Daily Dose of Blairmont 161

• 2504 North Market Street (Dodier Investors LLC, October 2006, $34,800)

May 2008

Blairmont's got the red-painted house, second from the left. To the left: an absentee landlord. To the right: three owner-occupants in a row.

Price bounce: April, sold in foreclosure, $41K. June, sold again, $29K. October, sold to Blairmont, $35K.

Links:

• 2504 North Market at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 155

Left and right:
• 1802 Jefferson Street (Dodier Investors LLC, October 2006, $96,000)
• 1800 Jefferson Street (Dodier Investors LLC, September 2006, $96,000)

Though they abutt low-density industrial areas and urban prairies, these houses aren't as isolated as they may seem. A large number of buildings remain just around the corner.

Price bounce: Each property sold for $80,000 in fall of 2006, then for $96,000 two months later.


May 2008

Links:

• 1800 Jefferson at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 146

• 1913 Dodier Street (MLK 3000 LLC, October 2006, $38,000)

May 2003 - photograph by Kevin Kieffer


May 2008

This tiny cottage is looking a lot worse for wear under Blairmont's management, or lack thereof.

The rest of this Old North block is owned by a variety of private entities. Paul McKee should do them all a favor and do something to get this property inhabited again.



Price bounce: Sold in February 2006 for $13,000. Sold again 10 months later for 3 times that amount -- $38,000.

Links:

• 1913 Dodier at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 139

• 3238 N. 20th Street Street (Sheridan Place LLC, March 2007)

May 2008

Left and right:
• 3236 N. 20th Street Street (Sheridan Place LLC, March 2007, $130,000)
• 1909 Palm Street (privately owned)

June 2003 - the house appears cheerfully occupied.

Talk about your price jump! After several years under the ownership of distant landlord, the little white house sold for $9,600 in 2006, while the house next door sold for $15,000 in 2004. In early 2007, Blairmont bought both houses for $130,000. That is one heck of a markup! What kind of business sense does it make for Paul McKee to be paying that sort of money? What's it all leading to? How can he justify that sort of flagrant financial abandon?

Links:

• 3236 N 20th at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 123

• 2543 Maiden Lane (MLK 3000 LLC, September 2006, $88,800)

May 2008

You might have noticed it in the background of yesterday's Daily Dose. It's a tired little half-flounder alley house, clad in a crazyquilt patchwork of asphalt shingles.


July 2003 - photograph by Kevin Kieffer

But, tired or not, it was inhabited five years ago, before Paul McKee purchased it.

Price bounce: Sold for $74,000 in September 2006, then for $88,800 a month later.

Links:

• 2543 Maiden at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 117

Left to right:
• 2512 Hebert Street (owner-occupied)
  
• 2514 Hebert Street (LRA)
  
• 2516 Hebert Street (Noble Development LLC, February 2006, $50,000)
  
• 2518 Hebert Street (Sheridan Place LLC, March 2007, $80,000)

March 2007

Four houses, all in a row...


May 2008 - 2518 Hebert stands alone

...and 18 months later, the center two are gone, including one of the Blairmont houses. Oh, surprise. 2516 was demolished in November 2007, possibly after being brick rustled (the demolition permit record notes that it was "rubble only".)

Watch the bouncing price: 2516 sold for $5,000 to Platinum Enterprises LLC in October 2005, then sold for $20,000 to Paul McKee's company just three months later. After paying a 400% markup, Mr. McKee might be expected to take better care of his building.



It's an old story on this block of Hebert. You might remember this house's neighbors, where the same story played out recently - an inflated sales price, brick rustling, demolition.

Links:

• 2518 Hebert at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 114

• 2701 Blair Street (Dodier Investors LLC, November 2006, $30,000)

May 2008

It stands depressingly close to the heart of Old North St. Louis, just a short walk from Crown Candy Kitchen and the 14th Street Mall, currently under reconstruction. But nothing's happening here. Paul McKee has sat on this building, and many other Old North properties, for years now, as redevelopment surges around and past him.

