Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee

The tradition continues. Its not as glamorous as Mardi Gras or St. Patrick’s Day, but Cinco de Mayo holds its own. If you’re looking for an “authentic” Cinco de Mayo celebration instead of hitting up your local Chevy’s, you might want ot head down to Cherokee Street in the South St. Louis neighborhood of Benton Park West this weekend (May 3, 2008). Seeing as the celebration actually takes place on the 3rd of May, its not really a true Cinco de Mayo party, but its the spirit of the event that counts. Read more

Tower Grove East condos

This project has been under development for a while now, but it’s good to see that the condos on the southeast corner of Sidney & Nebraska are coming along. Located in a former Phillips 66 auto repair shop at 2600 Nebraska in the Tower Grove East neighborhood of South St. Louis, these condos will be a welcome addition to the landscape. I don’t know much about the project at this point other than that the condos are said to be “loft” style. Read more

Connecticut rehab underway

I’ve been a little irregular on posting this week because we finally closed on our rehab project on Connecticut Wednesday. It’s been nothing but work since and I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is a part-time project for me and I don’t plan on keeping up this feverish pace for the entire project, but there are so many things to do. As with any project, my inital goals have been security and demo work. Although I’m not 100% satisfied with either, I’m getting close. Read more

Development potential in Ellendale

If you are in the area of the City defined by Manchester on the North, I-44 on the South, Hampton on the East, and City Limits on the West, you’re paying a visit to neighborhood known as Ellendale. I’ve always considered it to be one of the “forgotten” South City neighborhoods. Or would that be considered Central City? Some might even confuse part of the neighborhood as being in the City of Maplewood due to the similarities in housing styles. Whatever the reason, I have always thought it has been relatively under appreciated. Read more

Mayor Slay on Downtown

If you read the St. Louis Post Dispatch, you likely saw the two disturbing stories in the newspaper this weekend about some problems with Downtown developments. The respective stories included an article about Pyramid Development bailing out of the Mercantile Exchange project and a general Downtown article, which implied that the SkyHouse project on Washington Avenue was dead. Read more

Keeping good financial records

I’m always astounded at how many investors don’t keep detailed records on their properties. Especially since most of this data is submitted to the IRS at tax time. For some reason or another, after the data has served it’s initial us, the information often gets tossed aside. If your records look like this picture or if they end up in the trash can, I encourage you to think twice about what you do. You are losing out on valuable information, which is crucial to any landlord’s business. Read more

Countdown to closing

Only four more days until we close on the single-family on Connecticut. I have arranged for the utilities to be switched over or turned on; the roof work, window replacement and hardwood refinishing have been setup; and I find myself growing impatient. I always look forward to closing deals (who doesn’t look forward to a paycheck), but this time things are different. My work is usually done when the deal is closed. In this case, at close, my work will only just be starting. Read more

Hi-Pointe Theatre closing and reopening

If you want to see a movie at the Hi-Pointe, you better go tonight. The bar of the same name closed in 2006 and it looks like the theater is about to meet the same fate. When the screen goes dark after the 9:15pm showing of Run Fatboy Run, Landmark Theatres will be closing up shop on the historic theater. Read more

Union Club progressing nicely

If you often drive I-44 in St. Louis City, you’ve probably been wondering what’s going on at the southeast corner of Lafayette and Jefferson. This development project has been hard to miss as it has rapidly progressed from foundation towards completion. Being developed by local developer, Gilded Age, this project has been named and modeled after the Union Club in honor of the building that stood at the site until a tornado destroyed it in 1896. Read more

Note on Chouteau’s Landing

I went to my first Cardinals game of 2008 last night. It was a little chilly for baseball, but it was great to see the team pull out a victory and move to 10-4 (who’s laughing now ESPN?). Though the sports fan in me kept most of my attention on the game, I couldn’t help but occasionally take my eyes off the action to look at the crater known as “Pujol’s Pond” beyond center field. Read more

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