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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Old North Holiday Market, Sat., Dec. 17, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. [Updated]

Enjoy shopping for the holidays at the first ever Old North Holiday Market, this coming Saturday, December 17 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group Gallery, 2700 N. 14th Street.

Participating vendors include:

  • Heidi Sever (with her handcrafted jewelry)
  • Cristin Rae
  • Cat Pic/Tiny Montgomery
  • Parsimonia (Beth Styles)
  • Kevin McCoy-Work/Play
  • Jewelry with a Heart/Rachna Goel
  • Sun Ministries
  • Yeyo Arts
  • Gloria Bratkowski
  • Dayna Kriz and Kids (from the ReBuild Foundation)
  • Mound City Soap/ Carolyn Brogdon
  • Fable and Lore/Chelsie Hellige

…and Amanda Doyle will be on hand to sell (and autograph!) copies of her new book, “Finally! A Locally Produced Guidebook to St. Louis by and for St. Louisans, Neighborhood by Neighborhood.”

We’ve just confirmed that Santa Claus will make an appearance and will greet visitors of all ages from 11 a.m. until noon. Bring your camera and get a photo of the kids with Santa.

While you’re in the neighborhood, this will also be a convenient opportunity to take advantage of other holiday shopping opportunities up and down N. 14th Street, and around the corner at N. 13th Street and St. Louis Avenue.  As reported in earlier posts, you can find a great array of gift options at Closet Repeats (2603 N. 14th), the Racq Salon & Spa (2605 N. 14th), Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique (2611 N. 14th), ONSLRG merchandise, such as t-shirts and mugs (2700 N. 14th Street), Poor Souls Society Art Gallery (2701 N. 14th), Therapy Boutique (2717 N. 14th), Crown Candy Kitchen (1401 St. Louis Avenue), La Mancha Coffeehouse (2815 N. 14th), and Old North Grocery Co-op (2718 N. 13th Street, at St. Louis Ave.).

For more information, visit the Old North Holiday Market Facebook event page, (and be sure to select the “Going” option at the upper right side of the page so that all of your friends will be inspired to join you!) and keep up with all of the latest news on Twitter: @HolidaysinONSL.

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Smart Growth Award Attracts Media Spotlight & Other Positive Buzz for Old North

Since the announcement on Thursday that the revitalization of Old North had won this year’s Overall Excellence in Smart Growth Achievement from EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities, a number of news outlets and various websites and blogs have covered the story.

To see the video about Old North that was prepared for the award ceremony, click HERE.  In addition to Sean Thomas of ONSLRG, the video features comments from Archie Cole, owner of Head Hunters Barber & Beauty Salon; Veronica Holden, neighborhood resident and owner of La Mancha Coffeehouse; Graham Lane, neighborhood resident; and Maria Falconer, owner of Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique.

Local radio stations St. Louis Public Radio and KMOX, aired stories about the award, and a couple of Post-Dispatch columnists (Deb Peterson and Tim Bryant) reported about it on their blogs (although the Post didn’t cover it in their print edition), as did the St. Louis American (which highlighted a congratulatory message from Congressman Lacy Clay).  Meanwhile, the St. Louis Beacon will include the news about the award in a more comprehensive article on the neighborhood, coming soon.

As visitors to ONSLRG’s Facebook page know, the most upbeat statement about Old North getting the Smart Growth Award, however, came from a source well outside the St. Louis area.  Kaid Benfield is one of the nation’s leading advocates for smart growth and someone whose job is to think about these issues related to sustainable development.  As director of the Sustainable Development & Smart Growth Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C., Kaid reports on policies, programs, and developments across the country, as well as in other parts of the world.  After attending the awards ceremony in Washington on Thursday, Kaid wrote an article on “The Best Smart Growth Projects in America,” and referred to Old North as “one of the country’s very best revitalizing neighborhoods.”

The article by Kaid Behfield featured a photo of ONSLRG Board President Tino Ochoa and former 5th Ward Alderwoman April Ford Griffin at the 2010 Old North House Tour.

The article by Kaid Behfield featured a photo of ONSLRG Board President Tino Ochoa and former 5th Ward Alderwoman April Ford Griffin at the 2010 Old North House Tour.

Noting that his enthusiasm has grown since first learning about Old North a few years ago (from former ONSLRG board president John Burse), Kaid added the following assessment:

“Although Old North was all-too-recently considered by many to be a place to avoid, there is nowhere in the region that this writer would now rather be.”

and…

“We are lucky to have other great revitalization stories in America, but I don’t know a better one.”

