a ”Most Enhanced” Award from Landmarks Association in May for the home he and his wife, Luz Maria Evans, rehabbed on Hebert.

1307 Benton in the midst of a major makeover.

11) Continued stream of volunteer help.  Much of the successes over the past year would not have been possible without the thousands of hours of help from volunteers - from within the neighborhood and from outside friends, relatives and supporters.  Sometimes these volunteers come as individuals, such as Brian Krueger, who helped out with many different tasks throughout the year, from staffing a table at the North City Farmers’ Market to planting, weeding, and harvesting in the 13th Street Community Garden; on other occasions, we get volunteers by the busload, including SLU Law School orientation service day students (thanks to Kathleen Parvis) and other students recruited and coordinated by New City Fellowship Church.

12) Ongoing support and attention from outside groups.  We also benefit from a broad range of outside groups who help share the Old North story by bringing their members or the general public in for tours and presentations.  This past year was much busier than previous ones, with numerous local groups, such as the regular visits from the Rehabbers Club and Metropolis, educational tours guided by local historian NiNi Harris, and the monthly bike rides coordinated by Bike St. Louis during the summer months; out-of-state visitors, including Iowa State University architecture students; and some foreign interest this years with visits from delegations from as far away as Russia and Thailand (thanks to UMSL). 

Thanks again to all who have made 2009 such an eventful and exciting year!

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One Day’s Activities Reflect Vibrant Community in Old North

Saturday may not have been a typical day in Old North, but it sure reflected the positive energy fueling the neighborhood’s revitalization and demonstrated how active the community is.  As noted in yesterday’s post here, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group is in the midst of moving our offices and community space down the street, to the heart of the Crown Square redevelopment.   While a Saturday ordinarily would be an ideal day to mobilize our dependable army of volunteers to help with the move, many of these individuals were deployed to various other community projects throughout the neighborhood, including:

• The Metropolis St. Louis tour of Old North;
• A vacant building board-up initiative, coordinated by the “Macho Action Group”, a division of ONSLRG’s Real Estate Committee;
• An event focused on the dynamics of community development, held at the Urban Studio Cafe with the Brown School of Social Work; and
• Construction of a wheelchair ramp by neighborhood volunteers for a long-time resident who experienced complications after hip-replacement surgery.

All of this played out against the backdrop of a beautiful November day, which brought out throngs of visitors to the neighborhood, many of whom chose to wait in the long line out the door at ONSL’s favorite ice cream parlor / lunch spot, Crown Candy Kitchen.  See below for a sampling of photos from this extraordinary slice of community life in Old North St. Louis.

Metropolis visitors toured Crown Square, including ONSLRG's new space (in the background)

Graham Lane showed off the creative adaptation of warehouse space as a cool, loft-style home.

Nico Leone (in the white t-shirt) led a tour through the home he is rehabbing on Wright Street and pointed out that the stairs were constructed from timbers salvaged from a nearby warehouse.

Macho Action Group volunteers cutting plywood and gathering materials for securing vacant buildings.

Boarding up a building on Palm Street, to keep it protected from the elements and vandals, so that it can survive long enough for a future rehab. Hey, isn't that Graham Lane, again?

ONSLRG's practicum student, Meghan Baer (in the purple shirt), helping set up at the Urban Studio Cafe for the program with her fellow students from Washington University's Brown School of Social Work.

The line at Crown Candy stretched out the door.

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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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Silent Auction Fri., Sept. 25: Make Your Home as Cool as North Market Display Home

The display home for the North Market Place Homes is on the market (and could be yours, if you make an offer soon*).  In anticipation of a sale of this home at 1331 North Market in the not-too-distant future, we have decided to make the furniture available for sale, as well.  Now, you too can make your home look as cool as a display home by taking home some of this never-been-used furniture.  But instead of a plain furniture sale, we’ve decided to turn this event into an enjoyable social occasion for the community.

Therefore, you are hereby invited to go shopping at 1331 North Market for a good cause on Friday evening from 7 until 10 p.m.  Selected items, including bedroom sets, kitchen table and chairs, lamps, dressers, and area rugs, will be sold through a silent auction, with the bidding scheduled to end at 9:30 p.m.   The proceeds of the evening will go toward the renovation of 1316 North Market, a vacant building on the same block as the display home.  Old North St. Louis Restoration Group recently purchased that property from the city with the intention of carrying out a historic rehab there.

