Inside the Metropolis

A major political force within St. Louis wants to demolish a viable piece of architecture for parking, and an apathetic community is allowing it to happen--it’s an oft-repeated scenario in our city, and the fact that it is happening again is no surprise, but nevertheless, borders on the ridiculous. Though this sad story generally brings to mind turn-of-the-century office buildings falling for massive parking garages downtown, this chapter is different.

This could be a big year for developer Paul J. McKee, Jr. The developer who has assembled hundreds of parcels in north St. Louis without announcing a solid development plan will have to decide whether or not to apply for a new Missouri tax credit for land assemblage before other developers do the same. Since McKee’s attorney Steve Stone drafted the first version of the tax credit, I’d bet that McKee has a strong interest in applying.

Nestled between two prominent landmarks, the glitzy new Lumiere Place casino complex and the venerable Ashley Street Power House, stands a group of warehouse buildings. These aren’t the most iconic buildings – certainly not amid such strong competition. Still, the street wall presence of three buildings on Leonor K. Sullivan Drive between Carr and Biddle ties together disparate sections of riverfront fabric.

Last September, the Riverfront Times gave the Mullanphy Emigrant Home in Old North St. Louis the title of 2007’s “Best Lost Cause.” The historic building suffered the collapse of much of its south wall in a storm in April 2006 and had barely been saved from the brink of demolition when a March 2007 storm caused masonry on parts of the east and north walls to collapse. The building’s repair bill skyrocketed from $150,000 to $350,000. However, thanks to the efforts of the Old North St.

One of the first rules of rehabbing is that everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much money as estimated – on a good day. That’s if the homeowner hires everything out. For the do-it-yourselfer, twice as long can easily become fives times as long. Yet just as eating outdoors in the springtime makes food taste better, doing it yourself can make the rehab so much more enjoyable.