Rehabber’s Club Tour Visits Dutchtown on Saturday

Tomorrow morning, Saturday September 15th, the Rehabber’s Club will hold its monthly tour of rehabbed and yet to be rehabbed properties. Last month was a great look at activities in Forest Park Southeast (aka The Grove). This month it is Dutchtown. Each month the tour and discussions are interesting as you get to see what others have done as well as what typical places look like prior to renovation. Discussion topics that come up can be quite helpful to those considering their own rehab project. The 9:30am starting point is the recently completed Marquette Park Condominiums located at 4056 Minnesota, appropriately across the street from the lovely Marquette Park.

Above, the condos framed by the double row of trees at Marquette Park.

Imagine this as your view!

The building, acquired by the Dutchtown South Community Corporation (DSCC) using federal funds, was in poor condition and has thus been extensively renovated top to bottom. DSCC Executive Director (and SLU Alum) Debbie Irwin will walk us through some of the issues faced during the renovation process. The condos are each one bedroom & one bath. Originally the DSCC was going to attempt to turn this building into two townhouses but as you see it has a single front door with an internal stair serving all four units. When I volunteered on the committee, the plan was changed to retain the four unit configuration. It had been argued there was no market for condos in Dutchtown but I countered that there were zero condos available so that cannot be a justification of the market.

Each of the condos is listed for $100,000 and includes a “write down” program as well as closing cost assistance. Buyer’s must be income qualified meaning they can’t have too high of an income in order to qualify. This, of course, is all based on requirements attached to the funding sources used to renovate the building. Debbie Irwin will explain these programs in more detail at the meeting. The condos are listed with CBG, click here to view the MLS listing for Unit A (all four listings are the same).

Part of the meeting will include a discussion of what is called the “VAL” project — this stands for a triangle of land bounded by Virginia, Alabama, and Liberty streets. There is not much to see in person on site as it is still vacant as environmental cleanup has to be completed before construction can start. I believe the rehabbers club will get a look at the drawings for the proposed project.

Last up is the corner storefront property I have listed at the corner of Itaska and Louisiana. Unlike the condos on Minnesota, this building has yet to be rehabbed. Thankfully it is starting out in much better condition than the condo building did.

Large windows create a pleasant front to the street yet it still works in this predominantly residential area.  Three of the four corners at Itaska & Louisiana have storefronts.

Last week the owner had the remains of two apartment finishes removed from the 1st floor area. This leaves a rough but open space ready to be transformed.  This stage is good for future rehabbers to see — to get a sense of what what things they might be dealing with when they purchase a property for rehab.   For many all the old walls, finishes, dropped ceilings and such as a bit overwhelming — so the lesson here with a rehab project is to carefully remove all the undesirable later additions to buildings — getting back to the original bones.  From this point you can get a better sense of what you have to work with.  Additional information (and photos) on this property can be found at 3463itaska.com.
The monthly Rehabber’s Club meetings are pretty punctual so plan to arrive on or just before 9:30am.  However, if you are running late know that you are welcome — you just might miss some good information.  Again the starting point is 4056 Minnesota and we’ll be headed to 3463 Itaska after that (google map/directions).   If you are running behind you can call Claralyn Bollinger at 314-604-1570 to see where we are at that moment.  For those not interested in the full Rehabber’s Club meeting but curious about 3463 Itaska, I will have it open from 10am to 11:30am so feel free to stop by.