urbanSTL

^If I'm not mistaken:



Tucker (12th) on the east

Lafayette on the north

14th on the west

I-44/55 on the south

It's the land in and around the highways and their ramps south of Lafayette. The west side would be the highway 44 westbound on-ramp. The east side border is 12th St.

The boundaries are as follows. Between Lafayette and I-55 (north-south), and between the Truman Parkway Ramp and Tucker, including the west side of Tucker (east-west).

Developer, spare my house

Bohemian Hill residents protest threat of eminent domain



By Jim Merkel

Tuesday, February 6, 2007 5:58 PM CST



Late in 2003, Jackie Ingram's landlord told her she'd have to move her family from her apartment because it was being taken by eminent domain.



Ingram suspects the same thing is about to happen again. Her landlord received a letter saying the St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority was interested in acquiring his property.



This time, Ingram and others say they aren't waiting for the ax to drop. She was one of about 40 people who braved the cold Saturday in front of the Soulard neighborhood home of Alderman Phyllis Young, D-7th, to protest what they see as the threat of eminent domain in the Bohemian Hills area. The neighborhood is south of Lafayette Avenue and west of Tucker Boulevard.

Link

^Damn, what a bombshell. Phyllis Young sounds like she has her head up someone's a$$ for sure.



Bohemian Hill is a living reminder of a very bright past and must be preserved. What time is the BOA meeting on Friday?

These properties will be seized by the city. The city (developers) will prevail.



Gilded Age as the developer is somewhat suspect. Their other residential projects languish due to the fact they never completely sell out. See the Abbey, Eden Lofts, Georgian, ... Not much of a track record.



This sight needs a developer with vision. A destination type of experience may be in better order. Not the run of the mill like Walgreens or Schnucks, but something different. Every weekend many make the trip to the Soullard Market. Why? Because it is different. An experience. What kind of experience does one have at Walgreens?

Joe Larson and Karen Gower, Bohemian Hill residents and property owners, asked that I post this statement for them. They have been trying to join the conversation themselves, but have encountered the same problem that many people have had with registering/signing in. I will try to type verbatim.



"The Bohemian Hill Home owners would like to keep their homes. We would like to see the area developed with homes that would embrace the historic nature of the homes in Lafayette Square, LaSalle Park and Soulard. We feel this would continue to bring new people into the city who appreciate the area as much as we do. We would like to see a contractor, like the one that is building homes/condos at Lafayette and Mississippi next to Lafayette Square, build in the space between I-55 and 13th Street. For a little history; In march of 2000, there was an opening of three new single-family homes on Bohemian Hill between Soulard and 13th Street. These homes were designed by Jo Noero (the Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture at Washington University), and Donald Royce (Professor Emeritus of Architecture at W.U.). In 2001, they received the Historic Preservation Award from the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation, also known as the McReynolds Award. We live in a 111 year old row house on Bohemian Hill which has so far escaped the construction of the Gravois Ramp and I-55 Contruction."

I think they would add that all of these buildings are currently threatened.

They offered the following as contact information:

Joe C.P. 314-226-3355 email--lloydie6@earthlink.net

^

The developer of the homes at Mississippi and Lafayette and the developer of this proposed project are one and the same: Guilded Age.

Serious Irony huh? That is why this whole thing is so strange. Yeah, alot of their projects haven't worked as well as anticipated, but they have been a major player in the adaptive re-use scene.

My heart goes out to any homeowner in this situation and I hope they get full replacement cost for their home. The area has had numerous developers and plans over the years to do just what the homeowner asks but none have been successfull. Where's the Bohemian Hill neighborhood association? Why weren't the few homeowners fighting tooth and nail against the incredible slum lords in the area? Sorry, but this is just a bit like crying over spilt milk.



A belief to adopt: you never buy a house, you buy a neighborhood. This is the reason why I didn't buy one of the Noero houses 6 years ago.

I appreciate your point of view, but allow a few points. One, I don't think that there is a Bohemian Hill neighborhood association. I think that the 20 something homeowners that are being threatened may be the last remnant of Bohemian Hill. Somebody correct me if I am wrong. The second point is that in this case, the milk isn't completely spilled, and in the past several years, people have started pouring it back into the glass. If action on the part of concerned citizens can keep the rest of it from spilling than I am all for it. Finally, I honestly don't think this eminent domain threat is in the interest of the city or the surrounding neighborhoods. The development, once the plans see the light of day, may also fall into this category. I think that what we have here is a developer and an alderman in bed together.

*RANDOM ANECDOTE*



I just drove through Bohemian Hill on my way to my Soulard studio. GOD HELP US ALL IF WE LOSE THAT ENCLAVE. It is so unique in the city; isolated, yet not in the middle of everything. I just can't imagine any worthwhile replacement for this community.

There is already plenty of vacant land in this area on which to build something substantial. The blocks east of 13th along Tucker cover maybe a third at most of the full site rumored. Why does the developer need a larger footprint than the multi-block area already cleared west of 13th? For even more surface parking? For a "corner" (visible from corner but usually still isolated from sidewalks by parking) Walgreens as an outlot to the grocer-anchored development?



Looking at this map of "Bohemian Hill", this area is already largely cleared except the narrow blocks along Tucker. I'm sure if the development were urban and limited to west of 13th, there would be less opposition. But suggesting the wholesale demolition of an area, including a largely occupied block with even new homes, let alone rehabbed homes, is just ridiculous.

Patricia Miller is on KSDK's morning news program right now. She says the development will definitely contain a Walgreens and a SuperValu grocery store. She seems enthusiastic about the development, saying 'it's what downtown needs since there's no grocery store and downtown lost its Walgreens when St. Louis Centre closed (her words, paraphrased)'.







-RBB

Isn't Supervalu the parent of Shop N Save? Perhaps that's what's going in. I really hope it's urban in form and doesn't stand out against Lafayette Sq.

Yes, which means it could also be a Sav-A-Lot.



Who is Patricia Miller? This is not good news.

RBB wrote:Patricia Miller is on KSDK's morning news program right now. She says the development will definitely contain a Walgreens and a SuperValu grocery store. She seems enthusiastic about the development, saying 'it's what downtown needs since there's no grocery store and downtown lost its Walgreens when St. Louis Centre closed (her words, paraphrased)'.







-RBB

What does this project have to do with downtown? And since when is there no grocery store downtown? Jeez.

Bus. Journal Article



Toby Weiss put up the second page to that article on his blog, which includes a sketch of the first phase. It doesn't look very urban to me.

^Her blog.