After nearly a decade of land purchases and years of speculation and false starts, the massive NorthSide Regeneration project is set to break ground on its first retail development. A Dollar General retail location is planned for the northeast corner of North Grand and Cass Avenue. All four corners of the intersection are vacant. A $1.4M building permit has been requested for 1500 North Grand with an additional $45,000 permit for additional parking on an adjacent lot along Cass. No site plan has yet been made available.

While many of the more than 2,000 lots comprising NorthSide are scattered across 1,500 acres of the city, the effort has aggregated lots at several high profile locations. The intersection of Grand and Cass was one. NorthSide owns the southeast corner, the city's Land Reutilization Authority (LRA), the northwest corner and a private owner the southwest. Dollar General reached 10,000 stores nationwide in 2012, including 379 in Missouri.

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The photos are beautiful, stunning. It strikes me that there is so much truth in the photos, that to nitpick or complain about the attention brought to St. Louis' decay, to dwell on sensational language, or reach for the exception that proves the rule, is misplaced. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a much more positive story to tell in St. Louis. The photographer, Demond Meek, isn't required to tell it, he can photograph what he wants. And to be honest, it remains less than clear what that better story is exactly (declining population but rising affluence, the unlikely saving of many buildings while many more are lost, a looming renaissance in the number of residents and quality of life?). Images of neglected urban landscapes are powerful. The photos make clear what has happened to St. Louis.



The photos have come to everyone's attention via a feature on the Daily Mail online. It starts, "With boarded up windows, peeling paint and crumbling bricks these deserted St.Louis buildings have been long forgotten. Residents seem to have fled years ago and the dilapidated properties now serve as a bleak reminder of the Missouri city's declining population and struggling industry." (And just in case you would like to know who's to blame for the neglect, the Daily Mail online commenters are happy to tell you it's the "liberal democrats" who rule cities, and those who only care about the "thug life".)

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The Land Reutilization Authority did not cause the abandonment of North St. Louis City. Paul McKee did not cause the abandonment of North St. Louis City. The process of abandonment began more than six decades ago and was fueled by a boom in automobility, federal subsidies for suburban development, racism and many other social forces at work over that time period. The abandonment became intransigent as the geographically limited city lost revenue and had few means to combat the issue. As suburban communities prospered, they took no ownership of this abandonment. The City was left to rot. It had no choice other than to take ownership of abandoned land.

If that's an accurate statement of abandonment in North St. Louis City, what are we to make of the current state of the NorthSide Regeneration development area? The City has been eager to support Paul McKee, his land purchases and sought-after tax incentives. Selling 1,233 parcels of abandoned land to a private developer would make national news if it happened on a coast, or in a sexy rest belt city. The option for sale on the infamous Pruitt-Igoe site is the first private interest in decades. Does that mean, as the Mayor recently claimed, that the process has proven successful? 

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Mark Twain once wrote, "The first time I ever saw St. Louis, I could have bought it for six million dollars, and it was the mistake of my life that I did not do it." Paul McKee appears set to not make the same mistake. First, he purchased hundreds of parcels of land across a wide swath of north St. Louis City, at first with no one noticing. There was, N & G Ventures LC, Noble Development Company LLC, VHS Partners LLC, PATH Enterprise Company LLC, Allston Alliance LC, Sheridan Place LC, Dodier Investors LLC, MLK 3000 LLC, Larmer LC, Union Martin LLC and of course Blairmont. That's the name that stuck when Michael Allen of the Preservation Research Office first pegged the purchases to McKee. Once the process became public, the purchases slowed, but continued. At Sheriff's sales and through private transactions, his holdings grew strategically. In the meantime, allegations regarding brick theft and fires, usually stopping just short of implying complicity on McKee's part, appeared.

All along, those hoping for a better city and reinvestment in North St. Louis put their faith, if not their enthusiasm, in what would become the NorthSide Regeneration project. By 2011, McKee owned nearly 1,000 parcels. Recently, with the city's blessing, McKee acquired the 17-acre Bottle District site just north of the Edward Jones Dome. As far back as 2009, it was anticipated that the more than 1,200 city-owned parcels in the redevelopment area were likely to become part of this redevelopment effort as well. It appears that this is now set to happen. The Post-Dispatch's Tim Logan reports that the city's "top development officials" and Mayor Slay are supporting the move. Included in the sale would be the 34-acre Pruitt-Igoe housing project site. The price? $100,000 for a two-year option and a final total price of $1M to purchase. The approval process begins Monday. Effectively, no one other than McKee has the opportunity to purchase the land in question. NorthSide spans the JeffVanderLou, St. Louis Place and Carr Square neighborhoods.

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