Group will consider 3 ideas to redevelop Lemp Avenue site
By Phil Sutin
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/10/2005
Area is said to have been an Underground Railroad stop, but no evidence exists
The Benton Park Housing Corp. will meet Wednesday to consider proposals for redeveloping property on Lemp Avenue that may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The group will meet at 7 p.m. at 1905 Arsenal Street.
Bernard Whittington of X3 L.L.C. will present his proposal for constructing two single-family houses on the site.
The housing group also may discuss two other proposals for the property and consider making a recommendation to Alderman Ken Ortmann, D-9th Ward. Ortmann, who represents the area, and the city staff will decide whether the city should sell the property for redevelopment.
The Community Development Administration sought proposals last year for the property, which the city's Land Reutilization Authority owns. Two developers in addition to Whittington responded. They presented their proposals to the housing corporation in December.
Some neighborhood residents and community activists want to preserve the site as an educational center because of its reputed connection to the Underground Railroad, a series of hidden stops for runaway slaves traveling to free states or Canada. Archaeologists have been unable to determine whether the site was a stop.
The three housing proposals are from:
Bramlett Properties L.L.C. Claire Bramlett, the developer, wants to build three single-family houses of about 2,000 square feet. They would have up to three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths and sell for $280,000 each. She offered to pay $9,000 for the property.
Dana Stewart Construction Inc. Dana Stewart, the developer, wants to build three single-family houses in a historic style. They would be about 2,000 square feet and have three bedrooms. She would incorporate the house at 3318 Lemp into a new house that would be 1 1/2 stories. One other house would be a single story, and one would be two stories. The houses would sell for $223,000. Stewart offered to pay $1 for the property.
X3 L.L.C. Whittington wants to construct two houses of 2,500 square feet each. They would contain three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. He did not say what his selling price would be. He offered to pay $12,000 for the property.
The site contains 11,500 square feet. Its addresses are 3314, 3316, 3318, 3320, 3316 rear and 3318 rear Lemp. The city tore down the house at 3314 Lemp in 1999, leaving a large hole that exposes a stone-walled basement. The space at the other addresses is vacant ground.
JoAnn Vatcha, a housing analyst with the Community Development Administration, said the city would consider factors other than the price developers offer for the land. Among those factors are skill, experience, capacity and workmanship of past projects, she said.
All three developers are from St. Louis and are redeveloping property in the Benton Park neighborhood, she said.
Mark Sarich, director of the nearby Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, has said the site could become an educational center. The project could include a building covering the hole and the reconstruction of structures on the site that once were homes of either slaves or German immigrant workers, he said.
Ortmann said last week, "We try to save homes." But, he declared, the building at 3318 Lemp is a hazard and may collapse. If someone got hurt there, people would complain that the city let it deteriorate too long, he said.
"We have to get the property developed one way or another," Ortmann said.
By Phil Sutin
Of the Post-Dispatch
01/10/2005
Area is said to have been an Underground Railroad stop, but no evidence exists
The Benton Park Housing Corp. will meet Wednesday to consider proposals for redeveloping property on Lemp Avenue that may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The group will meet at 7 p.m. at 1905 Arsenal Street.
Bernard Whittington of X3 L.L.C. will present his proposal for constructing two single-family houses on the site.
The housing group also may discuss two other proposals for the property and consider making a recommendation to Alderman Ken Ortmann, D-9th Ward. Ortmann, who represents the area, and the city staff will decide whether the city should sell the property for redevelopment.
The Community Development Administration sought proposals last year for the property, which the city's Land Reutilization Authority owns. Two developers in addition to Whittington responded. They presented their proposals to the housing corporation in December.
Some neighborhood residents and community activists want to preserve the site as an educational center because of its reputed connection to the Underground Railroad, a series of hidden stops for runaway slaves traveling to free states or Canada. Archaeologists have been unable to determine whether the site was a stop.
The three housing proposals are from:
Bramlett Properties L.L.C. Claire Bramlett, the developer, wants to build three single-family houses of about 2,000 square feet. They would have up to three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths and sell for $280,000 each. She offered to pay $9,000 for the property.
Dana Stewart Construction Inc. Dana Stewart, the developer, wants to build three single-family houses in a historic style. They would be about 2,000 square feet and have three bedrooms. She would incorporate the house at 3318 Lemp into a new house that would be 1 1/2 stories. One other house would be a single story, and one would be two stories. The houses would sell for $223,000. Stewart offered to pay $1 for the property.
X3 L.L.C. Whittington wants to construct two houses of 2,500 square feet each. They would contain three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. He did not say what his selling price would be. He offered to pay $12,000 for the property.
The site contains 11,500 square feet. Its addresses are 3314, 3316, 3318, 3320, 3316 rear and 3318 rear Lemp. The city tore down the house at 3314 Lemp in 1999, leaving a large hole that exposes a stone-walled basement. The space at the other addresses is vacant ground.
JoAnn Vatcha, a housing analyst with the Community Development Administration, said the city would consider factors other than the price developers offer for the land. Among those factors are skill, experience, capacity and workmanship of past projects, she said.
All three developers are from St. Louis and are redeveloping property in the Benton Park neighborhood, she said.
Mark Sarich, director of the nearby Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, has said the site could become an educational center. The project could include a building covering the hole and the reconstruction of structures on the site that once were homes of either slaves or German immigrant workers, he said.
Ortmann said last week, "We try to save homes." But, he declared, the building at 3318 Lemp is a hazard and may collapse. If someone got hurt there, people would complain that the city let it deteriorate too long, he said.
"We have to get the property developed one way or another," Ortmann said.