For the full story, click HERE.

Thanks again to all who made this award possible, including a long list of outside partners and supporters, the board and staff of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, and most of all, the determined, resilient, and generous residents of Old North who have contributed their time, energy, ideas, and passion over many years.

The Smart Growth Achievement Award recognizes the accomplishments to date and the process that got us here, but by no means does it mean that the job is done.  If you’d like to help us continue the revitalization of Old North, click HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution or click HERE to learn more about volunteer opportunities.

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Old North St. Louis Selected for National Award for Excellence in Smart Growth Achievement

This morning in Washington, D.C., the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities announced that the revitalization of Old North St. Louis is the winner of the 2011 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.  The National Award for Smart Growth Achievement recognizes communities that have successfully used the principles of smart growth to preserve and enhance their quality of life while helping to protect public health and the environment.  Of the five projects or communities selected for awards this year, Old North was recognized with the Award for Overall Excellence in Smart Growth.  St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Old North St. Louis Restoration Group executive director Sean Thomas were on-hand to receive the award from John Frece, Director of EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities.

The Award for Overall Excellence in Smart Growth is the highest award under this program and “recognizes an outstanding comprehensive approach to growth, including built projects, supportive plans and policies, and effective community participation,” according to the selection committee.  The committee further notes that “This award is for the best overall approach to implementing smart growth on a variety of fronts—not just for a single plan or project, but at the neighborhood, corridor, city, county, or regional level.”  Last year’s Overall Excellence award recognized collaborative efforts among New York City’s Departments of Transportation, Health, Design & Construction, and Planning toward improving that city’s livability.

Among the factors that contributed to Old North’s selection was the neighborhood’s 28% population increase over the past decade.  A winning project not only shows that a comprehensive approach is in place, but that it has significant impacts.  Because the overall achievement award is not for one specific project but for the collaborative and strategic efforts over several years, credit for this achievement goes out to a wide range of groups and individuals who worked together on multiple projects.  On behalf of the Board and staff of the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, we especially thank the residents of Old North who, over many years, have scraped together limited resources and put in countless hours of service to the community.

Specific initiatives that have contributed to the neighborhood-wide revitalization include the $35 million, 27-building Crown Square redevelopment of the former 14th Street Pedestrian Mal, and with it, 80 new households in an area that had largely abandoned and a growing number of new locally-owned businesses; the new homes at North Market Place and the historically-rehabbed North Market Apartments, which salvaged 9 previously crumbling, abandoned buildings; the cultivation and maintenance of community gardens throughout the neighborhood; the North City Farmers’ Market; and last year’s opening of the community-owned Old North Grocery Co-op.

Partners who have worked with ONSLRG to help make these great things happen include multiple agencies of City of St. Louis (such as the Community Development Administration, St. Louis Development Corporation, Land Reutilization Authority, Planning & Urban Design Agency, Cultural Resources Office), Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance, University of Missouri-St. Louis and MU-Extension; Missouri Foundation for Health, Ken & Nancy Kranzberg, Gateway Greening, Operation Brightside… and so many more than can be listed here.

Although this award recognizes past achievements, the real benefit is that it will help shed more light on an area that has even greater potential for more growth.  In fact, the work to continue the revitalization is already in progress.

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Cyber Monday Links for Purchasing from Old North Businesses & Organizations

If you’re making your post-Thanksgiving purchases online on this “Cyber Monday,” then please consider the following options:

(1) Show your pride and support for Old North St. Louis with a mug, t-shirt, window cling, sticker or other merchandise from Old North St. Louis Restoration Group.  Click HERE to purchase any of these items.  You can also use this link to make a tax-deductible contribution to ONSLRG as a gift in honor of a friend or relative.

(2) Old North Grocery Co-op… You can purchase a gift membership by clicking HERE.

(3) Crown Candy Kitchen… Click HERE to purchase candy for shipping almost anywhere.

(4) Therapy Boutique… click HERE for dresses, jewelry, and other fashionable items from the first of Crown Square’s new retail establishments.

(5) Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique - via Rambles.com… click HERE for “fun, funky, and functional” one-of-a-kind gifts from Crown Square’s newest retailer.

(6) La Mancha Coffeehouse… although it doesn’t look like they have an online ordering option right now, you can send an email to inquire about ordering baked goods as a special treat for those on your gift-getting list or for catering your holiday event.  Click HERE for their website.

