Request for Proposals: Kingshighway & Chippewa
The Citizens of St. Louis are seeking quality development concepts for the area bounded by Chippewa, Ridgewood, Delor and Kingshighway (map). We are seeking proposals to be ahead of developers which will no doubt propose typical big box sprawl. Development plan should be considered a master plan for the area — not necessarily a call to take the area shown by eminent domain. Development may happen over a period of years as existing structures reach the end of their service life or as properties are sold.
Proposals are sought for old/new urbanist developments that will integrate the site into the adjacent street grid, create connections between neighborhoods, and provide a sustainable mix of uses. Big box stores are welcomed but not the parking lots. Parking can take the form of on-street parking or structured parking. Surface parking lots should not be considered.
Proposals should take the form of a site plan in JPG format at 480 pixels wide and PDF at a size that you deem appropriate. Additional text explaining the proposal should be limited to 500 words and submitted in the body of an email or attached in Word or Pages format.
Submissions will be published but remain the property of the creator.
Submission Deadline:
Tuesday November 9th (was 1st, extended 10/26 1:40pm), 2005, 5pm
Submit to: steve@urbanreviewstl.com
Applicants should consider retaining existing residences along Delor Street, including the alley behind these properties. Residences facing Ridgewood — single family, multi-family, and senior — may be retained or replaced.
Consideration should be given to retaining the two-story brick structure shown at left. The primary entry is to the North.
The building at right should also be retained in the development scheme if possible.
The former funeral home, at left, should be included in future concepts where feasible. As this building is set back from the sidewalk line give thought to ways to utilize the space between the facade and sidewalk.
Problems include changes of terrain, former industrial uses, numerous existing buildings. Solutions should divide the area into multiple city blocks, allowing for separate ownership and development. Resolve issues of street names creating a grid — note the changes of names to the East and West — in particular Itaska.
New proposals should be respectful of the adjacent street grid, existing buildings mentioned above, and the principals of the Congress for the New Urbanism.
I look forward to seeing everyone’s proposals.
– Steve
This is brilliant, Steve.
Democratized development.
I can’t wait to come up with a proposal for this. I have a good weekend project.
Wholly Cow.. Nov 1st? I have some work to do! Not sure I can fit this in but its definitely an exciting prospect! Lets not forget the anchor for this development on the south- the Firehouse. Its got great potential with the end of the bike path and connection to the River Des Peres Greenway. I have a feeling at some point the city may choose to relocate the function of the firehouse, knowing the city. Anyone have inside knowlege on this one with respect to the firehouse and if it will stay for a while?
[REPLY – Yes, the 1st is soon. I just changed the deadline to the 9th. The firehouse is outside the boundaries I was thinking – but barely. – SLP]
My recommendation: turn the whole development over to Freddy Friction. Make it Frederick’s Music Lounge Arena & Emporium.
Now this is really hypothetical (and not just due to current funding prospects), but suppose the Southside MetroLink extension would divert off the Union Pacific right-of-way after Home Depot, essentially following the old rail spur to serve this development area and surrounding neighborhoods.
A potential barrier though is where you would then head south after Delor to get to South County along I-55. You could follow the Christy Greenway to River Des Peres, but I can imagine parks/trails folks would not be too happy with the visual impacts. Plus, shifting the line west would mean Bevo/Southampton’s gain, but Dutchtown/Carondelet’s loss.
[REPLY – Oh sure, try to get the MetroLink even further from those of us East of Grand!
But, I could see a Kingshighway streetcar line connecting Tower Grove Park, a MetroLink station at Kingshighway and looping through this new project. – SLP]
This is of course off the main subject and I am probably going to get railed (pun intended), but the who ever decided where these lines were going to go anyway? My whole issue with mass transit is that it isn’t any faster than driving a car. Until you can make my commute faster or about the same I probably won’t use it unless I couldn’t afford a car. The people who decided where to put these lines know this and instead located them closer to where they know they will get ridership. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never get anything other than a bus going by my house, and if I were to get on it, it would take me 45 minutes to get to work instead of my 15 minute commute now. I would rather spend that time with my family (or sleeping).
Sorry to be pedantic, but isn’t November 9th a Wednesday? Tuesday (Election Day) is November 8th.
Joe Frank
Personally, I would like to see the Christy Park bikeway extended north via that former railroad right-of-way. Unfortunately, it no longer exists as a continuous ROW. The only section still owned by the railroad is north of Beck Avenue (behind the Southtown Centre). The rest was added to adjacent properties like Shop N Save and Magdalen Field years ago.
Okay, this is a far fetched idea but that’s what brainstorming is suppose to be about, right? Everything’s on the table. I propose that a hospital or other large medical center campus be built on the proposed development site. The campus facility can take advantage of the long-term health and medical facilities that already exist in that area. The area between the shopping center and towers can be converted into a very nice city park and works as an extension of Christy park to the south.