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PostAug 05, 2006#51

brickandmortar wrote:Downtown continues to add population and as prices rise, people may finally start to look north.
I agree that price may be the biggest factor for the first wave of new residents. When you can buy a home so inexpensively you feel more free and need to be more creative in renovating it. That brings in a creative class that adds character to the neighborhood.


brickandmortar wrote:Beautifying 14th street and opening up the mall to cars again would have the same effect IMO that the streetscape on Washington did. Businesses may not locate there at first, but as more residents move into the area, it would be more attractive for a pub owner or small business to locate there.


Catch-22. Beautifying the mall will be difficult without tenents and getting tenents will be difficult without some drastic changes to the landscape.



I think getting new residents from out of town will be a big factor in the rebirth of ONSL. People who don't have baggage with the word "North". Also getting that creative class up there. Artists and musicians who can't afford to live elsewhere and have free time to renovate can find some very interesting spaces in Old North. There are a variety of structures besides just homes that would be great studio and rehearsal space if people knew about them.
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PostAug 05, 2006#52

Whatever happens, it's going to have to be a slow process. The area needs a lot more residents first, then when there is more of a population in the nabe, the smaller businesses will come.
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PostAug 07, 2006#53

stellar wrote:I think getting new residents from out of town will be a big factor in the rebirth of ONSL. People who don't have baggage with the word "North". Also getting that creative class up there. Artists and musicians who can't afford to live elsewhere and have free time to renovate can find some very interesting spaces in Old North. There are a variety of structures besides just homes that would be great studio and rehearsal space if people knew about them.


That already is the case there. When I lived there few of the new residents or rehabbers were actually St. Louis natives(myself included). I love the idea of an arts district on the near Northside.
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PostAug 07, 2006#54

I think that Crown Candy and the giant building pictured below would make for two fantastic book ends to the "mall" portion of the neighborhood. The boarded up building is at 14th and Warren at the south end of the "mall". Turn that building into a club/small concert venue and hope that antique shops or little bars and really cool hangouts fill in around.







I don't think you need big names to make it all work. I think that the absolute key is having business that are run well, like an eatery that has great food and even better service. That's what brings people in and then back in again with friends.
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PostAug 16, 2006#55

^I agree. It won't take much more than reopening that street so it doesn't scare everyone away. Crown Candy is already a major anchor and I would say more so than Blueberry Hill is to the Loop.



People drive FAR to go back to Crown Candy and there has always been a line whenever I have gone at anytime of day. Most of these people make it at a 30 minute drive I would guess to get food or chocolate there. A few shops open across the street or another restaurant would definetely get business from the people who drove all that way or did not want to wait in line for another half an hour to eat.



Most of those Crown customers are also former residents of the neighborhood or at least relatives of residents. Maybe redevelopment of the mall will encourage them to move back to the family neighborhood?
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PostSep 02, 2006#56

trent wrote:Whatever happens, it's going to have to be a slow process. The area needs a lot more residents first, then when there is more of a population in the nabe, the smaller businesses will come.


The plan announced by Old North St. Louis Restoration Group this past Tuesday calls for 80-90 residential units on the mall and adjacent blocks. If you add these to the new houses and rehabbed apartments a couple blocks to the south in the North Market Place area, that's a good move in the direction of re-building the density that neighborhood businesses need.



As others have noted, Crown Candy has a line out the door almost every day at lunch time. The neighborhood loses potential customers whenever people drive down St. Louis Avenue and see that long line. For those who don't have 25 minutes to spare, they just keep driving and head back to downtown or some other neighborhood that has another place to eat. Another restaurant on 14th Street could handle the overflow from Crown. Even those who do eat at Crown may decide to come back next time to that other restaurant that they noticed while they were driving around trying to find parking for Crown (which is also why it's a good idea to have 14th Street re-opened).
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PostSep 02, 2006#57

Good post, ONP.



With the popularity of Crown, additional development would go a LONG way in helping the image of ONSL. The proposed plan would help people (not everyone, just the uninformed) to stop thinking of anything in North St. Louis as a ghetto and a dump.



And, I've actually been discussing some ONSL home purchases with my dad as a rehab project, in which I would live (while working on), and he would put up most of the capital. I hope he goes for it.
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PostSep 21, 2006#58

Luckily the 14th Street Mall is being redeveloped finally. When this project and the North Marketplace projects are done, a lot of people going to Crown Candy are going to be suprised by the turnaround of the area.



Built St. Louis has updated its Old North St. Louis page to show all of the progress made.
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PostSep 21, 2006#59

What a great tour! thanks for posting.



So much beauty, so much saddness. Ate at Crown Candy just after the big storm in July. I'm amazed at the rehab going on there. We drove around gawking at everything. My wife was impressed but there still soooo much needed.



I can't wait to see what happens here.
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PostOct 20, 2006#60

From today's P-D:


Rebuilding Old North St. Louis

By Susan C. Thomson

SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH

10/20/2006



Real estate investment is picking up in historic Old North St. Louis, the north-of-downtown commercial and residential area that saw its best days decades ago.



A recently announced $25 million residential and commercial redevelopment plan for two blocks of 14th Street is just the latest and splashiest sign of progress that has been slow in coming but is steadily picking up. While that project awaits its start, others are well under way in the old neighborhood.



The 1400 block of Monroe Street, for instance, is getting a big lift from the reconstruction of five historic brick buildings that had pretty much fallen apart. Together with four similarly tumbledown buildings on nearby streets, they make up a single project producing a total of 32 new apartments. Twenty-one of the new units already are leased and occupied, and the rest are expected to be done and on the market by the end of the year.


Link
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PostOct 20, 2006#61

My favorite part of the story . . . . :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Prices of real estate in Old North St. Louis have been rising for a few years, Thomas says, to the point that rehabbed houses now sell for more than $100,000.



Appreciation, yes. But a bubble?


The P-D actually theorizes/proposes/introduces the idea that there could be a housing 'bubble' in North St. Louis !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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PostSep 25, 2009#62

Talk about bringing back a dead thread...



You are invited to the following event tomorrow night in the North Market Place display home. If you happen to come and know who I am, I can also show you my beauty of a shell just one block to the east.


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.


PostNov 06, 2009#63

While new home construction has stalled out due to the crash in the real estate market, there are two opportunities to buy new homes built as part of this project. Neither home has ever had a resident, and the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group is offering a great incentive to any buyers. You also get to live just one block west of my house.







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PostSep 26, 2010#64

Is this the thread to talk about the new 1 story Habitat for Humanity homes?

I drove by them today. Haven't been in that part of Old NOrth for almost a year. Wow, They are interesting. I think I like them.

Comments?
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PostNov 05, 2010#65

This isn't the thread for the habitat homes since that is a separate project and in a different part of the neighborhood. I will start a new thread for that project because it probably deserves one.

PostAug 17, 2011#66

There is still one home for sale at 1319 North Market St. It is attractively priced at $129,900. More info at http://www.1319nmarket.com.

If the economy and housing market can get back on track, the North Market New Homes project will likely get brought back out of hibernation. There is some momentum in the area with a couple gut rehabs and 12 new homes being built by Habitat for Humanity.
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