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

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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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Shop for the Holidays in Old North

With the traditional start of the holiday shopping season almost upon us, we offer the following suggestions for finding the perfect gift for everyone on your list while supporting community-based development at the same time.  As an added bonus, you won’t have to rush away from your turkey dinner or get up at midnight to take advantage of these great deals - the shops of Crown Square and Old North aren’t going for any of that door-busting, middle-of-the- night or crack of dawn gimmickry.  In fact, shopping in Old North promises to be much more relaxing, enjoyable, and friendly compared to the chaos and hype of the malls and big box retailers.

Therapy Boutique, 2717 N. 14th Street.

Therapy is offering a special deal on Friday:  25% off on shoes and apparel.  The store will be open 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique, 2611 N. 14th Street.

Rambles will have special hours on Friday:  10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Closet Repeats,  2603 N. 14th Street.

Regular hours at Closet Repeats are Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Old North Grocery Co-op, 2718 N. 13th Street (one block east of Crown Square)

James Anderson stopped by the store earlier today to pick up his fresh and local turkey.

James Anderson stopped by the store earlier today to pick up his fresh and local turkey.

Here's an idea for a unique gift - consider purchasing an Old North Grocery Co-op tote bag and fill it with a variety of non-perishable, local goods sold at the store. Or you can use the tote bag as an Old North Sampler bag with an assortment of items from the co-op and other Old North shops.

Here's an idea for a unique gift - purchase an Old North Grocery Co-op tote bag and fill it with non-perishable goods from the store or create your own Old North sampler gift bag with an assortment of items from the co-op and other Old North shops.

La Mancha Coffeehouse, 2815 N. 14th Street:

Stop in for breakfast, lunch, or just a cup of coffee or a smoothie, and while you’re at it, you can purchase some locally produced artwork, from tie-dye prints to t-shirts, and coming soon: woolen items produced by Andrea Berry.

Old North Merchandise from Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, online at ONSL.org or at 2700 N. 14th Street (although the office will be closed on Friday, Nov. 25).

The above items and much more can be purchased at the ONSLRG office or online by clicking HERE.

Original artwork by Seitu James Smith or Carlos Barberena, currently on exhibit at the Old North Gallery adjacent to Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s office, 2700 N. 14th Street.

The “Nosotros, Los Otros / We, the Others” exhibit is sponsored by Missouri Immigrant & Refugee Advocates with support from the Missouri Arts Council.  The exhibit is open during ONSLRG’s regular business hours (Mon.-Fri., 9-5) and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, except Thanksgiving weekend.

Crown Candy Kitchen, 1401 St. Louis Avenue.

Customers already lined up and out the door for Crown Candy's holiday chocolates and other treats

At lunch time today, customers were already lined up and out the door for Crown Candy's holiday chocolates and other treats.

What more do we need to say?  Crown Candy offers candy, t-shirts, mugs, and gift certificates for meals.

Poor Souls Society Art Gallery, 2701 N. 14th Street.

Poor Souls Society Art Gallery hosts a number of activities but also includes a number of items for sale, including original art.

Old North St. Louis Holiday Market - Saturday, December 17, 11a.m.-5 p.m. at Old North Gallery, 2700 N. 14th Street.

Watch for more details coming soon about this great, new Old North holiday tradition in the making.  In addition to several vendors selling great hand-made gifts (from soaps to knitted items and fresh, baked goods), the Old North Holiday Market will feature Amanda Doyle, who will be on hand to sell and sign copies of her new book, “Finally, a Locally Produced Guidebook to St. Louis by and for St. Louisans.”  Click HERE to see our previous post about this book.

And, if you’re feeling especially generous, how about taking advantage of a great deal on some properties in Old North?

We’ve got some great fixer-uppers for the rehabbers in your life, or some nice move-in ready houses for your friends who live outside the city but would love to have a home closer to all of the great attractions and amenities our city offers, including world-class restaurants, shops, museums, professional sporting venues, and so much more. Click HERE to see our recent post about homebuying and rehabbing opportunities in Old North.

Happy Thanksgiving - and have a great holiday season!

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Friday, November 18, 2011

Virtual Old North St. Louis

For the past year or so ONSLRG has been working with University of Missouri St. Louis staff to create a virtual version of Old North St. Louis utilizing the Virtual City Program. The result is a model of what the built environment of Old North St. Louis may have looked like throughout time.

To use Virtual City, you will need to have Google Earth installed on your computer. Currently, only Crown Square and the 2700 Block of N 13th St. has been created. More of the neighborhood will be added over time, and the existing modeling will be refined.

