De Tonty Commons - St. Louis City Cultural Resources Office Submittal - July 10, 2013

7/27/2019 De Tonty Commons - St. Louis City Cultural Resources Office Submittal - July 10, 2013

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U I C

DETONTY COMMONS

SAINT LOUIS CITY

CULTURAL RESOURCES OFFICE SUBMITTAL

JULY 10, 2013



U I CAREA PLAN

Botanical Grove

Thurman

Underpass

Project Site

Shaw Blvd.

The DeTonty Commons project is proposed by St. Louis based

developer UIC. The project site is located on the southern

side of the 4100 block of DeTonty Street, facing Interstate

Highway 44. DeTonty is the current northern boundary of the

Shaw Neighborhood and its Certified Local District. UIC has

spearheaded efforts in the Botanical Heights neighborhood

(Leggitt and Myers HD) to the north, which has or will include

the rehabilitation of approximately 50 contributing structures

over a 5 year period. UIC has also spearheaded efforts torevitalize the barricaded highway underpass on Thurman

Avenue, and has provided discounted design services for the

Shaw Neighborhood’s efforts toward the beatification of the

Shaw Boulevard streetscape.

The proposed 16 home development that is described in the

following pages has been endorsed by Alderman Stephen

Conway and the Board of the Shaw Neighborhood Housing

Corporation, following a 6 month review and discussion

period. UIC has been awarded development rights to the site

by the City’s Community Development Administration.

N



U I CSITE ANALYSIS

The site for the proposed DeTonty Commons is on the northern

boundary of Shaw Neighborhood, which is now unfortunately

defined by a raised portion of I-44. The highway was constructed

on the historic boundary between what was McRee Town

(now Botanical Heights) and Shaw, which would historically

have been contiguous zones of same sized city blocks, withdistinction coming in the age and design of homes. The result

of the highway insertion is that the northern side of DeTonty

is a lightly landscaped highway embankment with no physical

or acoustic separation. This peripheral condition and highway

adjacency, significantly reduced the viability of the existing

residential structures and eventually the structures located on

the proposed site were abandoned and deteriorated enough

that the City and Neighborhood elected to demolish them.

Some redevelopment has recently occurred, particularly in

the home on the southwest corner of DeTonty and Thurman,which was rehabilitated in 2011. However, two proposed

developments that sought to build new homes with front

elevations facing onto DeTonty have failed in the past several

years, due to lack of demand.N

PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO 3

1

23



U I CSITE PLAN

The proposed site plan for DeTonty Commons, calls for the existing 14 lots to be replatted to created 16 lots that are oriented east to

west, thus perpendicular to DeTonty Street. The lots are configured to create two landscaped courtyards or ‘commons’ with eight homes

facing onto each commons. The homes facing DeTonty will be all brick units, with internal units clad in cement fiber lap siding in four and six

inch exposures. The homes will have garages located to the rear of the lots, with three new private alleys constructed to access the alleys.

In order to maintain the historic density of the site and make the project financially viable, with 16 homes, the northern most lots do extend

beyond the historic setbacks. However, as the proposed site represents approximately two-thirds of the block, the new development will

set a new precedent. Additionally, the proposed garages have been placed to match the historic setbacks, given their adjacency to existing

structures on the east and west ends of the site.

The public walks, tree lawn, and northern extents of the site will be replaced and landscaped, including new street trees and a hedgerow

with a low fence. The developer is also coordinating efforts with the neighborhood and MODOT to plant the highway embankment with high

density plantings that will help to buffer the connection to the highway.

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New Embankment Landscaping

I-44



U I C

Shaw Neighborhood and the adjacent Southwest Garden Neighborhood

have several precedents for property alignments that alter the traditional

block configuration, such as Shaw Place, which pre-dates much of the

development in Shaw. These deviations often form a distinct identity and

foster a heightened sense of a local community. Other examples include

Heger Court and Hortus Court. The later bears the most similarities to

the two proposed courts in DeTonty Commons, in that front doors are

accessed by a pedestrian walk only. The slightly diminished scale, in terms

of mass and articulation, of these homes helped guide the selection of thestory-and-a-half homes in the proposed DeTonty Commons.

