More McRee Town

Much of the rest of McRee Town sits abandoned, with the potential for more redevelopment.

I particularly like the house with the tan front and the red brick side walls; it would make a great rehab one day.

The two mirrored apartment buildings give the effect of one larger building.

I always like alley dwellings such as this one, because so many of them have been torn down. It would make a great garage and artist's studio combination.

The Rebirth of McRee Town

I'm interrupting my tour of Kansas City architecture because I was so excited to see the recent developments in McRee Town, which for a long was one of the most troubled neighborhoods in the city.

Combining sensitive in-fill with the conversion of four-family flats into two houses and the renovation of other notable single family houses, the Botanical Grove redevelopment is doing everything right that has so often been done wrong in St. Louis.

For starters, pre-existing homeowners were not run out of their homes with eminent domain arranged with corrupt officials in smoky backrooms.

Secondly, the remaining housing stock was renovated into viable real estate, and priced at market rates.

Finally, the in-fill housing is very cool; it doesn't try to pretend it was built in the Nineteenth century, is unashamedly modern, but the massing and materials match the neighborhood and city.

If the first phase on McRee Avenue is successful, it will spread to other streets, and hopefully the rest of the city.

McRee Town Doorway

I never get tired of this perfectly painted corner doorway on Tower Grove East just south of Vandeventer.

Central Industrial Drive, West End

I checked out the other end of Central Industrial Drive and spied some great shots of the Liggett-Meyers Tobacco factory in McRee Town.

Central Industrial Drive, McRee Town

The most awkwardly named street in St. Louis, Central Industrial Drive worms its way through the lowlands south of Chouteau and Vandeventer Avenues.

Factory, McReeTown

I spied this old factory years ago, but I finally got up close a weekend ago. The smokestack is very distinctive-not just your old run-of-the-mill pile of brick.According to the Sanborn Maps, this was the American Tobacco Company. I don't like Wikipedia, as it can be sabotaged so easily, but I did find some interesting facts about the company. See it from the air here.
Sadly, the factory is losing its urban context, as McRee Town is swept away for Botanical Heights, but much of the fabric is still standing in this area.