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PostOct 20, 2022#76

Did the Preservation Board have any issues with the demos required for Restoration STL's "Skittles" building across from UCBC?

I'm assuming "no".

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PostOct 20, 2022#77

Hey even if you assumptions are correct, I’d be happy with 500k people in existing stock before we talk about destroying these brick beauties

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PostOct 21, 2022#78

^^quincunx and ^StLRainbow,

Apologies then. My frustration is largely built on a false premise from an amateur misreading of incomplete property records. I'm still frustrated by the neglect, but apparently I've picked the wrong target. Mea culpa. Please continue and I'll shut up now. (And b**** about Drury's actions on KHwy. And hope to see McKee bankrupted and stripped of his assets.)

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PostOct 21, 2022#79

Tim wrote:
Oct 20, 2022
Did the Preservation Board have any issues with the demos required for Restoration STL's "Skittles" building across from UCBC?

I'm assuming "no".
Never saw that one on the Preservation Board agenda. Cultural resources may have quietly approved it.

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PostOct 21, 2022#80

CRO is recommending approval. Building is 71 apartments with a total of 50 parking spaces (32 spaces in the building and 18 on a gated lot on Swan). The FPSE neighborhood association has not reviewed this project.
Screen Shot 2022-10-21 at 4.06.16 PM.png (2.27MiB)
Screen Shot 2022-10-21 at 4.06.45 PM.png (4.93MiB)

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PostOct 21, 2022#81

Building density is pointless if all that happens is outsourcing empty space to an adjacent street

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PostOct 21, 2022#82

alexstl wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
Building density is pointless if all that happens is outsourcing empty space to an adjacent street
The parking lot on Swan is presently a vacant lot, so the net density increase is there thanks to 71 units on a parcel where maybe 9 or 10 units presently/used to stand. Preferably that lot on Swan would become something else.

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PostOct 21, 2022#83

Yeah I think that's a bad trade. I actually think living on a block with a grassy lot is a lot more pleasant than with a parking lot.

I am surprised though that they are proposing more apartments than parking spaces, there's been a few people on this forum who have argued it's impossible to get financing for a project like that. 

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PostOct 21, 2022#84

PeterXCV wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
Yeah I think that's a bad trade. I actually think living on a block with a grassy lot is a lot more pleasant than with a parking lot.

I am surprised though that they are proposing more apartments than parking spaces, there's been a few people on this forum who have argued it's impossible to get financing for a project like that. 
Building meets minimum City Of St. Louis requirements.  .75 (spaces) to 1 (dwelling) ratio.   

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PostOct 21, 2022#85

chriss752 wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
alexstl wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
Building density is pointless if all that happens is outsourcing empty space to an adjacent street
The parking lot on Swan is presently a vacant lot, so the net density increase is there thanks to 71 units on a parcel where maybe 9 or 10 units presently/used to stand. Preferably that lot on Swan would become something else.
Both of the parcels on Swan were LRA lots. 4527 was transferred in 2019 but there is still only an option on 4531. I feel like LRA lots should be used to add housing.

Also, for the person that was wondering - Forest Park Southeast Restoration is Frontdoor.

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PostOct 22, 2022#86

STLAPTS wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
PeterXCV wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
Yeah I think that's a bad trade. I actually think living on a block with a grassy lot is a lot more pleasant than with a parking lot.

I am surprised though that they are proposing more apartments than parking spaces, there's been a few people on this forum who have argued it's impossible to get financing for a project like that. 
Building meets minimum City Of St. Louis requirements.  .75 (spaces) to 1 (dwelling) ratio.   
The usual city parking mandate is one per housing unit. FPSE has a form based code which removed any mandate. It actually has a max of one per unit. Here it's 0.7, progress! Let's end the mandate city-wide!

PostOct 22, 2022#87

Sarah K wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
chriss752 wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
alexstl wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
Building density is pointless if all that happens is outsourcing empty space to an adjacent street
The parking lot on Swan is presently a vacant lot, so the net density increase is there thanks to 71 units on a parcel where maybe 9 or 10 units presently/used to stand. Preferably that lot on Swan would become something else.
Both of the parcels on Swan were LRA lots. 4527 was transferred in 2019 but there is still only an option on 4531. I feel like LRA lots should be used to add housing.

