When we moved to Fox Park nearly nine years ago, I remember predicting that the former factories and warehouses at the southeastern section of the neighborhood would take at least another generation to become contributors to the area. I never thought we’d see positive change here in our lifetimes.
I also thought we’d lose some to the elements and gravitational pull.
We lost a handsome corner building that collapsed at Victor and Ohio approximately five years ago. I expected others to follow as abandonment and inactivity faced off against trespassers and the elements.
But, there is so much to feel good about these days in the area surrounding the park.
The homes on Shenandoah Avenue are straight up beauties, many contributors that make Fox Park one of the most beautiful residential and mixed use neighborhoods in the city.
The activity in the 2600 block of Shenandoah is amazing. Multiple investors and builders are taking on projects. New multi-family and single-family homes are being built and rehabbed.
A long-vacant single family home at 2651 Shenandoah has been stabilized, rehabbed and is ready to hit the open market.
This home was long owned by a North City resident who had no interest or ability to stabilize it or be a responsible owner. It sat in various states of disrepair and decay for many, many years up until ~2014. It drug down the overall look and feel of this block, as did other properties. The city condemned it for demolition in 2009. The future looked bleak. The CSB complaints piled up.
2013 image from Geo St. Louis
A Tucson, AZ investor purchased the property, spending a lot of money and time to bring it back to habitable shape. It is now ready to hit the market, saving an 1888 architectural gem from the landfill and hopefully bringing new neighbors to a formerly rough corner of our neighborhood. Per Geo St. Louis, the property taxes, majority of which benefit our schools, has nearly tripled post-rehab.
2651 Shenandoah Avenue - Fox Park Neighborhood
A long vacant lot just two properties to the east at 2639-41 Shenandoah will become four new townhomes. This long standing problem property was vacant since 1989 up until 1998 when the two-family was demolished. It sat vacant until this past year when Garcia Property bought it, developing new townhomes. Yay!
2639-41 Shenandoah Avenue - Fox Park Neighborhood
The single-family home just to the east of the new townhomes was recently rehabbed. Move another property to the east and you’ll find a multi-family lovingly rehabbed by Garcia Property and it looks fantastic to me.
The block just south of the park between Victor, Ohio, Sidney and California is a full-blown construction site making way for Rung, a non-profit with the mission of serving female clients with co-located and coordinated educational, professional, and financial resources to elevate professional development and careers for women, who earn much less than men in modern society. This ~$20M project is a massive shot in the arm for the former warehouse/factory section of the neighborhood.
I can’t imagine a better mission than this. I’m beaming with pride that they chose Fox Park to grow.
The view from Sidney will be vastly improved, bringing an urban scaled development built to the corner at Sidney and Ohio. The beautiful historic building’s exterior masonry is being carefully rebuilt and tuck-pointed. So far the gorgeous entryway has signs of being retained and rebuilt.
The historic implication of this rehab is significant for the neighborhood which takes its name from the Fox Brothers Manufacturing Company who, starting in the late 19th Century, made windows and custom millwork, much of which was used locally. They were around for nearly 100 years.
The view from Victor, directly south of the park, used to be a worn-hard building with uninspiring re-cladding over the years. It is now gone, making way for surface parking and greenspace to support Rung. Compromise is almost always required when rebuilding a city.
I witnessed the demo, snapped a couple photos and poured one out for the loss of this building, but higher uses are arguably coming. I accept this loss with an eye toward the future.
While there will be much “greenspace" and surface parking and a dead corner at Ohio & Victor, the future is bright and I think most rational urbanists and residents in the neighborhood will be pleased. The folks I’ve talked to certainly fall into the “thrilled” category.
CityScene STL reported on this project back in February, 2019. Renderings and site plans were included in that post.
Fox Park is a great neighborhood and is becoming more functional and walkable with more intra-neighborhood options for food/entertainment and employment. When we first moved here, there were no restaurants on the inside of the neighborhood, only a couple on Gravois. Now, Lona’s Lil Eats, which is a mind blowingly good restaurant a few properties down from my house, has brought immeasurable positivity to the corner of Accomac and California. Savage another restaurant at Ohio and Ann has popped up in an unlikely, former corner market (long vacant). It is getting local and national recognition for creative, high-end culinary art. Sauce magazine called it one of the top new restaurants of 2018. I have to admit I’ve not yet been here, but it’s bringing people from all around into our neighborhood and I’m thrilled to have them at the end of our block.
Further, Little Fox will be opening soon at the corner of Shenandoah and California, right across from the park. The RFT reported that a couple from Brooklyn has moved to Fox Park and wanted to open a neighborhood restaurant. I love when business owners are rooted in the neighborhood. We can’t wait to check this out. The newly arriving planter boxes framing a patio along the sidewalks were sourced by ReFab STL.
Fox Park is becoming a truly walkable, dignified, functioning and more densely populated neighborhood. And before the gentrification haterz pipe up, let me note that DeSales Community Development is the largest property owner in the neighborhood. Their goal is to provide high-quality, affordable housing in up-and-coming neighborhoods. The rental/owner-occupied/high end and realistic options run aplenty. By design and trajectory, Fox Park feels balanced and will likely stay this way for quite some time. I know many, many longtime residents here, no one I’ve talked feels uncomfortable or is getting displaced against their will.
DeSales does good work all over the neighborhood, and have recently partnered with Brick City Makes to bring new life to yet another former industrial building in the neighborhood at 2528 Texas Avenue. Brick City Makes “offers two acres of affordable, expandable, light industrial production space under one roof in the city of St. Louis, with easy access to multiple interstates. It’s more than just a space; it’s a place that grows with you.”
I’m hoping the red sign atop the building in the rending below makes an appearance, lighting up the sky in the industrial part of the neighborhood. The below image to the left is a rendering from Brick City Makes, to the right is from us as of publishing.
There are countless other opportunities for new uses in this part of the neighborhood, large and small, all striking buildings.
Always with our landmark Gothic Cathedral in the background.
As I was walking home, I ran into some of my best friends on the planet and they filled me in on a couple more items of positivity which were unbeknownst to me.
Koken Art Factory, another former warehouse/industrial building will be hosting off-season offerings from Tower Grove Farmers’ Market. This was corroborated by Feast Magazine who detailed the endeavor which will make Fox Park’s former industrial edges that much more of a destination:
“The Tower Grove Farmers’ Market has found a new home for the winter. Best of all, you’ll be able to shop for local produce and artisan products every weekend, minus a few exceptions. The market will move to its winter home on Dec. 7 and continue through April of next year.
The winter market will now be located inside the Koken Art Factory at 2500 Ohio Ave. The new space will allow for over 50 vendors at the indoor market, which will nearly double what was possible in the past at City Garden Montessori School. Vendors will include local and regional favorites such as Three Rivers Farm, Sunflower Savannah, Ringhausen Orchard, Kuva Coffee, Kakao Chocolate, Bridge Bread Bakery, Robinson Family Pork, Dierk’s Grassfed Beef and many more. Shoppers can also look forward to some new additions that have yet to be announced.”
Further, a long decaying building on Oregon Avenue which I called the hippie house was recently purchased to be rehabbed. I thought this one would fall during a storm as it has been open to the elements for awhile after being vacated.
Over-grown trees have already been removed making way for a brighter future
It’s been a joy living here for a sizable chuck of our lives. It is a great place to live at the convergence of the old, abandoned city and the rapidly rebuilding one. The balance is good and the future is bright.
Come by and check it out. If you are looking for a fun, gorgeous, dignified, up and coming part of the city to settle down in, give it a shot.
