Wow. Wow. I never thought that would happen. We did the National Register nomination back in 2008, but the idea of loft apartments there was.....well. It takes vision though and money, and it looks like they have both. Hats off to Alderman Boyd.

Fantastic project, this stretch of MLK is looking a lot nicer than a few years back, but east of Friendly Temple still has a way to go, hopefully the Dick Gregory project will spark more development that direction

http://www.slfp.com/CitySide.htm

Beer City wrote:Dick Gregory

Hey, good job new filters!

And this is fantastic news - I'm thrilled to hear about this reinvestment.

-RBB

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St. Louis approves $17 million in bonds to help overhaul Hillvale Apartments in troubled area

The authority made the final decision at its regular board meeting with minimal discussion. Director Gilberto Pinela made a motion to approve the measure. Director Troy Doles seconded the motion. 


Proceeds of the bonds issued by the authority will be loaned to an affiliate of Denver-based Steele Properties, which expects to buy the property from an affiliate of New Jersey-based Treetop Companies in December before restoring it. 
Including acquisition costs, the $34 million effort to overhaul Hillvale, a 146-unit complex at 5830 Selber Court, is supposed to start taking shape when construction starts in January, Justin Unger, of Steele, said Thursday at the board meeting. Unger told the board he expects the project to be finished in June 2024. 

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/st-louis-approves-17-million-in-bonds-to-help-overhaul-hillvale-apartments-in-troubled-area/article_aff5cc43-d8fd-52f3-8fc7-f3ca21e4897e.html

BB104 blighting, tax abatement, redevelopment plan for Hillvale

https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/c ... BBId=14125

quincunx wrote: ↑

Feb 22, 2025

$5.3M building permit application submitted by Young Voices With Action for a multi-story, approximately 28,000 sf, residential, retail, and office multi-use project at 5955 Dr Martin Luther King Dr. 18 apartments.

The wellston loop is the saddest place in the StL metro in my opinion. You can just tell that it was a hopping area at one point and has an interesting mix of architecture and it’s so sad that we didn’t care about abandoning it in the 50s and we have continued to beat it down with really poor treatment. This really applies to all of MLK - so many interesting businesses, buildings. One heck of a long commercial strip in its heyday

This reminds me of the development at Page and Ferguson which made that area look night and day different. Love to see this!!!

If we invest heavily into delmar, page, and MLK, i think there will be quick spillover effects into surrounding streets

Not to split hairs or anything but I think the Wellston Loop was still poppin in the 1950s, that JC Penney building was built in 1948. Says in the NHR listing that "Aided by its accessibility to customers who traveled by car, the Wellston J.C. Penney grew its customer base throughout the 1950s." The store closed in 1976. 

Hamilton Heights (the south side of MLK from this development) is at the top of my list of neighborhoods I'd invest in if I won the lottery, amazing history and architecture there. 

PeterXCV wrote: ↑

Feb 22, 2025

Not to split hairs or anything but I think the Wellston Loop was still poppin in the 1950s, that JC Penney building was built in 1948. Says in the NHR listing that "Aided by its accessibility to customers who traveled by car, the Wellston J.C. Penney grew its customer base throughout the 1950s." The store closed in 1976. 

Hamilton Heights (the south side of MLK from this development) is at the top of my list of neighborhoods I'd invest in if I won the lottery, amazing history and architecture there. 

Yea, I should probably say more like late 60s. The existing infrastructure is very much indicative of late 40s, early 50s golden era. Just seems like it was a great main street during the main street heyday

As West End sees more and more investment, it could bring in some mixed use investment in Hamilton Heights and then up to the wellston loop on MLK once again.

I would assume there’s a lot of LRA lots between these neighborhoods and wellston has some large swaths of empty land that I assume were industrial. The TOD plans have never materialized but the metro stop is still in distance and Page 94 and MLK 32 are high ridden buses that could definitely become 10 minute frequent ones if Bi-State ever decides to up its game.

framer wrote: ↑

Feb 22, 2025

Ugh yep that’s what I imagine when I’m in that area.

I really wish the Delmar Loop streetcar would have been better planned, designed, and executed, where one could have dreamed of it being the streetcar spine of the modern era, with branches to the Wellston Loop, to Dogtown via Forest Park, to WashU via Forest Park, to downtown Clayton, to CWE. Little spurs that built out a useable system to connect these neighborhoods that were historically developed because of the streetcar.