ST. LOUIS 鈥 Out of all the crumbling, vacant properties left to rot in the city, a former warehouse in the 1600 block of North 13th Street was particularly eye-catching.
An enormous fire consumed the brick building in October 2020, leaving behind a twisted carcass of sagging I-beams above the rubble, a clear view of the Gateway Arch in the distance.
Neighbors weren鈥檛 surprised that the mess remained. The property is one of hundreds owned by developer Paul McKee鈥檚 NorthSide Regeneration, which has long been criticized for neglecting vacant properties. Two months after the fire, McKee said in an interview that a demolition permit was filed with the city and he hoped to get to it by spring.
Yet the colossal mess remained untouched, other than by occasional scrappers who became increasingly brazen.
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Willie C. Hemphill Jr., of Cheyenne Construction, said some $25,000 worth of I-beams and other scrap was stolen right before NorthSide Regeneration hired his firm to clear the lot. A new demolition permit was filed with the city on May 6 with an estimated cost of $18,750 for the work. Hemphill鈥檚 crew hauled about 85 dump truck and trailer loads of rumble to the dump. Passersby gave thumbs-up. They finished Tuesday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something that needed to be cleaned,鈥 said Hemphill, who has more jobs to do for NorthSide.
Asked why now, and why it took longer than he said it would to clean up the old warehouse site, McKee said in an interview from his O鈥橣allon, Missouri, office: 鈥淚t鈥檚 expensive, man, taking these things down.鈥
He said NorthSide Regeneration still has about 1,800 parcels left in north 50度灰视频. Hundreds were used for the new western headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and other developments.
鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 be focusing on tearing things down, we should be focusing on building things up,鈥 McKee said.
He鈥檚 wrestling with a conundrum, though. Many of the old buildings in NorthSide鈥檚 portfolio have crumbled or burned at a much faster pace than economic regrowth of the region. That has sapped the patience of residents, preservationists and at least one new alderman.
But it鈥檚 not just NorthSide Regeneration properties falling down. The city鈥檚 bloated land bank, called the Land Reutilization Authority, or LRA, has thousands of properties. So do other private landowners.
Some of the vacant homes left near 50度灰视频 Place Park are overgrown, infested with wildlife. The stench of urine drifts from 2834 North 21st Street. 鈥淏ooda 235 Gang鈥 is painted on the open doorway of the brick home, built in 1886. Behind it, another structure looks swallowed by trees.
鈥淚鈥檝e got opossums and all kinds of stuff,鈥 said Fred Allen, 65, who lives nearby. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 get no help.鈥
But he鈥檚 encouraged by what鈥檚 happening down the street. New grass grew where a former recreational center used to hunker. Last week near the intersection of West Florissant Avenue, half a dozen homes were being demolished in the 3000 and 3100 blocks of North 21st Street.
鈥淚t鈥檚 good to see these buildings come down,鈥 said Floyd Jackson, 59, sitting on his front porch, watching from the other side of the park. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to worry about people going up and getting high in them.鈥
The $125,000 demolition project is also notable because the homes have different owners 鈥 including the LRA and NorthSide Regeneration. The city is having them all taken down. A March 29 letter from the city鈥檚 public safety department to NorthSide tells the firm that its row house at 3026 North 21st Street, condemned in 2013, was added to the city鈥檚 鈥渄emolition package.鈥 NorthSide needed to remove personal property within three days. The city intends to bill NorthSide $27,675 for its share of the demolition work contracted on its behalf, including $5,500 to remove asbestos and eight huge dead trees and stumps.
McKee said he didn鈥檛 feel targeted. Other property owners were also part of the demolition sweep on North 21st Street, including the LRA. He downplayed the timeliness of NorthSide voluntarily hiring a contractor to clear the burned warehouse in the 1600 block of North 13th Street.
鈥淲e try to be good neighbors,鈥 McKee said.
McKee said James Page Jr., the new alderman of the 5th Ward, is the force behind recent demolitions in the area. Page, executive director of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, replaced Tammika Hubbard in 2021. Page retired from a career in finance and accounting for the U.S. Postal Service.
Page said in a telephone interview that he鈥檚 been very busy submitting 鈥渇act-based鈥 proposals to the city to support demolishing buildings in his ward that are beyond the pale. He said he鈥檚 also trying to stabilize two old churches.
鈥淭hey have been tremendously supportive of my plans and vision,鈥 Page said.
He declined to say how many structures have been demolished or how many more were coming. He said he answers to his constituents.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time to take action,鈥 he said.
Lance Knuckles, a director at the 50度灰视频 Development Corp., the economic development arm of the city, referred questions to Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. Spokesman Nick Dunne said by email that the city wants to expand contractor capacity so more demolitions can be done. In 2021, the city did 262 demolitions, down from 452 in 2020. So far in 2022, 64 have been completed with 147 in progress.
There is more funding to help. Dunne said this year鈥檚 proposed budget includes $3.8 million for demolitions and $6 million for building stabilization, in addition to $6 million a year from the Proposition NS Program that voters passed in 2017 to stabilize vacant LRA homes and a $15 million allocation from the state in American Rescue Plan Act funding to remove vacant, city-owned buildings.
鈥淐oncentrating resources to demolish or rehabilitate long-vacant buildings will help stabilize our neighborhoods that have been neglected by decades of disinvestment and encourage development,鈥 Dunne said.
He said the most dangerous buildings 鈥渋dentified by inspectors鈥 take priority, and that the inventory of houses and buildings that can be either stabilized or slated for demolition is continually updated.