urbanSTL

wabash wrote:I'd like to see McKee rebuild some goodwill among us preservationist types by starting with the redevelopment of the Cass School and/or the Clemens Mansion. If he starts with those or similar properties instead of the wrecking ball, I think he'll help mitigate some of the skepticism surrounding his vision.

The comment of note in the PD article mentioned work on 79 houses, not clear on where St. Louis Place is relative to the Clemens Mansion.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 56a0d.html

The developer said he would like to start that work by the end of the year. He said he also hopes that five homebuilders who he’s partnering with can start work this year on 79 homes they’re planning in St. Louis Place.

I really hope these 79 homes have some creativity, avoid any kind of vinyl siding, and actually blend well with existing buildings. I'm not getting my hopes up.

North St. Louis Renovation Project To Begin By End Of Year

Posted on: 5:36 pm, April 12, 2013, by Charles Jaco

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI)– Construction will start on the long-stalled north side renovation project by the end of the year.

Developer Paul McKee says his plan to renovate two square miles of the blighted north side can be a model for the rest of the country.

The unprecedented plan to re-build two square miles of a major American city has been on hold for three years, as some north side residents sued to stop the project. But with Wednesday’s victory at the Missouri Supreme Court, McKee says the project’s ready to move on.

McKee received a $394 million TIF, tax increment financing from the city to re-build the streets, sewers and electric grid in the area.

http://fox2now.com/2013/04/12/north-st- ... d-of-year/

^ Jaco and many others are being waaay to pessimistic and passing it off as being realistic.

Its obvious to me that McKee has some deals lined up that the average St. Louis is just not privy to. I watched the interview and McKee and his wife seemed pretty confident that Northside would be a success. Said he got calls from many businesses with in the last 48 hrs. McKee is a multimillionaire developer with his reputation and money on the line. I doubt he would be going through all of these legal battles and criticism unless he new for a fact that he could make some big money and get some dirt moving. Just my opinion.

Things he mentioned....Millennials wanting an urban lifestyle, immigrant attraction (refugee housing?), St. Louis being a national model for urban regeneration, economic and racial inclusiveness, new Mississippi River Bridge, the need to revise our zoning code and planning. Sounds like he has studied many of the issues and his PR campaign is strong. I think Civitas being on board is also a plus, we can criticize McKee all we want but most of us would be ecstatic if Northside becomes St. Louis' answer to Stapleton.

^Agree!

I also see that McKee is working with a wide range of organizations and corporations, public and private on his Northside Plan.



I think this vision has more institutional backing than most people realize, we will likely see a lot of interesting developments over the life of this project.

www.northstl.com

I expected better renderings (and any other form of visual support) for a development of this magnitude. While I have high hopes, this doesn't look inspiring.

stlien wrote:I expected better renderings (and any other form of visual support) for a development of this magnitude. While I have high hopes, this doesn't look inspiring.

I can also see a business/organization minimizing cost significantly while in major litigation while a major expenditures revolve around law firms. He also has a paid army in Jefferson City tryign to extend the tax credit.

Undoubtly a undertaking of this size requires a significant Architectual/Engineering cost even before dirt is turned over. I think what is produced going forward will be much more indictative of where things stand and progressing.

From their site:

Master Urban Revitalization must happen in a sequence:
1.Assemble the land
2.Repair and replace the deteriorated infrastructure
3.Sell land for development of new buildings to bring jobs

NorthSide Regeneration, LC has been assembling land for over 10 years utilizing private capital and Distressed Area Tax Credits. Over $103M has been invested privately as of December 2012 while receiving $42M in tax credits. 75% of the land has been purchased to date. Infrastructure repair and replacement requires a TIF which was approved by the City of St. Louis in December of 2009. The first traunche of the TIF will begin 6 months after a ruling from the Supreme Court of Missouri and will create over 300 construction jobs immediately. Once 100% of the land is assembled and TIF infrastructure work begins, land sales for new job development will begin and continue for over the next 15 years. NorthSide Regeneration will then be in a position to compete globally for new projects and job creation in the NorthSide.

So based on that the most immediate things (aside from litigation resolution) to be done are continuing to assemble land and rebuild the infrastructure - roads, sewers, and I assume bus stations and streetcar routes. Sounds like we'll see that before we see building on a mass scale.

-RBB

Curious if anybody has any feedback on McKee's lobbying efforts to extend the land assembly tax credit? If I understand correct, McKee's land assembly tax credit would expire in August if no action is taken and he would have to start making payments back to the state. I think you can see a lot of pluses and minuses. Plus is he might be out, minus is the five home builders he lined up walk away and he simply lets tax payments go lax on his current holdings the next year or two until city takes over what is left standing and worse shape then ever.

It also means the historic and low income tax credit would stand as is and more building stock gets rehabbed between downtown and Midtown/CWE as streetcar proposal goes forward.

Not sure if this is new info, but it's a newer article.

McKee says he's close to landing more NorthSide tenants

ST. LOUIS • With legal roadblocks now behind it, Paul McKee’s NorthSide Regeneration is starting to get serious interest from retailers, food stores and “energy partners,” the developer told a city board Wednesday morning.

While no deals have been completed on sites around his 1,500-acre redevelopment area, McKee said he was hoping to announce some “smaller food stores” soon and is talking with energy companies — “solar, wind, water” — about providing renewable power in the area.

“All of a sudden, all of the stuff we’ve been talking about is live,” McKee said. “We’re not even out there selling it. We’re just getting phone calls.”

More: http://www.stltoday.com/business/column ... 5ad6b.html

I know Paul McKee let many of those houses rot before, but I guess if he can help this area like he hopes to then I have to give him another chance. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.

Ol' Paul has some serious liquidity issues....

Has anybody heard anything new about McKee's NorthSide project?

McKee said in that most recent article that he was hoping to close several deals before the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage tax credits expire in "late-August", and there's supposed to be a public hearing on his TIF package on August 28th.

So should we be hearing some news soon?

There's talk we could see some movement by November after the TIF revisions wind their way through the BOA. Of course, how many times have we heard something like that.

MattnSTL wrote:There's talk we could see some movement by November after the TIF revisions wind their way through the BOA. Of course, how many times have we heard something like that.

I'd like to think so. But like you said, how many times have we been down this road before?