$15 million condominium development planned
Jim Merkel
Of the Suburban Journals
South City Journal
01/18/2006
A developer will spend $15 million to build 33 upscale condominiums and several stores on the southwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Arsenal Street.
Millennium Restoration and Development Corp. of St. Louis hopes to break ground on the Fleur-de-Lis development this summer.
This is the biggest project thus far for Millennium, a partnership of Tim Vogt and his mother, Claire Vogt.
Millennium has done about 30 single family homes, mostly historical restorations, in the Tower Grove East, Benton Park West, Benton Park, Soulard, McKinley Heights and Fox Park neighborhoods. It plans to sell this year in the Shaw, Gravois Park and Marine Villa neighborhoods.
"This'll be nicer than anything that's been built in the whole area," said Tim Vogt.
"I think it's going to be hugely successful and no doubt is going to stimulate the development of Jefferson from I-44 to Cherokee," Tim Vogt said. "All the people that come to this location will help to market all the businesses on Cherokee west of Jefferson and east of Jefferson."
Most of the buildings will be four stories while a corner of one building will be five stories.
The first floor is to be stores, including an upscale grocery, a coffee shop, a dry cleaner, a restaurant and fitness center.
The Vogts chose the stores after surveying residents of the neighborhood. "There's definitely a need for a gourmet grocer," Tim Vogt said. The closest grocery store is at South Grand Boulevard and Gravois Avenue, he said.
The condominium units will range from 1,100 to 2,600 square feet and from two bedrooms to four bedrooms. The price range will be $180,000 to $600,000.
Part of the development cost will be underwritten by tax increment financing. In a TIF, part of the new taxes from a development are used for specific costs of the project.
The amount of the TIF isn't yet known, Tim Vogt said.
The company consulted residents of surrounding areas to get their full support, Vogt said. It worked closely with Alderman Kenneth Ortmann, D-9th Ward, the city Office of Cultural Resources, the city Community Development Administration and Rollin Stanley, director of the city Planning and Urban Design Agency.
Ortmann said previously there was an empty gas station and a closed Chinese restaurant on the property. The Chinese restaurant had been a fast-food restaurant.
The city received a Brownfields grant to remove the gasoline storage tanks from the service station area and clean up the property, Ortmann said. If the city hadn't received the grant, the property might not have been reused, Ortmann said.
"In the 9th Ward, you don't get this much space," Ortmann said.
The city issued requests for proposals from developers and received three responses. The Benton Park West Housing Corp. chose Millennium's proposal
In a meeting involving representatives of the Benton Park West, Benton Park, Gravois Park and Marine Villa neighborhoods, the Millennium proposal proved popular, Ortmann said. "When we asked for support, it was overwhelming," he said.
There was one comment about one of the buildings going up to five stories, Ortmann said. But there is another building on Jefferson that also reaches five stories, he said.
"The retail spaces will provide businesses and jobs, so there's so many more pluses," Ortmann said.
Of the Suburban Journals
South City Journal
01/18/2006
A developer will spend $15 million to build 33 upscale condominiums and several stores on the southwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Arsenal Street.
Millennium Restoration and Development Corp. of St. Louis hopes to break ground on the Fleur-de-Lis development this summer.
This is the biggest project thus far for Millennium, a partnership of Tim Vogt and his mother, Claire Vogt.
Millennium has done about 30 single family homes, mostly historical restorations, in the Tower Grove East, Benton Park West, Benton Park, Soulard, McKinley Heights and Fox Park neighborhoods. It plans to sell this year in the Shaw, Gravois Park and Marine Villa neighborhoods.
"This'll be nicer than anything that's been built in the whole area," said Tim Vogt.
"I think it's going to be hugely successful and no doubt is going to stimulate the development of Jefferson from I-44 to Cherokee," Tim Vogt said. "All the people that come to this location will help to market all the businesses on Cherokee west of Jefferson and east of Jefferson."
Most of the buildings will be four stories while a corner of one building will be five stories.
The first floor is to be stores, including an upscale grocery, a coffee shop, a dry cleaner, a restaurant and fitness center.
The Vogts chose the stores after surveying residents of the neighborhood. "There's definitely a need for a gourmet grocer," Tim Vogt said. The closest grocery store is at South Grand Boulevard and Gravois Avenue, he said.
The condominium units will range from 1,100 to 2,600 square feet and from two bedrooms to four bedrooms. The price range will be $180,000 to $600,000.
Part of the development cost will be underwritten by tax increment financing. In a TIF, part of the new taxes from a development are used for specific costs of the project.
The amount of the TIF isn't yet known, Tim Vogt said.
The company consulted residents of surrounding areas to get their full support, Vogt said. It worked closely with Alderman Kenneth Ortmann, D-9th Ward, the city Office of Cultural Resources, the city Community Development Administration and Rollin Stanley, director of the city Planning and Urban Design Agency.
Ortmann said previously there was an empty gas station and a closed Chinese restaurant on the property. The Chinese restaurant had been a fast-food restaurant.
The city received a Brownfields grant to remove the gasoline storage tanks from the service station area and clean up the property, Ortmann said. If the city hadn't received the grant, the property might not have been reused, Ortmann said.
"In the 9th Ward, you don't get this much space," Ortmann said.
The city issued requests for proposals from developers and received three responses. The Benton Park West Housing Corp. chose Millennium's proposal
In a meeting involving representatives of the Benton Park West, Benton Park, Gravois Park and Marine Villa neighborhoods, the Millennium proposal proved popular, Ortmann said. "When we asked for support, it was overwhelming," he said.
There was one comment about one of the buildings going up to five stories, Ortmann said. But there is another building on Jefferson that also reaches five stories, he said.
"The retail spaces will provide businesses and jobs, so there's so many more pluses," Ortmann said.
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