Also, for the person that was wondering - Forest Park Southeast Restoration is Frontdoor.
According to the property lookup both are owned by Groveland LLC.

PostOct 22, 2022#88

NextSTL - Grove Properties Plans Mixed-Use on Manchester

https://nextstl.com/2022/10/grove-prope ... anchester/

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PostOct 22, 2022#89

quincunx wrote:
Oct 22, 2022
Sarah K wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
chriss752 wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
The parking lot on Swan is presently a vacant lot, so the net density increase is there thanks to 71 units on a parcel where maybe 9 or 10 units presently/used to stand. Preferably that lot on Swan would become something else.
Both of the parcels on Swan were LRA lots. 4527 was transferred in 2019 but there is still only an option on 4531. I feel like LRA lots should be used to add housing.

Also, for the person that was wondering - Forest Park Southeast Restoration is Frontdoor.
According to the property lookup both are owned by Groveland LLC.
According the the land record database, it hasn't been transferred. 
4531.png (916.65KiB)

4527.png (1.17MiB)

The LRA site also still shows 4531 under its control. Not sure where the disconnect between the systems is happening.

LRA.png (2.09MiB)

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PostOct 24, 2022#90

The Preservation Board voted to defer consideration for up to 2 months to give time for the developer to engage the neighborhood.

PostOct 24, 2022#91

Grove Properties also said they weren't seeking any tax incentives.

PostOct 25, 2022#92


PostNov 12, 2022#93

$11.7M and $300k zoning-only building permit applications submitted for the building and parking lot on Swan.

PostDec 21, 2022#94

On the Preservation Board Dec 29 Prelim agenda

PostDec 28, 2022#95

CRO staff recommend granting preliminary approval.

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PostDec 29, 2022#96

quincunx wrote:
Dec 28, 2022
CRO staff recommend granting preliminary approval.
How does this project get approved and not the old Drury site? 

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PostDec 29, 2022#97

STLAPTS wrote:
Dec 29, 2022
quincunx wrote:
Dec 28, 2022
CRO staff recommend granting preliminary approval.
How does this project get approved and not the old Drury site? 
We'll hear tomorrow, but I'd wager they got support from FPSE NA and/or Ald Pihl.

Though I guess you're asking why did CRO staff recommend against Kingshighway and for this.

PostDec 29, 2022#98

The PB granted preliminary approval for 4534-56 Manchester 4 yes, 1 present, 1 abstention.

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PostDec 31, 2022#99

imran wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
Tim wrote:
Oct 20, 2022
Did the Preservation Board have any issues with the demos required for Restoration STL's "Skittles" building across from UCBC?

I'm assuming "no".
Never saw that one on the Preservation Board agenda. Cultural resources may have quietly approved it.
So this was pretty interesting.... staff in the presentation said that they did not review the design for Skittles as there was no demo involved, but as mentioned at least one, and I believe two, older buildings were taken down for it.  Also, regarding the issue of demo versus rehabbing the 6 old buildings for this project, it turns out that this location is outside the historic district boundaries, which made Historic Tax Credits really unlikely. (The developer also said he applied/looked at the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP), a state program that has some eligibility for for-sale rehabs, but was unsuccessful.)

All in all I think this process seemed to work quite well - engagement with/input from the Neighborhood Assn and alder Pihl's Development Review Committee now in place seemed to be productive and both groups were in general support. The only real challenge seemed to be the Swan parking. The developer agreed it wasn't ideal but stated getting the parking below the .70 ratio would make it difficult to secure financing and fail to meet project needs (my note... it's great to see this .70 ratio for a decent sized project, but hopefully not too far in the future such a project could work with a .50 or below parking ratio.) 

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PostJan 03, 2023#100

^ Thanks for the deets.  Question for someone with way more knowledge than me.  Roughly how much more would the cost be for making the on-site lot a two-level parking deal as opposed to as-is with the lot on Swan?  Not that it really matters at this point, I guess lol

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