There aren’t a lot of opportunities for infill in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood just on the north side of Forest Park. However, new construction may be coming to one corner that has sat vacant for decades. Owned by the City of St. Louis since at least 2008, UIC has designed three single-family homes for 6001-6007 Pershing Avenue.
UIC will provide development services, construction financing, architecture and general contracting on the project. The corner lot is planned to be a custom-built home for the property owner, a longtime resident of the neighborhood, with the remaining two lots being for-sale homes.
The project is set to go before the city’s Preservation Board June 27th. The site is within the Skinker-DeBaliviere- Caitlin Tract Historic District. The homes are meant to echo the mix of architectural styles in the district.
The St. Louis City Cultural Resources Office has recently produced the New Construction Standards Based on Compatibility report (PDF), seeking to better define and encourage compatible contemporary infill in the city’s many historic districts. UIC is one of the firms that has consistently pushed the boundaries of historic district ordinances. Its recent plan for Benton Park infill presented an historic form with contemporary elements.
UIC is well known for its Botanical Grove development in the City of St. Louis. The develop-design-build company has sold four new construction homes in The Grove, across from it’s first custom home. Another custom home is on the way, and the company has completed infill in the Central West End, broken ground on new construction apartments in Shaw, and designed a now-completed contemporary mixed-use building on Manchester Avenue.