The current model of the neighborhood can be found here. When you open the file, give it some time to load for best results. Click on the files in temporary places to load buildings. There is a time-line in the upper left corner that moves through time, and you will see buildings appear and disappear. Most of the structures at this point are modeled to show mass, scale, and siting. Generic building fronts from the neighborhood are pasted onto the structure. Over time this will be refined to show more detail. For more information about a building, you can click on the little dog in front of each building with more details.

While it is fun to see what once was built in Old North, it is also good to look toward the future. Since the time line extends nearly two decades into the future, we thought it would be a good idea to utilize Virtual City to develop some future development ideas. For now, we have developed three alternatives for future development for a plot of land that ONSLRG owns at the Northwest corner of Montgomery and 13th St. By no means are we committed to any one design, this exercise is meant to create discussion and ideas for a possible future project that at this point has no funding for any alternative. We would like to ask for constructive feedback on these potential ideas. What do you like about the current designs?  What would you like to see designed differently?  And let us know why you are making the suggestions you are offering.  Feel free to post your comments here by clicking on the “Leave a Comment” link at the top left side of this post.  You can also send any constructive feedback that you may have to Matt Fernandez, our Community Development Specialist, at Matt (at) onsl.org.  To see each alternative, click the link below each preview image displayed below.  You may also come by the ONSLRG office anytime and we will show you the Virtual City on one of our computers.

Contemporary loft development.

Contemporary loft development.

Click the following link to view the Contemporary loft development alternative on the Virtual City program.

Mixed-use development with traditional design.

Mixed-use development with traditional design.

Click the following link to view the Traditional design alternative.

Green homes development.

Green homes development.

Click the following link to view the Green homes alternative.

Stay tuned as this program gets filled with more images and as we flesh out the instructions for access and use.  In the meantime, enjoy the stroll down some of the streets of Old North as they may have looked at various stages in history.

Images currently loaded onto a view of Montgomery Street looking east from N. 14th Street in 1955.

Images currently loaded onto a view of Montgomery Street looking east from N. 14th Street in 1955.

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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Homebuying & Rehab Opportunities in Old North

With interest rates at historic lows and home prices more affordable than in almost any other time in the past few decades, now is a great time to buy a house - and Old North St. Louis has a few that can accommodate a variety of interests and needs.  According to a number of sources (including this report on CBS News’ MoneyWatch, this article in the Wall Street Journal, and a report on CNN/Money that listed St. Louis in the Top 10 Cities for Homebuyers), low interest rates and lower home prices have made mortgage payments more affordable than renting in many places.

If you’re in the market for a new house with architectural features that reflect the historic character of Old North - and within easy walking distance of the neighborhood grocery co-op, a landmark restaurant/candy store/ ice cream parlor, a one-of-a-kind coffee shop, and several new retail establishments at Crown Square, then the home at 1319 North Market is worth checking out.  And, the home is now listed at only $125,000.  For details on all this house offers, click HERE for a downloadable flyer.  Or to visit the webpage for the house created by Dawn Griffin of Circa Properties, click HERE .

If you’re looking for an old, historic tax credit eligible shell that could be rehabbed to suit your creative desires, ONSLRG also has several historic properties that the organization purchased from the City’s Land Reutilization Authority and stabilized for future redevelopment.  Click HERE for a downloadable listing of these properties with recent pictures of current conditions and images of what these cool, old buildings could look like after rehab.  (These images and the marketing materials were produced by two of our summer interns, Annie White and Angela Kress, students at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts).

If you’re looking for a historic home that’s already in move-in condition, there are a few of those around the neighborhood, as well, and you can find locations, list prices, realtor contact numbers, and other details by clicking HERE for the November edition of the Available Properties list.  ONSLRG’s Community Development Specialist, Matt Fernandez, regularly updates our Available Properties Listing, which can be downloaded from the Real Estate pages of our website or picked up at the ONSLRG office.

Call Matt at 314-241-5031, ext. 101, or send him an email (matt AT onsl.org) to find out how to make an offer on any of the properties owned by ONSLRG, to get more information about the home-buying process in Old North, or to learn more about any of the properties on the list.

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

New Street Mural Graces Intersection of N. 14th & Warren

Under the leadership of Lucas Rouggly, staff from LOVEtheLOU organized the painting of a street mural at the intersection of N. 14th Street and Warren Street this past weekend. The costs related to the project were covered by Pursuit Communities.  The colorful image of a fleur-de-lis fills the intersection just south of the recently redeveloped buildings at Crown Square.