A suggested donation of $5 per person will be accepted at the door.  Beer, wine, and refreshments will be provided.  As noted on the flyer below, you may contact Karen Heet, ONSLRG’s Real Estate Development Coordinator, for more information at 314-241-5031 or by email at karen@onsl.org.

* You can also contact Karen for information about purchasing this home or other properties in Old North St. Louis.

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Now’s Your Chance to Become a Part of “One of the Country’s Best Revitalization Stories”

Recently we used this space to celebrate the achievements in preserving and breathing new life into historic buildings throughout Old North (see post from July 4) - and once again, Kaid Benfield of the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC, picked up the message and shared our story with the rest of the world.

Kaid Benfield's latest blog post about Old North St. Louis on July 6 draws the attention of his readers to the progress at Crown Square.

In previous posts over the past year or so, Benfield, the director of NRDC’s Smart Growth Program, has referred to Old North as “one of the country’s best revitalization stories” and described the neighborhood as “the very antithesis of sprawl.”

Now YOU can get in on the action, become a part of the community, and keep the neighborhood’s momentum going all at the same time.  Last week the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group released a Request for Proposals for the purchase and redevelopment of six (6) vacant, historic buildings in the North Market area of Old North St. Louis.   The full details of this RFP can be found in the Rehabbers page of the Real Estate section of the ONSL.org website, where you can download the RFP and see a listing and photos of all of the properties:http://onsl.org/rehabbers/.

Old North St. Louis Restoration Group purchased these properties from the City of St. Louis with the purpose of stabilizing them before they deteriorate any further or completely collapse.  Since the ideal scenario would be to get these properties into the hands of legitimate rehabbers who have commitment and resource to preserve the buildings, ONSLRG would like to give rehabbers or developers the chance to purchase them before ONSLRG spends significant funds on stabilization.  If serious offers do not get submitted by August 14, ONSLRG will begin work on the buildings and offers to purchase after that date will be expected to cover those stabilization expenses.

With this offer, you can get a limited edition Old North historic property and customize it to create your dream home.   The following buildings are just three of the historic properties available through this RFP:

The building at 1312 Warren is in the Crown Square redevelopment area and is sandwiched between two other buildings that have already experienced complete historic rehabs.

The little building at 1217 North Market should be small enough to make it more manageable and affordable for an individual rehabber. The house is between a new North Market Place home and one of the nine buildings part of the North Market Place Apartments development that won a "Most Enhanced" Award from Landmarks Association a couple years ago.

At first glance, the building at 1300 Monroe may seem a bit challenging, but we have plenty of experienced rehabbers in Old North who can share their expertise and make referrals to reputable contractors. Besides, this building features a nice view of the Arch, straight down 13th St., and was featured in the New York Times a few years ago.

To learn more about these properties and the process for making an offer for one or more of them, download the RFP from the Rehabbers page.  If you would like to make an offer or have questions after reviewing the information included in the RFP, call ONSLRG’s real estate development coordinator, Karen Heet, at 314-241-5031, or send her an email - karen@onsl.org. 

If you’re not up for taking on a rehab project, you can still help out by sending ONSLRG a contribution to help cover the rather hefty costs of stabilizing these buildings.  For this option, call executive director Sean Thomas at 314-241-5031 or send him an email - sean@onsl.org.

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A Holiday Celebration of Real Revitalization in Action

In honor of the Independence Day holiday, let’s take a moment to celebrate the very real successes that have come forth from citizens working together to create and pursue a vision for their own community.  This has been the case in Old North St. Louis in recent years, where the community has crafted and led several different but coordinated neighborhood revitalization initiatives with the support and investment of resources from numerous partners who respect the importance of the people and existing assets of the community.

The results of this approach are undeniable and can be seen throughout Old North St. Louis.  The following before & after photos provide just a sampling of the very real achievements of the Crown Square revitalization, a redevelopment currently in progress that represents the fulfillment of the community’s desire to preserve and develop the irreplaceable historic buildings that have been long-neglected, while also providing high quality, mixed-income housing and bringing back commercial and retail services.

If you happen to run into family or friends at a holiday gathering, or strangers at a fireworks show, and someone questions whether anything positive is happening on the north side of the city, please feel free to refer them to this site where they can see for themselves the great things happening in Old North St. Louis.  Or better yet, invite them to join you for lunch at Crown Candy where they can see all of this up close and in person.  In the meantime, have a safe and happy 4th of July!

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