Some may
remember the red-brick housing towers with repetitive balconies
called Cochran Gardens on Biddle Street in Old North St. Louis.
Built in 1953, Cochran Gardens was the city’s third
federally-funded housing project built by the St. Louis Housing
Authority.
“font-family: Verdana;”>Cochran “font-family: Verdana;”>Gardens “font-family: Verdana;”>was also the last of the city’s public housing towers to come down. In 2003, it was redeveloped into a mixed-income neighborhood called Cambridge Heights, using a federal grant.
City
officials recently cut the red ribbon on the neighborhood’s final
piece – Senior Living at Cambridge Heights, an affordable senior
independent living facility located at 728 Biddle Street. It
replaces the final vacant block on the original Cochran Gardens
site.
The $28.7
million project includes an approximately 90,000 square feet
residential building with 117 units.
KAI Design
& Build, a St. Louis-based minority business enterprise, served
as the architect and general contractor on the project. McCormack
Baron Salazar, in partnership with SLHA, has been the developer on
Cambridge Heights since the city received the HOPE VI grant,
designed to revitalize the nation’s unsuccessful public housing
projects.
The
project was financed with nearly $9.6 million in capital funds and
$1.3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, $9.4 million
in tax-exempt bond proceeds from the Industrial Development
Authority of the City of St. Louis, nearly $1.9 million from the
Missouri Housing Development Commission in low income housing tax
credit equity, $900,000 of HOME Funds from the Missouri Housing
Development and $450,000 of Affordable Housing Assistance from the
St. Louis Housing Authority Development Corporation.
“Senior
Living at Cambridge Heights truly carries out SLHA’s mission by
providing affordable housing opportunities for senior citizens,”
said SLHA Executive Director Cheryl Lovell.
Lovell
said the project partners placed emphasis on minority and
disadvantaged business participation as well as hiring from
low-income populations in the city (Section 3). In total, the
project resulted in 33 percent minority-owned enterprise contracts,
one percent women-owned enterprise, and 16 percent Section-3
contracts. Thirty three percent of new hires on the project were
Section-3 workers.
“font-family: Verdana;”>Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin (5th Ward) was one of the legislators present with scissors in hand, along with McCormack Baron Salazar Vice President Ronald Roberts, KAI President Michael Kennedy Jr., SLHA Board of Commissioners Chairman Thomas Jerry and Missouri Housing Development Commission Executive Direct Margaret Lineberry. SLHA commissioner Sal Martinez led the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;”> “It provides the type of attractive, affordable housing that our seniors deserve,” Ford-Griffin said.
The facility
also includes office space for the management agent, a community
room, laundry facilities on each floor, lounge areas, a billiard
room, a computer room and a fitness center.
KAI designed
the project for certification under the Enterprise Green
Communities Criteria, which encourage housing developments that are
environmentally sensitive, socially connected and better for
residents’ health without compromising resident affordability.
Developers
anticipate that energy and water use at the building will be 20 to
30 percent more efficient than comparable developments. Its
location – close to the MetroBus and MetroLink light-rail stations
and adjacent to the many retail, dining and recreational offerings
of Downtown St. Louis – offers opportunities for seniors to remain
active and connected to the surrounding community.
As residents
move in, Urban Strategies, Inc. will serve as a consultant to plan
and coordinate services on-site, including transportation,
homemaker services, and home-delivered meals.
“This senior
building represents the bright future for the Cambridge residence
and the direction of the vibrancy of the northern edge of downtown
development,” said Michael Kennedy Jr., KAI president. “Hope has
been reestablished and now as a community we have to keep putting
logs on the fire to continue the momentum of redeveloping the North
Side of St. Louis.”
