St. Louis Design Alliance Starts New Construction, Renovation Project

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

Locally-based architecture and development firm St. Louis Design Alliance is renovating a 1920s apartment hotel and building a mixed-use building at the eastern end of the Delmar Loop, stltoday.com reports.

Site work has started for a new three-story building at the vacant lot, located at Delmar Boulevard and Hamilton Avenue. Interior demolition work on the six-story Gotham building at 5900 Enright Avenue, adjoining the site to the north, has started as well.

The new building, to be called the Gotham Annex, will feature 5,900 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and 18 apartments on the upper floors. The historic Gotham building, which originally featured 72 rooms, will be renovated and will offer 54 market rate apartments. Both Gotham buildings will incorporate energy-efficient elements such as insulated glass and heat-reflective roofing.

The $11.4 million Gotham project will benefit from the Loop Trolley, a $43 million street car line which will link the Loop and Forest Park. Construction of the rail link is set to begin towards the end of this year or by early next year.

The renovation of the Gotham building will benefit from $2.2 million in financing from state and federal historic tax credits, as it is located within the Hamilton Place national historic district. The project will be financed mainly through an $8.64 million HUD-backed loan from Washington-based Love Funding.

Jeff Mugg, Design Alliance’s vice president, who has worked on several apartment projects in the Hamilton Place area, believes the Gotham project will lead to more development in the historic neighborhood.

Rendering Courtesy of: www.stlda.com