Winston Churchill Slept Here?

publiceye · PostNov 12, 2006#12006-11-12T22:05+00:00

MayorSlay.com mentions the major rehab of the Winston Churchill Apartments on Cabanne.

Question: Is this historic City building named after the British politician or the famous St. Louis author?

migueltejada · PostNov 12, 2006#22006-11-12T23:15+00:00

Would you like some tea? Yes I would because I'm winston churchill. Would you like a muffin? Yes I would because I'm Winston Churchill.

family guy rules!

smsplanstu · PostNov 13, 2006#32006-11-13T01:04+00:00

Originally designed as luxury apartments

It's great that the rehabilitation of former luxury apartment buildings north of Delmar are beginning to be bought up and rehabbed. I hope this becomes a trend and does not stop with this one building.

Winston Churchill Apartments

5435-75 Cabanne

8 floors

Eagle Point Enterprises(Maine)

$12 million development

bastiat · PostNov 13, 2006#42006-11-13T05:28+00:00

This is great news. This area between Delmar and Page should become a hotspot in coming years due to the eastward movement of the Loop. There are a lot of great old houses in this area.

jeff vanderlou · PostNov 13, 2006#52006-11-13T15:06+00:00

If you're thinking gentrification here you're wrong. These will not be luxury units ever again. Eagle Point Enterprises does essentially what McCormac Barron, HRI, and Pyramid all do - make their living from renovating housing for low-income, subsidized, public housing groups.

bastiat · PostNov 13, 2006#62006-11-13T18:39+00:00

Jeff Vanderlou wrote:If you're thinking gentrification here you're wrong. These will not be luxury units ever again. Eagle Point Enterprises does essentially what McCormac Barron, HRI, and Pyramid all do - make their living from renovating housing for low-income, subsidized, public housing groups.

Crap.

smsplanstu · PostNov 13, 2006#72006-11-13T18:48+00:00

McCorrmack Baron mixes lower income with standard and higher ranges.

For a refresher on the Upper West End see this thread

http://www.urbanstl.com/viewtopic.php?t=1226

debaliviere · PostNov 13, 2006#82006-11-13T19:55+00:00

I'm interested to see what this building looks like - it's been a while since I visited Cabanne, so it's not ringing a bell.

bastiat · PostNov 14, 2006#92006-11-14T01:08+00:00

DeBaliviere wrote:I'm interested to see what this building looks like - it's been a while since I visited Cabanne, so it's not ringing a bell.

You can get a general idea with this satellite view. Ugly suburban style homes can be seen as well and more have probably been built since the satellite snapped the picture.

This neighborhood has lost a lot of its density, but I think it could make a great neighborhood with some modern and Chicago style infill. It's proximity to the Loop and the Metrolink (and soon, trolley) is a definite plus. Visitation Park could be a strong magnet if it is given the proper care.

Regarding my earlier comment, I dislike the fact that once great neighborhoods that have fallen on hard times are to be basically designated as low income areas permanently due to subsidized housing. The architecture of the area would clearly draw higher rents if left to the market. I experienced a similar situation in Uptown Chicago.

I can understand the dislike of gentrification due to the displacement of longtime residents, but this is due to rising property taxes. If I had my way, I would do away with property taxes (see education thread). Longtime residents would not be forced to move due to higher taxes, but would have the ability to cash in on the higher property values by selling if they wished to do so. This would create a more diverse neighborhood and would squelch any resentment towards new neighbors (and arson against new construction). Subsidization should be done away with though.

debaliviere · PostNov 14, 2006#102006-11-14T03:04+00:00

Thanks for the satellite link - that is a huge building! And what a great location, overlooking Visitation Park. There's an awful lot of vacant land on that block of Cabanne - let's hope this spurs some additional development.

brickandmortar · PostNov 14, 2006#112006-11-14T15:30+00:00

Another thing I noticed in the street map is the old streetcar line now called 'Suburban Trak'. The line extends from the old Hodiamont right of way to Vandeventer. If a streetcar was running that today, it could conceivably connect from Grand to the Delmar MetroLink station(and a future Loop Trolley).

That said a streetcar could facilitate better developments(read: urban) in Cabanne as opposed to the tract housing visible in the satellite photo. I too wish we would see more Chicago style infill developments in St. Louis.

publiceye · PostNov 14, 2006#122006-11-14T19:57+00:00

The expert from the Landmarks Association opines that the Winston Churchill Apartments are, in fact, named for the St. Louis-born American author Winston Churchill.

You can read about him here.

tiabstl · PostNov 15, 2006#132006-11-15T01:21+00:00

Ok, not to sound like a total idiot, but how do you pronounce "Cabanne?"

Is it "Kab-annie,""Kah-bann," or something completely different? Please give pitty. It took me forever to figure out how to pronounce "Machacek."

I think we should re-name it "Çabanné." A cedilla can always add a much needed touch of class.

shadrach · PostNov 15, 2006#142006-11-15T18:43+00:00

TIABstl wrote:It took me forever to figure out how to pronounce "Machacek."

Mack-uh-check (?)

At least that's what the librarian at the Carondelet (pronouned 'et' as in past tense of ate) brach called it as well as 'Cabinney.'

which, BTW, are the last three branches that have not been renovated.

Lesson: if no one knows how to pronounce your name, you're not getting rehabbed.