The wording around the edges, written by Lucas Rouggly, reads:  ”My city is a Mother and I am her child.  Her greatness is not found in the size of her monument but in the lives she harbors underneath.  Her children are like a colorful mural, and they define her.  When they come together, she is pleased.  I love my Mother and I will look after her.”

Design credits go to artists Dexter Silvers and Elysia King.

This intersection mural is the first of seven that the group has planned, leading from Old North to the loft district downtown.  Come on by to take a look!

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Friday, October 28, 2011

Comeback Cards and Old North Have a Lot in Common

Wow!  Unbelievable!

Those one word exclamations have been flying all over the blogosphere, facebook postings, tweets, and even on the pages of good, old-fashioned print publications. Yes, that represents a good summary of the Cardinals phenomenal resilience and determination to avoid elimination in the roller coaster ride of Game 6 – and throughout the latter part of the 2011 season and each round of the playoffs.  But those words also have been used recently to describe the incredible, skeptic-defying rebirth of Old North St. Louis, or as some have called it, “the little neighborhood that could.”

As dramatic and thrilling as Game 6 was, there still is some work to be done.  The Cardinals fought against setbacks and long odds to turn things around, but the World Championship trophy has yet to be won.  And Old North isn’t quite there yet, either.  Many outsiders doubted that Old North’s transformation was possible - and many others counted the neighborhood out long ago.  But over the past few years, we’ve turned a lot of skeptics into believers.  Whether it’s the stabilization and preservation of the severely damaged Mullanphy Emigrant Home building; the phenomenal redevelopment of historic buildings that had been crumbling into the street along Monroe, North Market, Hebert, Blair, or N. 14th Street; the establishment of a community-owned grocery store; or the extraordinary 28% increase in population over the past decade, the evidence is there to demonstrate Old North’s capacity to overcome long odds and achieve results that previously had been deemed absurd or impossible.

Despite the great progress achieved in recent years, Old North St. Louis Restoration Group still has a lot of challenges to tackle.  In fact, because the bar of what is possible has been raised, we’re busier than ever with a range of initiatives focused on revitalizing Old North, from operating the Old North Grocery Co-op to assisting others in finding apartments to live in, properties to rehab, or homes to purchase in Old North.

Ironically, just as we have more and more evidence of the amazing returns on previous investments, the funding to carry out this work has been getting harder to secure.  Due to economic hardships among some of our regular funders (including both individual and corporate contributors), reductions in funding from some previously committed sources (such as a 14.5% cut in our grant from the Community Development Administration as a result of federal block grant cuts), and the lag time between approval of some grants and delivery of funds (including a $25,000 grant which has been approved but won’t arrive until December at the earliest), ONSLRG’s operating funds are incredibly tight at the moment.

As the Cardinals have demonstrated, success requires team effort - and sometimes it means getting help from unlikely sources.  If you’d like to help Old North St. Louis Restoration Group continue Old North’s dramatic comeback story, we have a few ways for you to pitch in:

1) Make a tax-deductible contribution to ONSLRG right now by clicking HERE.

2) Refer us to any contacts you might have with any corporate charitable funds or foundations with an interest in community development, historic preservation, healthy food access, community gardens, social outreach, and almost anything else related to neighborhood sustainability.

3) Spread the word about Old North’s revitalization to people who haven’t heard about it yet, by sending a link to this blog, our ONSL.org website, ONSLRG’s facebook page, our Twitter account - or by bringing them into Old North for lunch at one of our fine eating establishments or to shop at the Old North Grocery Co-op, or to purchase something at one of Crown Square’s retailers, such as Therapy Boutique, Closet Repeats, or Rambles Gift Gallery & Boutique.

4) Volunteer to assist with our fundraising committee or to help plan a future fundraising event.

or…

5 Fill in the blank with your own ideas _____________________________.

For more information about any of the above options, feel free to give us a call at 314-241-5031 or send a message to info@onsl.org.

In the meantime, on behalf of St. Louis City’s comeback neighborhood, we tip our caps to baseball’s comeback team of the year.  GO CARDS!

WHAT'S NEW IN OLD NORTH

Welcome to the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group's blog. What's New in Old North chronicles the dramatic transformation under way in the neighborhood of Old North St. Louis. As a neighborhood just north of Downtown St. Louis, Old North is becoming a dynamic urban village of new and historic homes, a landmark eating establishment, beautiful community gardens, and a diverse, friendly, and engaged community.

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