ST. LOUIS — Construction will begin next month on Kingsway Development's long-awaited projects aimed at building density and activity just north of Delmar Boulevard.
About $13 million will be invested in two buildings in the Fountain Park neighborhood at 4731 and 4709 Delmar Blvd. that will host a variety of offices, retail and even a new ground-up 10,000-square-foot performing arts center.
It's a flurry of activity for Fountain Park, which sits north of the "Delmar Divide," a predominately African American area that has seen little investment compared to the white neighborhoods on the southern side of the street. Kingsway Development has master development rights for 207 acres that cross the Fountain Park and Lewis Place neighborhoods and is roughly bordered by Taylor Avenue to the east, Kingshighway to the west, Page Avenue to the north and Delmar to the south.
“With the job market being what it is, entrepreneurs are so important now because these are the people who can create their own income. And when you’re working in the type of community I've been working in, we were in a pandemic before COVID. So creating the type of opportunities for people who need to create something out of nothing has always been my strong suit, and now we have the brick and mortar projects to support it," Kingsway Development President Kevin Bryant said.
Tenants for 4731 Delmar Blvd., the former Union-Sarah Economic Development Corporation Building, include Elevation co-working and Park Central Development as well as UPS Store, The Original Hot Dog Factory and, potentially, Jamba Juice. A 10,000-square-foot performing arts center will be built on the north side of the building that Bryant hopes will become a neighborhood beacon.
Next door at 4709 Delmar, a building that once held a 1920s-era candy factory will be home to a business training center, an unnamed vegan restaurant and an unnamed radio station, he said.
The properties are one block east of LaunchCode, the St. Louis nonprofit that places aspiring computer programmers in tech apprenticeships and jobs, and two blocks east of a new apartment development called the Lofts @ Euclid that sits in the prime Central West End neighborhood, home to institutional anchors like BJC Health Care and Washington University Medical School.
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