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St. Louis to Hand Paul McKee, NorthSide, 162 Acres of the City, Sell 34-Acre Pruitt-Igoe Site for $1M

Published on Saturday, 11 February 2012 08:59

Written by Alex Ihnen

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.

NorthSide "Retail Opportunities" Map Gives Glimpse into Expansive Development Plan

Published on Friday, 27 January 2012 15:56

Written by Alex Ihnen

Every so often a snippet of NorthSide news pops up. What we know of development progress is piecemeal. Clearly the economy isn't aiding progress. The last significant development was the addition of the 17-acre, long stagnant, Bottle District to the development area. Although the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen agreed to transfer the $51M TIF ordinance to NorthSide, no development plans have been released, other than the acknowledgement that we will not see gleaming glass-skinned skyscrapers as previous developers had dreamed. News isn't exactly a State secret, but little is widely shared.

So what popped up recently was a map of "retail opportunities" as being marketed by NorthSide. Seems boring enough. But the issue of NorthSide, and it's an issue, as much as a development, is that many of these proposed retail developments are proposed for where homes and businesses reside. No doubt that most, if not very nearly all, proposed development opportunities being marketed are owned by NorthSide and Paul McKee, but an in-depth analysis will have to be done by someone with the time and expertise to sort through more than 1,000 NorthSide parcels and another 1,000 owned by the City of St. Louis, and are likely to be part of any NorthSide development.

Getting Used to Failure: Thoughts on North St. Louis

Published on Monday, 15 August 2011 10:58

Written by Joe Monahan

While St. Louis has always been near and dear to my heart, I have been something of a prodigal son to this fair town. After growing up in University City, I went to Boston for college (if I leave it that vague, it sounds like maybe I went to Harvard). Upon graduation I moved to Kansas City because, well, that’s where I got a job.

Although I think Boston is a world-class city, and I have quickly grown to love KC, St. Louis has always been Home with a capital “H” for me. When I finished teaching this year and people asked how I was spending my summer, I didn’t say I was going to live at my mom’s house. I simply said, “I’m going home.”

Home and I had a little catching up to do. My passions for this city and for urban environments in general had blossomed since I’d been away, but they lacked the concrete grounding of daily experience. So, before I had even started unpacking my bags, I took off on my bike for a re-acquaintance tour with the city. I cruised down Lindell, passed SLU, did a quick loop of downtown, explored City Garden for the first time (sue me), and then headed North.

Film Review: The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

Published on Thursday, 12 May 2011 02:22

Written by Alex Ihnen

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: An Urban History is an incredible film. It doesn't answer a single question about the failure of Pruitt-Igoe.

Maybe that's why the film is so engrossing. The film sets out to defy conventional wisdom, to refute long-held beliefs, the myths built to define, and absolve us of, the public housing project's demise: the high rise architecture was to blame, the residents were immoral and didn't care for their homes, the free market better provides housing for the poor. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth succeeds by not simplifying what is plainly the story of the American city. You leave only understanding that the story of Pruitt-Igoe is more complicated, more personal than you thought before you entered.

While a clear answer may not be offered, a story of unmistakable clarity emerges. Pruitt-Igoe is St. Louis. St. Louis is Pruitt-Igoe. The public housing project failed as the city failed. Built for a post-war St. Louis of 1M people, fewer than 500,000 residents remained as the last of 33 buildings was demolished in 1977. The first tower to be razed was imploded in 1972. In this way, Pruitt-Igoe itself is the screen on which we can view our city's history.

Is NorthSide Close to Landing Major Partners? Topos Features NorthSide Regeneration Project

Published on Tuesday, 12 April 2011 12:21

Written by Alex Ihnen

The International Review of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, Topos, takes a quick survey of the NorthSide Regeneration project. It provides a view of the project from a different perspective than what we have seen locally. From a strictly planning perspective, it's apparent that NorthSide and Civitas have done their homework.

The NorthSide Regneration area isn't a clean slate by any means, but it does offer the opportunity to rethink things in a new way. Bringing true high-speed Internet and a smart electric grid to the area help drive business growth and point toward a sustainable future. The article was published at the end of last year, and so the new news may no longer be new, but it's worth repeating here, "On the private side, a large retailer has committed to becoming the first food centre in the neighborhood and a leading manufacturer of green batteries is negotiating for a site."