St. Louis earning tax

Some days of the year are cherished. These holidays allow us to relax and enjoy ourselves. Then there are days like April 15th: Tax Day. For those of you getting money back, this might be considered among those cherished days. For others it is as bad as it gets. Read more

Rents on the rise

Despite the gloom and doom touted by the media, right now is a great time to be a landlord or real estate investor. You’re going to have a tough time if you’re trying to sell, but the current buyers market is opening up some real deals. But this fact is by no means a secret. What seems to be less recognized is how much our local rental market is improving in response to these current market changes. Read more

Before pictures of Connecticut

Things are progressing nicely with my upcoming project. A few roof issues came up early in the week, but the seller took care of things to our satisfaction. The title work is complete, we have loan commitment and our line of credit for construction funds is in place. Other than meeting a few contractors at the property, its pretty much a “sit back and wait” kind of deal until the 23rd. Read more

3 developments in FPSE

Driving through the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood (aka. The Grove) earlier this week, I stumbled across three mixed-use development projects, which I had been unaware of. I guess the warm weather has brought the construction crews out of doors, shining some light on their efforts. I’ve been a big fan of what’s been going on in the neighborhood over the past couple of years Read more

Home improvement fraud

Don’t let this man’s phony smile fool you. He could be a thief. If someone comes knocking at your door, claiming to be a contractor, be careful of what you do. I just received this forward from a Circuit Attorney in the City of St. Louis. If you live or own any properties in the City you should really take this one to heart. Read more

South Grand update

It took a little long than expected, but I finally got my hands on original copies of the pictures and proposals for the South Grand Great Streets Initiative proposal. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check last week’s post regarding the planned streetscape improvements for this prominent South St. Louis commercial corridor. You can download the proposals by clicking on the appropriate links below: Read more

Beware of MOLD! It’s bad

The “big three” health hazards of the rehab and rental world are lead paint, asbestos and mold. Of the three, mold seems to get the least amount of attention. But the thing about lead paint and asbestos is you either have these problems in your building or you don’t. There is no need to protect yourself against them if you they aren’t on the premises at the time of purchase. Read more

My upcoming project

I’ve represented others in their rehab projects, done construction work for others, and handed out countless bits of rehab advice in the past few years. Always working for others, but never for myself. Until now that is. I’d like to introduce my little pet project for the next few months. Read more

South Grand streetscape

This past Monday (March 31, 2008) I attended a public meeting showcasing the proposed designs for streetscape improvements along South Grand between Arsenal and McDonald. Being touted as an “example project” of East-West Gateway’s new “St. Louis Great Streets Initiative”, the project would take significant steps to beautify the area, slow down traffic and make it more pedestrian friendly overall. Read more

A few words on Ballpark Village

Since I was in the middle of transferring my blog last week when the big story broke that Centene was backing out of the Ballpark Village project in Downtown St. Louis, I figured I’d post a few thoughts on the situation. Everyone seems to have their own spin on what this means for the project, but it is pretty clear that it is going to have a pretty significant affect on the overall development. Read more

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