5700 Property, LLC and its Managing Member Mark Benckendorf purchased the Truman Restorative Center for $1.46 million, as stated in a press release issued on March 12, 2004 by the City of St. Louis.
The former city-operated nursing home was to be converted into residential housing and commercial space. The development plan suggested a mix of residential and professional commercial space. Residential plans included coverting the center into 40-50 condominium units. Approximately 20 attached villa homes were also to be built on the center's seven-acre grounds.
More recently, a neighborhood newsletter reported that the center would be completely demolished. Single-family homes and townhomes would then be built on the site.
Mark Benckendorf will be holding a public sale of the contents of the Truman Restorative Center at 5700 Arsenal Street on February 16-19, 2005. Everything in the building or attached to it will be for sale from toilets, sinks, marble dividers, chairs, desks, faucets, computers, doors, lights, hospital beds, kitchen equipment. He'll even pay you to take away some items (lights & doors)!!
Everything in the building must go as it will be demolished in preparation for building new homes on the site.
I see the driveways are in the front of each unit, but cannot tell from the site plan if the villas along Arsenal will be facing the street or have their backs turned. Hopefully those units will be facing Arsenal.
It looks as if they aren't even trying with this project. The city is missing an opportunity to bring more density to the south side. We will never get more shopping, or create a more vibrant city if developments like this are allowed to go on. While downtown is important, the bulk of the population still lives in the neighborhoods. The city can't allow them to go downhill, and this development won't help.
I will withhold judgment on the styling of the buildings until i see some drawings, but I don't know that the over head of the area looks so bad. I worry a bit about the interior streets and crime if the area ever went downhill, but other than that, I think it is good that the city is adding not only homes, but homes that might appeal to suburban residents in terms of lot size and layout. It makes the city's housing stock more diverse, which is a good thing when trying to attract more residents.
The city shouldn't try to be more diverse in terms of style. This is the city. we should try to act like one. People are moving here because they want to live in a city. the suburbs have plenty of suburbia to go around. if people want suburbia, they will move to the county. Urban living is st. louis' number one selling point. we don't have the schools, we don't have the shopping. we should never try to compete with the county by building suburban style homes. we will not have a competitive edge if we try to do so.
Look at the way the buildings around the cul-de-sac are configured and compare them to the ones on Arsenal. I'd guess that the Arsenal buildings have their backs to the street.
Honestly, it's difficult to tell what this development will be like at this point. It definately does look more suburban in style, but honestly if you know this site layout there is no real way to make it "city-like" with alleys and garages on them. I actually think it would have looked funny if they had made it super dense, with the developments on either side of it.
I DO hope that they minimize the use of vinyl, but my guess is brick fronts and vinyl all around. I guess this because it would fit in well with the rest of the newer development located by this parcel.
We'll just have to wait and see what the development looks like.
As I recall, this section of Arsenal has never been an urban neighborhood. It has always had sort of a suburban look. I can vaguely remember when there was a trailer park on Arsenal not too far from this spot. It isn't what I would be looking for and I hope they use good materials and don't line up backyards to Arsenal. But, I can imagine there are some people who are looking for this type of thing. Just be glad it isn't on Grand Avenue or the CWE.
I wouldn't have too much of a problem with this development if the buildings near Arsenal actually faced Arsenal, with parking in the rear, like the newer townhouses to the west of this site.
Maybe the city could learn something from New Town at St. Charles. People don't want suburban style homes as much as they did before. This design for arsenal is old fashioned.
This site is located amongst postwar suburban housing, albeit within the City. Homes to the north and south are 1950s frame, plain colonial. Homes to the east and villas to the west are 1980s neo-traditional.
Similarly, the former SLPS green houses property in Boulevard Heights near Carondelet Park is another site with suburban surroundings, albeit within City limits.
Southwest City is St. Louis' version of suburban housing with urban amenities, ranging from the more urban 1920s bungalows of Southampton to the more suburban 1950s ranches of St. Louis Hills Estates.
Not everyone living within the City necessarily wants an urban home. Personally, I like living in the city, but I enjoy living in a single-story, detached home with a big yard.
I'll bet these houses will sell quickly and the owners will be very happy. And it might keep some taxpayers in the city that were considering the surburbs because they wanted a backyard and a garage. Having a choice is good.
