ST. LOUIS — A row of vacant, dilapidated houses on South Kingshighway that ºüÀêÊÓƵ officials had once wanted to preserve instead saw the wrecking ball on Monday. City Hall determined they were a threat to public safety.
By midafternoon Monday, the crew from ºüÀêÊÓƵ-based Bellon Wrecking had flattened one of the seven buildings at Kingshighway and Oakland Avenue. Mangled metal piled on the ground; bricks had been stacked nearby. Some of the units were still standing, their backs open like doll houses.
A woman walking two dogs in the alley smiled as she walked past the demo crew: “It’s a beautiful sight!â€
It was a scene the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ didn’t want to happen two years ago.
Apartment developer Lux Living had purchased them from Drury Hotels, which owned the houses for years.
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But city officials barred Lux from demolishing the buildings, across Interstate 64 from Barnes Jewish Hospital, saying they were structurally sound. And Lux’s idea for the site, they said — to build a 155-unit, six-story apartment complex — would not fit the neighborhood character. Many Forest Park Southeast neighbors also did not trust Lux Living, which had gained a reputation for questionable business and management tactics and sometimes moved tenants into apartments that were still under construction.
Lux appealed the city’s decision. But the buildings continued to deteriorate.
Then this past June, the city ordered Lux to stabilize the row. The buildings had collapsed awnings, disintegrating brick steps and holes in exterior walls.
It’s unclear whether Lux Living followed the city’s order to stabilize them. In November, the developer sold the block to a couple who then sold it to Kansas City-based NorthPoint Development.
NorthPoint said in a statement Monday that it secured an emergency demolition in hopes of clearing the way for an apartment complex. No further details were disclosed.
shows that NorthPoint has proposed constructing two apartment buildings, one at the site of the seven row homes and a second north of it, on vacant land between Chouteau and Gibson avenues. Together, the two buildings would hold 328 apartments and 367 parking spaces and cost $120 million, with construction slated to wrap up near the end of 2026.
The company will be seeking incentives with the city, according to the website. Several neighborhood meetings will be held to gather resident input, including one at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Missouri Foundation for Health, at 4254 Vista Avenue, nearby.
“It’s a great new day for the neighborhood,†said Alderman Michael Browning.
The site is the front door for the neighborhood, he said, and often the first thing commuters see when they get off the highway.
He said the properties had gotten worse over the past year, and he believes Lux Living sold them without stabilizing them.
Residents Max Hood and Kristina Schmelter live a few doors down from the site and watched the demolition for a few moments Monday afternoon. They said some of properties’ back walls were crumbling, and they worried that the properties would eventually hurt someone. Hood said he hoped a redevelopment would raise home values and help nearby businesses.
“We’re excited they’re finally coming down,†Schmelter said.