15thWardSTL.org

Seriously, folks. CDA/SLDC and Jennifer Florida have effed up pretty bad on this one. Yeesh, I just couldn\\\'t pass this one up, even though I moved eight months ago.

This is just a brief post to call your attention to the ongoing fiasco at 3460 Oak Hill. I wrote about this beautiful art deco building almost two years ago. Since then, the project fell through again and yet another developer was selected and the project is in danger of fell falling through yet again (while the building itself is falling down).

I can\\\'t do the same research I did in the past, but quickly:

Once again, Tower Grove South (but not 15th Ward) resident Christian Herman is stirring the pot. This time she's taking on City Hall and the LRA! Several weeks ago, she posted an open letter to Mayor Slay regarding the LRA-owned building at 3460 Oak Hill on her blog.

The following is an excerpt of a letter she received back from Deputy Director of Development Barbara Geisman. Among other things, Geisman promised to look into why it has taken so long to find a developer and to have the building secured from the elements.

I was excited to see the team that the Adams Group assembled to renovate the beautiful Art Deco building at 3460 Oak Hill. They had a great architect, great consultants, and appear to have an adequate renovation track record (after looking at their web site, it seems this would have been their largest project to date). In my review of the RFP response I commented on the aggressive timeline and a few budget line items that seemed low, but overall it looked like a group that was more than capable of tackling this project.

Seven months after CDA awarded the project to the Adams Group, it looks like the project may be dead again. I talked with Marian Miller of CDA (the housing analyst who covers this area) who said that they are preparing a new RFP to be issued soon. Adams Group did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

A Brief History
This brief history is pieced together from a variety of sources - at the times of these conversations I had no idea I would need to remember names and dates. According to a neighbor, this building was owned and maintained by an active landlord for a long time. During this period, the tenants were well screened and the building was a neutral if not positive influence on the surrounding blocks.

You may remember Adams Construction Group from my series of articles on the redevelopment of 3460 Oak Hill. Their web site indicates that they are "excited about starting" the project.

The timeline for the project has been somewhat delayed from the one outlined in their RFP response. You've got to be optimistic in such a document, and I have yet to see the CDA project that isn't delayed. I recently contacted Adams Construction Group to follow up and was told they are shooting to start construction in mid to late February. I'll be posting progress photos and the follow up interview around that time.

Adams Construction Group has been selected as the developer for the renovation of 3460 Oak Hill into for-sale condos. The unsuccessful RFP responses were not released, so there is nothing to compare it to, but in general, ACG appears to have pulled together a great team to take on this difficult project. [UPDATE: Thank you to Jennifer Florida for providing access to the RFP response.]

Adams Construction Group will also serve as general contractor for the project. Their portfolio of projects in the submittal included primarily single-family renovations and additions. The building at 3460 Oak Hill will most likely be their larget project to date, with an estimated rehabilitation cost of $500,000. Their proposal did not address this potential issue, though I would guess that the Housing Analyst at CDA did during the review process.

The original deadline published for the 3460 Oak Hill redevelopment RFP was July 21. On Friday, July 14, a new RFP was uploaded to the City's web site with a revised deadline of July 31, giving potential developers another week and a half to submit their responses.

I know this only from the digital date stamp on the new file, because the actual PDF is corrupted - very little of the actual information in the RFP is readable. The unreadable corrupt file is unlikely to affect the response pool because most qualified developers check the City web site regularly and have known about this opportunity for quite some time. Any developer who hasn't already seen the RFP doesn't have enough time (even with the extended deadline) to put together a credible proposal.

The building at 3460 Oak Hill occupies a critical location in the Ward. Situated at the top of a hill, the plywood boards over (some of) its windows and the overgrown shrubbery are visible from quite a few locations in the ward. According to one of the neighbors, the building has been vacant for over 13 years. However, for a long time this building contained twelve efficiency apartments and was a model building.

The building structure is actually concrete frame, with a buff-colored masonry exterior. This substantial construction method has helped preserve the building against the ravages of mother nature. While the interior is in poor condition, the structure itself appears to be doing just fine for the most part. Built in the deco style, this building could serve as a landmark in the 15th ward. Except that the City seems to be having problems getting anyone to redevelop it.