A new article in the Southwest City Journal details the Parc Estates project. From the article below, it appears the homes will have brick fronts and arts-and-crafts styling.
Couple plans new homes for Truman Center site
Shawn Clubb
Of the Suburban Journals
Southwest City Journal
Wednesday, Jun. 08 2005
New homes will soon take the place of a large, empty building that once housed the Truman Restorative Center in the Southwest Garden neighborhood.
Mark Benckendorf and his wife, Laura, of The 5700 Property LLC ? the Truman Center property is at 5700 Arsenal ? have purchased the property. They will soon have the existing building torn down and have 58 residences built on the 8.76-acre site. Thirty-six of these will be single-family homes and 22 will be duplexes.
Benckendorf said they are glad no one else wanted the property when the city had offered it for sale. He said the new development will be called Parc Ridge Estates subdivision and will feature homes that match other city dwellings.
?This area of Southwest Garden and The Hill is a very attractive part of town," he said.
Benckendorf said he heard the property was available about a year and a half ago. The city had tried to market it as a nursing home, but was unsuccessful. He said the city then shopped it to developers, but no one was interested in tearing it down.
Once the Benckendorfs had the property, city planners suggested that it should be used for single-family homes.
Tenth Ward Alderman Joseph Vollmer sponsored the creation of a 23-year tax increment finance district for the property and has supported the project. The city will contribute $1.2 million toward development of infrastructure at the site.
The homes will be built on 50-by-90 lots. Benckendorf said he and his wife wanted larger lots, but the city pushed for smaller lots "to give it a little bit more of a city feel."
The Benckendorfs chose Paric Construction to build the homes and The Lawrence Group as architects. The total cost of the development is estimated around $17 million.
The starting cost of the homes will be around $290,000. Two-story homes could be built as large as 2,700 square feet. There is an option for a three-story home that could be as large as 3,500 square feet.
Homebuyers can choose between four models, five floor plans and 12 elevations.
Benckendorf said the exteriors of the homes will have "a semblance of the Arts and Crafts style of the turn of the century." They will have 9-foot ceilings, hardwood entryway floors, ceramic tile floors in the bathrooms and an upgraded kitchen. They will have brick fronts.
Through word of mouth, 18 people have already been put on a waiting list for homes in the subdivision and the developers will soon start to take deposits on lots.
Benckendorf said part of the reason it has taken this long to get to this point is the need to build a development with city character.
"We don't want this to be a cookie-cutter look," Benckendorf said. "We're
looking for a more city look on the homes."
The original design drawings had "looked too country-ish," Benckendorf said. Environmental abatement at the property was slated to start last week. Demolition of the existing building should happen in late June.
Work on grading, streets and utilities, which will take four to five months,
would begin immediately after demolition.
Benckendorf said they would start building the first display homes at that time and they hope to have the first of them open in about five months. However, he wondered if any of the homes would ever actually open as displays.
Brick fronts look like crap!!! If you can't do it all the way, don't do it at all. You aren't fooling anyone with your brick fronts, it's not a brick house. Unless you are standing directly in front of the house, you see an ugly mix brick and vinyl. Choose one way or the other, the project will look a lot better. Choose all siding, or all masonary. I hate to say this, but it is another way the city can learn from New Town at St. Charles. Even though it is regressionist and boring, the construction is solid and consistent. AHHHHHH!!!!!
DeBaliviere wrote:I'd guess that the Arsenal buildings have their backs to the street.
Yes, they will. When I talked to the Realtor back in June, they said the Villas along Arsenal will back up to Arsenal and there will be a six foot white vinyl fence along the backyards. I was also supposed to have facade renderings emailed to me, but haven't received them yet. I will post them as soon as they are made available to me.
It also looks like the Truman Restorative Center is just about gone. There are a few more piles of concrete to be hauled away, but for the most part, the demolition has been completed.
Looking at that larger image of the site plan I can pick out some more glaring flaws than just the villas on arsenal. The east side will have a street against backyards instead of backyards which would be logical, and the west side has back yards up against a parking lot/street for the old folks apartments. Wouldn't it make more sense to reverse the site plan, and maybe put an alley up the middle of the one stretch. Oh ya, it's a crappy suburban development, so logic doesn't apply.
