StlToday - Townhouses planned for Westminster Place site in the Central West End

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 3094b.html

joelo wrote:http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 3094b.html

This should be good; Cohen does good work.

Growing up on this block and as an area property owner I was elated to hear about this development during the October neighborhood meeting. This project will help complete the revival of one of the CWE's most spectacular historic districts. Redevelopment of this site has been a desire of many neighbors for decades. Looking forward to the seeing this development take shape.

The more housing/density in and around that mostly abandoned mini Olive retail strip the better. Getting just a couple more of those storefronts activated would go a long way.

even at 50% abated in the first 5 years it will still probably bring in 7-8x more property tax than current use. 10X+ more in year 6-10 at 25% and 15x after year 10.

It's currently tax exempt so anything technically will be better then what's there right now

Are we sure that the neighbors aren't going to insist that the street return to single-family homes?

joelo wrote:It's currently tax exempt so anything technically will be better then what's there right now

thank you... just saw in the post piece that it had assessed value of $29,000...which is about $2400 a year if it paid taxes....

framer wrote:Are we sure that the neighbors aren't going to insist that the street return to single-family homes?

Technically the townhouses will be single family homes, albeit attached. In an "ideal world" the homes on this street would sell for approximately $1.5 to $2 million. Such property values would allow the current structure to be torn down and a new home of similar scale and architecture as those on the street to be built that would complement the district. Unfortunately, such property values aren't currently supported. However, the Fullerton home values are getting close. 4484 Westminster sold for $1,090,000 in September 2014 and 4411 Westminster is currently listed for $1.295,000. The current proposal may not be the moon, but most neighbors would agree that (in comparison to the current building) this proposal is amongst the stars.

I guess convents come and go and come again... one is being built in CWE on Olive.

Lyda Krewson said last night they'll be getting 5 years at 50% tax abatement

Any word on the status of this project? Seems that the upcoming Fullerton Westminster Place house tour would be a perfect time to display what is to come.

Last I heard the tax abatement got tied up in the mayor's race.

Also you can't count out the loss of earnings tax the city would have received from the higher wage earners that would have lived here. 

Sad to see this project sit. Truly a missed opportunity to bring the last parcel in the 4400 block of Westminster Place to life. Two single families have sold for $1.365 million (4469 Westminster Pl - new construction) and $1.4 million (4416 Westminster Pl) on this block. Additionally, the new construction four (4) townhouse style condo development at 4323 Westminster Pl have all sold for an approximate average of $400 per square feet. 

4323 Westminster Place (townhouse style condos)
1E - $765K
1W - $775K
2E - $827K
2W - $884K

LETS GET 4485 Westminster PLACE DEVELOPED!! THE DEMAND AND MARKET STRENGTH MAKES THIS A NO BRAINER!!