Developer Above All Development is set to break ground on six rental townhomes in the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood, commonly known as The Grove. According to a posting by the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corporation. The two bedroom, two bath units will meaure 1,332 square feet and rent for $1,500.
Stated amenities include a two-car attached garage, a second floor deck, granite counter tops, stainless appliances, walk-in closets, vinyl wood plank flooring throughout, and a washer and dryer in each unit. The development site is a vacant lot on the southeast corner of Chouteau and Tower Grove Avenues. All Above Development is currently completing phase I of Aventura at Forest Park. It had been long rumored that a townhome development on this lot was imminent.
{Chouteau looking east to left, Tower Grove looking south to right}
{Aventura phase I in orange – townhomes in yellow – new I-64 interchange/roundabout in blue}
The developer is counting on the continued growth of the nearby medical center and CORTEX projects already underway to drive demand. The townhomes are across the street from the yet-to-be funded Chouteau Park and a block from the new I-64 Tower Grove Avenue interchange which begins construction any day. The townhomes are the third new construction infill project in the neighborhood, following a private residence by UIC and Aventura.
While new construction and new residents are positive for the neighborhood, the apparent design (judging from drawings above) will likely be unpopular with the same people who find Aventura to be a poorly planned suburban development in this historic neighborhood. However, there seems to be very little support among neighborhod residents to introduce form-based code or create a local historic district that would regulate infill design to some extent.
Unfortunately, the current, anything goes-we just need development please, plan allows for disappointing infill. It also allowed for the UIC private residence, but infill guidelines could be written to achieve both. The Grove is changing fast and an incredible amount of character remains, but its fate may still be determined by the quality of infill on the many open sites across the neighborhood.
{residential infill in The Grove by UIC}
The old restaurant and office building at Chouteau and Vandeventer is being demolished for a QuikTrip. The intial vision for a new Commerce Bank across Vandeventer is awful, and acres of adjacent development await a plan. Then there’s the developer’s vision to demolish 120 residential units at the other end of the neighborhood. The lack of any coherent plan for what is an intact, rather small city neighborhood is appalling. If such a place with incredible potential can both fail and succeed at the same time, The Grove may just be that place.
