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Fighting roof leaks on a flat roof can be a struggle. Even with the highest quality roof  you are constantly in a battle against gravity.  It's not a question of if, but when gravity will win and water will find a way inside. Whenever a flat roof is hit by freezing rain, sleet, or a significant amount snow,  the groundwork for a leak is there. Almost instantly, freezing rain will cover your roof in...

Think the St. Louis Zoo is too small and that it doesn't have enough parking? Apparently the Zoo agrees with you. To remedy the problem, they now have the former Forest Park Hospital under contract to purchase. The 13.5 acre site is located at 6150 Oakland Ave. in the Clayton-Tamm neighborhood (part of Dogtown) of St. Louis. While the Zoo would be tearing down a number of old buildings for surface...

You've been trying to lease that apartment for weeks and you finally have an appointment for a showing. The prospective tenant shows up and says how much they love the apartment. Flash forward a few weeks later and the apartment still hasn't been rented and you are still losing money. What went wrong? Was the unit not right for the prospect? Maybe, but it might also have been you. One of the hardest...

The recent real estate development most people associate with the far-southern reaches of St. Louis City seems to be the the new River City Casino. While there is no doubt that the casino has brought a lot of attention to that area of South St. Louis City & County, there is actually another large-scale project that is even more noteworthy: The Temtor.Never heard of it? While you are not alone,...

With St. Louis' new love affair with microbreweries, it is nice to see the far south-side of the City is not being left out of the fun. Since September 2011, Perennial Artisan Ales has been brewing beer in the former Coca-Cola syrup plant at 8125 S Michigan in the Patch Neighborhood (near  Carondelet). The redeveloped industrial plant is now a $27 million mixed-use development, rebranded as The...

One of the most dreaded events in the life of a landlord is when you have to give a tenant the boot.  Whether it's because they don’t pay rent on time, tear up their unit, or cause some other nuisance, bad tenants can turn a profitable rental property into a property management nightmare. Eviction and Cash for Keys can be good options for handling the getting rid of the worst violators, but many times...

Getting unwanted tenants out of your apartment units can be one of the most frustrating experiences a landlord can go through. Whether they need to leave in order to rehab the unit or you want them out because they aren't paying their rent, its not a fun experience. You just want them out as soon as possible. The most common method used to do the job is the eviction. An effective method, for sure, but an...

Originally started in late-summer 2010, Civil Life Brewing Co. is now officially open for business after about a year of construction. Located in the South St. Louis neighborhood of Tower Grove South, the brewery is owned and operated by the former owner of 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar in Lafayette Square, Jake Hafner. The company is currently producing ten different beers, some of which are being be...

If you have ever found yourself struggling to pay the mortgage or know someone who has, the question of "What would actually happen if I just stopped paying my mortgage?" probably has come across your mind. While walking away from a mortgage should be avoided at all costs, there are a growing number of homeowners and investors who are doing just that. Some out of simple frustration, others out of a...

The renovation of the former Loretto Academy at 3407 Lafayette Avenue in the St. Louis, Missouri neighborhood of The Gate District is finally wrapping up. Formally used as a school among many other uses, the building has been converted to housing for the local Dominican Friars, who have not have a local home of their own since 1981. The new facilities are called the St. Dominic Priory. Most...

Few neglected buildings in South St. Louis have received more attention than the former Avalon Movie Theater at 4225 Kingshighway Boulevard. Opened in 1935 and closed in 1999, this 1000-seat movie theater has been home only to pigeons and decay since. Nestled on the northeast edge of the South Hampton neighborhood, many an urbanite and developer has dreamed of redoing the facility. And some may...

The renovation of the pair of mixed-use properties running from 3201 to 3211 Lafayette Avenue, located along the edge of St. Louis'  Gate District Neighborhood, is finally entering the final phase. Another former DHP Investments property finally getting a long-awaited rehab, Metamorphi Development has completed work on two of the five townhomes at this 17,492 square foot complex on northwest corner of...

Lead can not only be hazardous to your health, it can also be hazardous to your pocketbook. If you are a real estate investor or owner occupant of a historic building, chances are the building is full of lead paint. Depending on the severity, lead abatement can be expensive and time consuming. Assistance from Federal and State governments has been available for years, but the method of reimbursement has...

If you drive down South Grand in South St. Louis, you might have noticed the idle property at the northeast corner of Grand and Sidney. This property at 2350 South Grand is in the Tower Grove East neighborhood, just across the street from Shaw. While there is nothing remarkable about this building, the thing that is remarkable is that it has sat vacant and idle while everything else around it has been...

On the northern border of the St. Louis Metro Area, spanning the Mississippi River between West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois, is the iconic Clark Bridge. It is a cable-stayed bridge, opened in 1994 (replacing an old truss bridge of the same name). The 4-lane bridge carries Route 67 over the Mississippi and is the farthest northern bridge spanning the river in the area. Costing $85 million when...