According to the agenda of the Preservation Board, the Roberts Brothers are proposing the construction of 26 single-family homes in the 5200 and 5300 blocks of Enright (Visitation Park Neighborhood).



I wonder if this is part of the redevelopment of the Enright School that was mentioned in an RFT article about Rollin Stanley earlier in the year.

The lots seem to be the same size as existing lots. The plans look like they'll fit in, IMO. However, what scares me is the FRONTS as seen from the street are to be made of the same materials etc. as existing homes. I guess that means tons of vinyl siding on the sides. If the MUST use vinyl, might they AT LEAST match the color of the front facade??? (Maybe I'm going too fast on this.)

The PDF says that they will use brick on 3 sides, with only the backs being vinyll. That is much better than the brick front, vinyll everything else, but still not as good as all brick.

This is looks like good infill, and 10 times better than the Hill project.

MattnSTL and Beer City, I agree. Since three sides will be brick, that's much, much better than just a brick facade, although I too wish they'd be all brick. Kudos to the Roberts brothers for at least doing brick on the sides instead of vinyl.

This is much better than the St. Al's project on The Hill. The homes looks like homes in the surrounding Cabanne area with similar lots, sizing, massing and facades. Plus, the subdivision is not replacing the school, but going on its school yard, saving the school for adaptive reuse.



One would hope The Hill would ask the same of its developer, save the church, but build new homes, in better scale to surrounding homes, or the remainder of its block.



Back on topic, I think the Roberts Brothers are very aware of the desperately needed urban design the City needs to create sustainable new infill.

This looks like a good development to me.

So has construction started on the infill?

Holy crap. That's where I went to grade school. Many, many good fistfights took place where those houses are going. It was CJA back then. Holy crap. They put condos in there?

As for the houses, it would be nice to see a detailed site plan, on how they handled the program of access between the houses and the school. And Soldan's track is right next to this.

That apartment building looks really good. More of that please!

Agreed. This development would have really benefitted from townhomes -- at least on some of the lots. I am not sure that these homes will connect with the need for dense housing in the city.

Update from Mayor Slay:



http://www.mayorslay.com/news/display.asp?prID=712

Doug wrote:I still think we need our homes to be placed closer together. Given the homes in this area are less dense, I suppose this fits the surrounding context. The 75 percent brick is a big improvement though.

Compare this to the Parc Ridge development on Arsenal Street. I'll trade the additional space between homes for 75% brick facades any day.



And, to see quality construction like this in north St. Louis, that's an added bonus IMHO.

Big article about this project (and other Roberts endeavors) in the West End Word this week.

Nice write-up:

Roberts takes a chance on pricey north side houses

By Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

06/20/2008



Mike and Steve Roberts are known for picking risky projects, and succeeding with them. But their latest venture might outstrip them all, as the brothers take on decades of blight on St. Louis' north side.



The brothers are building 26 single-family houses on 4.7 acres in the once affluent Visitation Park neighborhood.



Roberts Place Homes is a gated development with houses starting at $450,000 and featuring bamboo flooring, high-efficiency windows and geothermal heating and cooling.

Link

Yeah, nice write-up, but once again, the Post hit one of my pet peeves. The photo illustrating the article shows some guys planting some bushes, instead of a photo of the actual development, or at least a rendering of one of the new homes.



Drives me nuts.

The residential development underway by the Roberts on Enright are met with mixed reviews. The apartments have rented fairly well, but not even one of the pricey single family homes have yet to sell. Approximately, 5 of the proposed 26 homes have been built within the last year, but none have sold. The marketing team has even used questionable sales tactics by advertising the homes on the MLS under a more desirable zip code. These homes are located in the 63112 zip code, but are listed on the MLS under the 63108 zip code. Despite the 20 year tax abatement and unbelievably low financing interests rates offered by National Bank the homes still can't attract buyers. Of course the housing market is a contributor, but could it also be these homes are seriously overpriced and no one wants to live across from a mental institution? The Roberts brothers have been successful in their previous development projects partly due their focus on commercial/mixed use projects. They really seemed to have run into a problem with this project.