ST. LOUIS — A $90 million mixed-use, transit-oriented apartment complex built on the site of a former parking lot at a MetroLink station is now fully open after years of construction.
The Expo at Forest Park development in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood opened its second seven-story apartment building in December, after the north building debuted in August, for a total of 287 apartments. The 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail planned on the north building is yet to open, but will soon house a full-service grocery store and has space for a taproom serving local beers, according to a news release.
The project from Tegethoff Development, led by developer Jeff Tegethoff, borders Forest Park and the Missouri History Museum and is northwest of the Forest Park-DeBaliviere Transit Center, where MetroLink’s two Red and Blue lines converge. The apartments also connect to the St. Vincent Greenway trail that runs from north St. Louis to Forest Park.
The south building that opened in December has an amenity deck with extensive vegetation, bocce ball, a pool, fitness counter, pet wash and lounges with a view of the Missouri History Museum, according to the release. Some of its upper units are two stories, with private patios and Forest Park views, and some units have bike mounts built into the floor plans.
Although development projects can be found along the MetroLink lines, Tegethoff said that he wanted to take transit-oriented development in St. Louis to a new level at the Expo at Forest Park, which was underdeveloped as a parking lot even as the area around it was already densely populated, and growing, according to the release.
With a site that saw the convergence of the MetroLink station, cars, buses, pedestrians, cyclists and greenways, the corner was the perfect site to link residents with key job centers such as Forest Park, the Cortex Innovation District and nearby medical campuses.
“None of the success surprises us, because we were very deliberate in working with Bi-State Development, Great Rivers Greenway, Citizens for Modern Transit, Forest Park, our architects at Trivers, the City of St. Louis, the alderwoman for this ward and other neighborhood associations,” Tegethoff said in a statement.
“The Expo at Forest Park is yet another example of how proximity to public transit enhances our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Tishaura Jones in a statement.
The project broke ground in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, and managed to navigate that challenge along with supply chain shortages, the companies involved said.
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