ST. LOUIS — Forest Park Southeast, home to the city’s popular Grove entertainment district, is poised to add hundreds of new apartments under two major projects proposed by developer .
A $55 million plan for the corner of Swan and Taylor avenues would add 307 apartments and 1,400 square feet of commercial space to the site occupied by two industrial buildings that Green Street plans to demolish. The 6-acre site would also get a 381-spot parking garage as part of the plan.
That project is being paired with a second, scattered-site development that would build 168 apartments and town homes on six sites to the east of Taylor. Half of those apartments would be leased at below-market rate in order to maintain some income diversity in the quickly redeveloping neighborhood.
The projects follow Green Street’s 235-apartment Chroma project at the northeast end of the neighborhood near Vandeventer and Manchester avenues, which it co-developed with the Koman Group.
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The latest projects are near the southwest corner of the neighborhood, about a block south of Manchester and the popular Urban Chestnut Brewing beer hall that Clayton-based Green Street also helped develop. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second quarter and be complete by the summer of 2021. Rental rates are estimated at around $2.05 per square foot.
“Our hope is to bring some density to that end of the Grove,†Green Street President Brian Pratt told the city’s .
LCRA recommended 10 years of 75% tax abatement for the 307-unit market rate project on Swan. Board member Sean Spencer called it a “bold statement†and an “investment in a long-neglected area†of the neighborhood.
The mixed-income project, meanwhile, is the second phase of a mixed-income development process overseen by the . The first, Adams Grove, included 50 affordable homes developed in the neighborhood and 46 market-rate homes.
Green Street will be involved in the second phase of that plan, this time developing smaller apartment buildings and connected row homes on several sites on Vista, Norfolk and Swan avenues. The $27.6 million worth of projects should start around the same time as the large apartment building in order to coordinate infrastructure improvements and open by the middle of 2021. It’s in a redevelopment area that allows an 85% property tax abatement.
Pratt said Green Street has tried to concentrate its investment in the neighborhood and still feels bullish even after all the new apartments that have opened in recent years.
“We still feel very strong there’s depth in the market,†he said.
It’s not the only project Green Street is looking at in the area. Just across the railroad tracks at 4591 and 4565 McRee Avenue, Green Street plans a $40 million rehab of two old warehouses into an entertainment venue as well as offices and bars and restaurants. The LCRA has recommended a decade of tax abatement at 50% and 90% for those projects.
Meanwhile, Amy and Amrit Gill’s plans another apartment project on the 4400 block of Manchester Avenue across from Urban Chestnut. The $13.3 million project would add 60 apartments in a five-story building similar to their existing apartments just to the east.