INSPIRATION: URBAN DESIGN

CLEVELAND PLACE

HEGER COURT HORTUS COURT



U I C

Bungalows built in a Craftsman style with a story-and-a-half configuration have

various precedents in Shaw and surrounding neighborhoods, including homes

that were demolished on Lafeyette to clear room for I-44. The basic structure

of a full ground floor, with slightly reduced second floor, compromised slightly

by the roofline, is a very flexible Bungalow configuration with numerous

variations on roof lines, front porches, fenestration and dormers. The homes

proposed in DeTonty Commons draw their width, height, and roof slopes from

precedents such as these.

INSPIRATION: BUILDING STYLE

4200 BLOCK OF SHENANDOAH AVE.

4300 BLOCK OF SHAW BLVD.

4400 BLOCK OF SHAW BLVD.



U I C

The majority of residential structures in Shaw are 2-story brick buildings. The

basic massing is articulated by various secondary design elements, such

as porch configurations, cornices, and window location and configuration.

Another predominant theme is use of honed or glazed bricks used in bands

and at key locations in primary elevations. The proposed homes in DeTonty

Commons will draw from the lessons in variations to secondary elements,

particularly the porch locations. The all brick homes facing onto DeTonty

Street will also incorporate the use of glazed brick banding and windows will

have stone sills.

INSPIRATION: DETAILS

SHENANDOAH & KLEMM4140 SHAW BLVD.

BOTANICAL & LAWRENCE



U I CDESIGN

The proposed homes in DeTonty Commons are an intentionally contemporary variation on the bungalow style.

In this, they match the urban scale precedents of other bungalows in the neighborhood in terms of width, floor

to floor heights, and roof slopes. These basic proportions are contrasted with aluminum clad wood windows of

atypical configurations and more modest porch structures and eaves. The 4 homes facing DeTonty Street will

be all brick, with the interior 12 units being clad in four and six inch exposure cement fiber lap siding. Roofs

will be clad in asphalt shingles, with the ability to add solar panels to the southern (non-public) face.

UIC believes that these designs meet the spirit of the design standards of this historic district. Street facing

units will be in all brick, with painted aluminum clad windows and asphalt shingle roofs, as required. Variousother requirements are conditioned by adjacent structures, with the intent to maintain an urban continuity.

Given that only six of the approximately twenty-four original structures remain, and the opposite side of the

street is now a highway embankment, there is not sufficient context to require a strict coherence to. With

this, we submit that it is preferable to seek a solution to the site design that will overcome the proximity to

the highway and return this portion of the neighborhood to a density similar to its originally developed con-

figuration. We also believe that given the size of the proposed development, a design that is a variation on a

traditional type is appropriate in that it will differentiate the buildings from their much earlier predecessors.



U I CDETONTY ELEVATIONS

SIDE ELEVATION (facing DeTonty)

BACK ELEVATIONSIDE ELEVATION

FRONT ELEVATION



U I CINTERIOR UNIT ELEVATIONS

SIDE ELEVATION

BACK ELEVATIONSIDE ELEVATION

FRONT ELEVATION



U I C VIEW OF COMMONS from DeTonty



U I C

DT2

2 BR, 1.5 BA

1650 sf

$192,000

DT3

3 BR, 2.5 BA

2000 sf

$232,000

DT2+

2 BR, 1.5 BA

2000 sf

$215,000

DT4

4 BR, 3.5 BA

$2300 sf

$262,000

DT3+

3 BR, 2.5 BA

2300 sf

$254,000

PLAN CONCEPTS

The homes will be built to suit, from standard floor plans, which follow.

Homes start with a basic 2 bedroom home, with the ability add third and

fourth bedrooms and additional living space. These enlargements are added

to the rear of the home, thus preserving the proportions of the courtyard

elevations. All homes will seek Energy Star Certification and built to UIC’s

green building practices.



U I CDT2 2 br | 1.5 bath



U I CDT2+ 2 br | 1.5 bath | extended living



U I CDT3 3 br | 2.5 bath | ground floor master



U I CDT3+ 3 br | 2.5 bath | extended living



U I CDT4 4 br | 3.5 bath | ground floor master



U I CALTERNATE UNITS attached garage | modified porch

DT2 PLAN

atttached garage units

DT2+/DT3+ PLAN

attached garage units

DT3/DT4 PLAN

attached garage units

WRAP-AROUND PORCH

Units on Detonty

De Tonty Commons - St. Louis City Cultural Resources Office Submittal - July 10, 2013

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