The Old North St. Louis neighborhood, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is undergoing a $10 million project to bring 37 new homes to the area. The new homes are designed to fit into the neighborhood and incorporate brick facades, architectural details and cast stone foundations. All of the new homes will have three-bedrooms and range in price from $145,900 to $182,900.



The revitalization is a collaborative effort between the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and the nonprofit Regional Housing and Community Development Alliance.



links:

<A HREF="http://www.onsl.org/">Old North St. Louis Restoration Group </A>

A new home or two is on the saturday tour-today! I wish UMSL wasn't having their graduation today (step-sis graduating), saturday, so that I could go on this AWESOME tour!

I've been waiting for this website to become live before I posted it. There's a huge sign hanging outside of Crown Candy proclaiming North Market Place. Three houses are built, not sure about the schedule for the rest.



North Market Place

Thank you for the link update brickandmortar. I went to the site and there are plenty of pics on this project. Obviously this is part of the North Market Place project you linked to above.



Here are both links again:

<A HREF="http://www.onsl.org/">Old North Saint Louis</A>

<A HREF="http://www.northmarketplace.com/">North Market Place</A>

brickandmortar wrote:Xings picture is a nice artist deception of the project. I say that because the vinyl on the side of the other two homes are cleverly hidden, but I'm not complaining.

Here are the two side-by-side...

We need to get some new pictures up there...We reworked the cornices on two of the model homes. Also, look for new design changes on new models being built.



-nate

ONSL

Welcome Nate, thanks for the update.



I hope that we can continue to expand this neighborhood. I drove through it today and it is in such a great locale. I still say that we should push the envelope here on new construction projects instead of letting everything look the same. It will truly make ONSL one of the new hotspots in STL.

Thanks Trent!



I agree with the idea of pushing the envelope as far as infill housing is concerned. But right now, building architecturally sensitive new construction infill with affordable and market rate models, and rebuilding the remaining housing stock to offer 32 affordable tax credit rehab rental units, is pushing the envelope for an area that has had some of the worst disinvestment in the city. I would like to see that kind of thoughtful approach over in McRee Town instead of the junk that's being built.



Much of the infill housing in Chicago is beautiful and I think ONSL is a prime location to apply some of the lessons cities have learned in the last 50 years. Believe me, residents of ONSL are ready and working feverously to make our neighborhood an example for some of these lackadaisical infill projects in neighborhoods that already have the wind at their backs.



Hey, I know a couple of buildings for sale in the neighborhood! Spread the word!

Hi Nate,



Please keep us posted on developments in ONSL. It's such a cool neighborhood, and I love hearing about it.



I can't wait for the day when all the original houses in the neighborhood have been rehabbed and all of you who have been involved there since day one will astound people when you tell them how little you paid for your home!



Are there any plans to re-open 14th Street and renovate the commercial buildings near Crown Candy? I think the time is right!

nate wrote:I agree with the idea of pushing the envelope as far as infill housing is concerned. But right now, building architecturally sensitive new construction infill with affordable and market rate models, and rebuilding the remaining housing stock to offer 32 affordable tax credit rehab rental units, is pushing the envelope for an area that has had some of the worst disinvestment in the city. I would like to see that kind of thoughtful approach over in McRee Town instead of the junk that's being built.



Much of the infill housing in Chicago is beautiful and I think ONSL is a prime location to apply some of the lessons cities have learned in the last 50 years. Believe me, residents of ONSL are ready and working feverously to make our neighborhood an example for some of these lackadaisical infill projects in neighborhoods that already have the wind at their backs.



Hey, I know a couple of buildings for sale in the neighborhood! Spread the word!

Nate,



I think you'll find a lot of people here that will agree with you on the McRee town infill. Myself included. And I agree that you need to take a slower approach at first. I have faith that the neighborhood will be thriving in no time at all, with a lot of focus put on drawing people to the neighborhoods they will see the benefits of living there. That is when you push the envelope.



And trust me, if I had any sort of dough saved up for my own place, ONSL would be one of the neighborhoods that would be getting a long look.

I am intrigued with this area. When I left St. Louis, there wasn't an ONSL. Not that I know of. Is it like Soulard, architecturally? I am very curious and will have to check it out the next time I am in town.

It really is a lot like Soulard architecturally, although there are many vacant lots, unlike Soulard. Hyde Park is just north of that, and it SOOO reminds me of a cross between Lafayette Square and Soulard. Since the early '80's there has been rehab going on, but the momentum has picked up as of late with infill. That's great!! I like the fact that they want to preserve/replicate infill so stringently. (But what's with those ugly cheap looking brick front/vinyl siding things doing there, that you see off I-70? I'm sorry, those are really ugly and "un-St. Louis" looking to me.)

Maybe, because of the good stuff, (hopefully) this will be a catalyst for Hyde Park (Does anybody know...is anything REALLY solid going on in Hyde Park? I've heard rumors, but when I drove through there last May I didn't see anything goin on)

What marmar said. Driving down St. Louis Avenue towards Crown Candy, you see several differnent housing styles, from Soulard-type homes to Lafayette Square painted ladies. When all is said and done, it could be very Soulard-like in appearance.

I am hoping that some of the new northern oriented development will help areas like ONSL and Hyde Park. It seems like people are getting the idea that is OK to invest north. I will be glad when NonNorthside St. Louis stops viewing the Northside as off limits. The Northside has a more natural connection to the Central Corridor, not divided by train tracks like the Southside, it has beautiful, historic buildings, etc. I think St. Louis will really fly when it can mend its relationship with the Northside.

For those of you not familar with the layout of Old North St. Louis it's a couple miles north of downtown along I-70. This aerial photo shows some landmarks locals would recognize along with the location of the North Market Street which forms the core of the development. North Florissant forms the western border of ONSL and I-70 forms the east. Cass is the southern border and I believe Branch is the northern. Those streets aren't visible. It's fairly obvious to me anyway that infill is desparately needed.

^Thanks. This is very helpful. The surrounding grid comes in at a different angle - interesting. And what is the big circle at North Market Place?

Expat wrote: And what is the big circle at North Market Place?

That, like many, many, many, other places around the city WAS an Indian (insert politically correct name here) mound. We were once known as Mound City, ya know. That particular one was a tourist attraction, I believe.



http://stlouis.missouri.org/neighborhoo ... cale22.htm

The big circle in the middle of North Market is Jackson Place, the city's second oldest park (Dakota Park in Carondelet is oldest). When the original village of North St. Louis was laid out as a separate city in 1816, the city's founders built three such circles on what was then the western edge of the neighborhood. The northern circle, which exists although partly adapted to surrounding rectilinear blocks, was dedicated to establishing a church for the village. Today, Grace Hill occupies that circle. The center circle was dedictaed as a park, and will be restored as part of the North Market Place project. The southern circle was dedicated to the establishment of a school, and today is the site of Webster School.

There is an interesting interview with a pair of Old North residents on Mayor Slay's website this week. Janie's podcast.

i checked out ONSL yesterday morning and saw some really beautiful things there. i pounded the sidewalks of st. louis off and on for around 12 hours yesterday. it's not the same city of my exurban stl and stc county youth (though perception is everything), but what amazed me the most was that its got a spark that wasnt there even three years ago.

Warwickland, I am glad you had a nice visit. I have seen that spark, too.