Minority developer breaks ground in The Ville
Wednesday, November 8, 2006 9:23 PM CST
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State Sen. Maida Coleman, ABR Development President Kayla L. Mays-Matkins, Alderman O.L. Shelton, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Mayor Francis G. Slay and Rodney Crim of St. Louis Development Corporation break ground on the new Lyndsey Estates in The Ville.
Kayla L. Mays-Matkins wants a middle-class North Side
By Chris King
Of the St. Louis American
“As a subcontractor, I understand the challenges minority contractors have,” said Kayla L. Mays-Matkins, president of Ability Building and Restoration and ABR Development.
“So, for me not to be conscientious about making my project a good fit for minority contractors would be a conflict.”
Mays-Matkins is talking about Lyndsey Estates, a new development that just broke ground at Lamdon and Labadie avenues in The Ville.
Lyndsey Estates is a design-build development that will bring a mixture of new one- and two-story single-family market-rate homes, starting in the $170,000 range, to the historic neighborhood.
It’s the first project of ABR Development, which she started in July; her construction business has been in operation for five years.
“I have been blessed to meet great minority subs, whose work is just as compelling and professional as anybody’s,” she said, of her first effort as a minority developer rather than a minority sub-contractor.
She cherishes the role of developer in that it “allows opportunities to employ African Americans in a trade - that’s invaluable to them.”
She said her company has 24 full-time employees, all of them black men except for one black woman and one white man.
“We’ve a very conscientious core group of African-American businesses,” she said of the development.
“Sandra Dew of New Day Realty is the exclusive listing broker for the properties. She has been very effective in getting presales from dirt, from floor plans.”
Mays-Matkins said they will try to pour foundations this year “before the first frost,” with the first residents moving into their homes by spring or early summer. She said 10 homes will be completed next year and four of them are already sold.
“The Ville has a lot of opportunities,” Mays-Matkins said. “There is a lot of vacant land and still some very strong families.”
She worked closely with the neighborhood’s alderman, O.L. Shelton, in planning her company’s first development.
“O.L. was very progressive in holding numerous community meetings, with more than 100 residents at these meetings, asking them what they wanted,” Mays-Matkins said.
She said one change that came about as a result of the community meetings was her architect added a ranch home to design options in the development, “to allow for extended families, for grandparents to be in the home and still be active.”
She said, “It was important for this to be something that would not be rejected by committed residents of Ville, that they embrace it and hopefully it will bring like community members back.”
The ultimate goal - one shared both by Shelton and Mayor Francis G. Slay, who has made diverse residential development a priority - is for “mixed, middle-class, not just low-income” development in The Ville.
The redevelopment plan attached to Lyndsey Estates promises replacement and upgrade to neighborhood utilities, street lights and designated parking.
“I look at Gaslight Square,” she said. “I would like to see that on the North Side, done by a minority developer.”
She said the opportunity to bring back city neighborhoods in decline was one reason why she stepped up her game from construction to development.
“A developer has more input - you can actually change the community,” she said.
Mays-Matkins is a lifetime city resident, who grew up in Carr Square Village, has lived on the North Side and now lives in the West End. But she was drawn to The Ville in particular, owing to its history.
Read more
Wednesday, November 8, 2006 9:23 PM CST
State Sen. Maida Coleman, ABR Development President Kayla L. Mays-Matkins, Alderman O.L. Shelton, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Mayor Francis G. Slay and Rodney Crim of St. Louis Development Corporation break ground on the new Lyndsey Estates in The Ville.
Kayla L. Mays-Matkins wants a middle-class North Side
By Chris King
Of the St. Louis American
“As a subcontractor, I understand the challenges minority contractors have,” said Kayla L. Mays-Matkins, president of Ability Building and Restoration and ABR Development.
“So, for me not to be conscientious about making my project a good fit for minority contractors would be a conflict.”
Mays-Matkins is talking about Lyndsey Estates, a new development that just broke ground at Lamdon and Labadie avenues in The Ville.
Lyndsey Estates is a design-build development that will bring a mixture of new one- and two-story single-family market-rate homes, starting in the $170,000 range, to the historic neighborhood.
It’s the first project of ABR Development, which she started in July; her construction business has been in operation for five years.
“I have been blessed to meet great minority subs, whose work is just as compelling and professional as anybody’s,” she said, of her first effort as a minority developer rather than a minority sub-contractor.
She cherishes the role of developer in that it “allows opportunities to employ African Americans in a trade - that’s invaluable to them.”
She said her company has 24 full-time employees, all of them black men except for one black woman and one white man.
“We’ve a very conscientious core group of African-American businesses,” she said of the development.
“Sandra Dew of New Day Realty is the exclusive listing broker for the properties. She has been very effective in getting presales from dirt, from floor plans.”
Mays-Matkins said they will try to pour foundations this year “before the first frost,” with the first residents moving into their homes by spring or early summer. She said 10 homes will be completed next year and four of them are already sold.
“The Ville has a lot of opportunities,” Mays-Matkins said. “There is a lot of vacant land and still some very strong families.”
She worked closely with the neighborhood’s alderman, O.L. Shelton, in planning her company’s first development.
“O.L. was very progressive in holding numerous community meetings, with more than 100 residents at these meetings, asking them what they wanted,” Mays-Matkins said.
She said one change that came about as a result of the community meetings was her architect added a ranch home to design options in the development, “to allow for extended families, for grandparents to be in the home and still be active.”
She said, “It was important for this to be something that would not be rejected by committed residents of Ville, that they embrace it and hopefully it will bring like community members back.”
The ultimate goal - one shared both by Shelton and Mayor Francis G. Slay, who has made diverse residential development a priority - is for “mixed, middle-class, not just low-income” development in The Ville.
The redevelopment plan attached to Lyndsey Estates promises replacement and upgrade to neighborhood utilities, street lights and designated parking.
“I look at Gaslight Square,” she said. “I would like to see that on the North Side, done by a minority developer.”
She said the opportunity to bring back city neighborhoods in decline was one reason why she stepped up her game from construction to development.
“A developer has more input - you can actually change the community,” she said.
Mays-Matkins is a lifetime city resident, who grew up in Carr Square Village, has lived on the North Side and now lives in the West End. But she was drawn to The Ville in particular, owing to its history.
Read more
