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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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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New Space for Old North St. Louis Restoration Group!

As of today, the big move has begun - and the first commercial tenant at Crown Square is ready to open for business.  This coming Wednesday, November 11, Old North St. Louis Restoration Group will switch phone service over from the corner of St. Louis Avenue and N. 14th Street to historically rehabbed space at 2700 N. 14th Street.  Although we’re only moving 1 block away, it’s a huge leap for the organization, which, for the first time in its 28-year history, will be operating out of space that reflects the historic rehab we promote and support.

The front of the building soon to be home of ONSLRG and the Crown Village Gallery.

The old Thomas Furniture building as it looked in 2006.

The former Thomas Furniture building, which was previously a Worth’s Department Store, and prior to that, a Kroger grocery store, is one of the 27 buildings that have been fully rehabbed as part of the Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street Pedestrian Mall.  Although the street work is still yet to be completed, 2700 N. 14th can be occupied now that water and sewer service have been connected. 

Workers were still making final touch-ups over the past few days, including at the front reception desk, which has been constructed with timbers from the former floor system of the building at 2612 N. 14th, & a stained & polished concrete counter top.

ONSLRG's new space will include the Crown Village Gallery, which will serve as a venue for community events, art exhibits, various meetings, and educational programming.

Among the cool features are sliding doors, made from salvaged maple floorboards, and repurposed windows saved from other buildings along 14th Street.

Come on by to see us, and grab a box or file cabinet from the old office and walk on down the sidewalk to our back door.  Until the street and front sidewalk work is finished, the entrance to our new space will be the back door, off the parking lot just east of 14th Street.

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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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A Sampling of Recent Good Things Going on in Old North

Todd Antoine of Great Rivers Greenway addressing the cyclists in Old North for the Tuesdays with a Twist bike ride on June 16.

Jackson Park has been getting a major makeover thanks to funds secured by Alderwoman April Ford Griffin. Watch for photos soon of progress there.

The Urban Studio Cafe is gearing up for an opening this summer, thanks to funds awarded to them as a winner of the Skandalaris Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation Competition. Congratulations to Phil, Claire, Liz, and all of their supporters.

Peter Sparks continues to make progress with the renovation of his building at 2701 N. 14th Street.

The 13th Street Community Garden is tended regularly by garden coordinator Veronica Holden and her children, as well as other neihgborhood residents, including neighbors from Jackson Park Senior Apts.

Meanwhile, the current season of the North City Farmers’ Market has had 4 good weeks already, despite the blistering temperatures during the past couple Saturdays.   Please note that the market will not take place this coming Saturday, July 4th, so our many volunteers and workers can enjoy the holiday with their families.

Tom staffs the table full of produce from Lee Farms on Saturday, June 27.

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Congratulations to the Cox Family for Most Enhanced Award

On Friday evening Landmarks Association of St. Louis presented their annual “Most Enhanced Awards” for redevelopment projects that are worthy of attention and praise for preserving and restoring historic properties.  And once again the good folks at Landmarks directed that spotlight toward Old North St. Louis - this time to the property at 1416 Hebert, owned and redeveloped by James and Luz Maria Cox.  In fact, the alley house at 1416 Hebert was featured on the cover of the program for the award celebration.

Before and after shots of the alley house at 1416 Hebert, on the cover of the Most Enhanced Awards Celebration program

A good crowd of Old North residents and friends joined James and Luz Maria at the awards ceremony to show their support for the individuals and families who have and are continuing to make Old North St. Louis a great place to live.

Ben Schartman, Matt Fernandez, Tom Tschetter, Luz Maria & James Cox, Jeanne & Ernie Stanley on Friday evening.

The investments made by James and Luz Maria represent yet another example of how Old North is changing for the better, sometimes one property at at time or one block at a time.  The photos below show the changes on just one block, with 1416 at the far right.

Just a few years ago, the 1400 block of Hebert was marked by many vacant, deteriorating buildings.

Now, the 1400 block of Hebert is one of the most solid in Old North St. Louis.

Congratulations to James and Luz Maria and all of their friends, neighbors, volunteers, and contractors who made their home worthy of the Most Enhanced Award.

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Scenes from the Old North House & Community Tour

The 2009 House & Community Tour is history - and it turned out to be one of the best in terms of the attendance, the weather, and variety of sites to see.  The following is just a sampling of photos from the big day.

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2 Days to Go! Sneak Previews & Other Opportunities to Support ONSL

With the Old North House & Community Tour just two days away - we want to offer a few glimpses of some of the sights you’ll see, apart from the Crown Square redevelopment. 

This home at 3240 N. 19th Street is nearing completion and has come a long way in less than a year.

As bad as the front looked in July of 2008, the other side was worse, missing the entire back wall.

The new building at 1318 Hebert and the historic building at its rear also are nearing completion, with an exciting future as a bed & breakfast, gallery, and meeting space.

The owners of both of the above properties graciously have agreed to have their buildings on this year’s tour.  And, as a bonus, you can read more about them on the websites the owners created to chronicle their progress: 

•  The story of 3240 N. 19th Street can be found at a site with the title of “3 Walls”
• And you can learn more about the blending of old and new at 1318 Hebert at a site called “1318 Hebert“, with an appropriately descriptive subtitle: “rehabbing a house in the city”

In addition to buying your tickets on the ONSL website, now you can support the work of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group by making an online donation or you can purchase some cool, Old North merchandise, such as t-shirts, mugs, stickers for your car or home.  All you have to do is click on the Buy Stuff  tab along the top of the ONSL.org main page — or you can just click RIGHT HERE.  So, even if you can’t make it to this year’s tour, you can do your part to keep the revitalization moving forward.

But, if you do come out on Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., you’ll get a chance to see first-hand many of the cool things going on in the neighborhood, including the great spaces shown above.  So, as long as you’re sitting at your computer, why don’t you just click on over to the Buy Stuff page and purchase your tickets now for the low, advance ticket price of $10 instead of paying $12 per ticket on the day of the tour.  (By the way, have we mentioned lately that all tour-goers get free ice cream from Crown Candy Kitchen?)

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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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