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Property Assessment June 9-22, 2010
(by Jeff Fister - June 09, 2010)
*The St. Louis Archdiocesan parking lot at the northeast corner of Lindell Boulevard and Taylor Avenue opened May 29 in time for an ordination ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica church.
The lot, site of the old San Luis Apartments, adds up to 131 parking spaces to the corner lot. This includes 110 regular spaces, six handicap spaces and 15 overflow spaces.
The design includes several “green” aspects to reduce runoff. The overflow spaces are actually paved with a special type of grass that can handle occasional use. The regular spaces use “open graded asphalt” that is permeable and allows drainage.
Tom Richter, director of building and real estate for the archdiocese, said the new lot will be used by students at nearby Rosati-Kain High School and for large services and events at the Basilica church.
Demolition of the San Luis began last July 20. The apartment building was first constructed as the DeVille Motor Hotel and opened in 1963. It later became a Holiday Inn.
The archdiocese bought the building in 1973 and used it as apartments for low-income senior citizens. Citing mounting problems with maintenance and numerous engineering studies, the archdiocese vacated the building in 2007.
Plans to tear down the building caused a controversy among some preservationists and residents, but the city granted permits for demolition last year.
Demolition of the building was completed in the fall of 2009 and construction of the parking lot began. Richter pointed out that all of the rubble from the demolition was used to fill the large hole created by the building’s basement.
The general contractor was HOF and total cost, Richter said, was $713,000.
“We believe the lot will provide a safer parking option for the high school and relieve some of the congestion in the neighborhood during large Cathedral events,” Richter said.
Here and There… The Clayton office of Laura McCarthy Real Estate has added two new agents, Jill Azar and Dave Toben, and it has added one new agent in its Town and Country office, Kara Kottmann… Dielmann Sotheby’s International Realty has added a new sales associate, Jinny Panton. A resident of Clayton, Jinny has been a realtor since 1995 and has expertise in rehabbing homes in the central corridor… The boyhood home of famed St. Louis author T.S. Eliot is on the market again. The three-story federal-style brick home is at 4446 Westminster Place in the CWE. It’s being repped by Realtor Paul Mittelstadt, who also sold it in 1992.
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