Built in 1873 per city records online, it has been empty since 2000. The roof is severely deteriorated; the porches are gone. Even if Paul McKee agrees to sell it off, it will require considerable (possibly total) reconstruction. If McKee had done basic maintenance, the job might not be so daunting. Even if a renovation becomes possible, getting funding in place will take time, a further delay incurred by McKee's blockbusting tactics.


November 2007





Price bounce: Sold in October 2006 for $25,000; sold again in November 2006 for $30,000.

Links:

• 2701 Blair at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 97

Left and right:
• 3242 N. Knapp Street (Dodier Investors LLC, October 2006, $35,000)
• 3240 N. Knapp Street (Dodier Investors LLC, October 2006, $20,000)

May 2008

This pair of battered frame houses, covered with asphalt shingle siding, stands in the northern reaches of Old North St. Louis.




The left-hand house is a bit more than meets the eye -- there's an oddly shaped alley house behind it, likely much older than the front house. It very nearly butts up against another back-lot house, which is undergoing total renovation by an enterprising local resident.



Some strange doings in the sales history. Both properties were briefly held by a Patrick Noble before being sold to N & G Ventures. "Noble" just happens to be another of Blairmont's pseudonyms. Coincidence? There are just too many "coincidences" surrounding Paul McKee's properties for any of them to be very believable.

• September 2005: $7,960 for multiple locations (3240, 3242), to Patrick Noble
  
• June 2006: $20,000 for multiple locations (3240 only)
  
• October 2006: $35,000 (3240); $20,000 (3242); both to N & G Ventures

A bookkeeping error? Mmmaybe. Maybe not.



With the sheer number of Blairmont houses, it's getting to the point where it makes sense to just cover an entire block at a time. So, here's...

• 3248 Knapp Street (N & G Ventures LLC, March 2006, $14,700)

It was bought by the CIT Group in foreclosure in 2005, and soon sold to Blairmont at what appears to be a net loss. Blairmont also owns vacant lots on the same block at 3232, 3246, 3252, and 3260.

Links:

• 3240 Knapp at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 79

• 2500 Montgomery Street (MLK 3000 LLC, October 2006, $125,000)
• 2524 Montgomery Street (Noble Development Co. LLC, May 2006, $20,000)

Blairmont owns the ancient warehouse on the left, at 2500 Montgomery. It doesn't look like much, but behind it lurks a most remarkable block.

May 2008 - Blairmont owns 2500 Montgomery, at left.


May 2008 - privately owned houses.


May 2008 - privately owned houses.

The houses on the rest of the block went up as a group in 1905. Their peaked rooflines make a charming streetscape, unlike any other in the city. Today, they're all occupied, mostly by owner-occupants.... all except for one.

Yep! Surprise surprise, the one vacant house, at 2524 Montgomery, is owned by Blairmont.


May 2008 - Blairmont's sole house on the block.

Does Paul McKee intend to force out all the other owners and destroy this lovely block? It seems unfathomable, but he's done it before.

Price bounce: 2524 sold for $4,000 in January 2006... then again for $20,000 four months later. Did the other surrounding properties see a corresponding rise in value? Or is Blairmont's slumlord ownership dragging the value of everything around them down?

Links:

• 2500 Montgomery at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• 2524 Montgomery at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 75

• 2631 Hebert Street (MLK 3000 LLC, September 2006)

February 2008

It's right around the corner from yesterday's house. It's big, massive, handsome, isolated, has nice cornice brickwork, and has the usual complement of Blairmont ownership hallmarks: missing windows, incomplete board-up, vacancy.

Price bounce: first sold in July '06 for $118,000. In September '06, it sold again for $132,000. The Transaction Type is listed as "Related Party" -- what could that mean?

Links:

• 2631 Hebert at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 74

• 3114 Glasgow Avenue (MLK 3000 LLC, October 2006)

Amazing what can happen in just three months, isn't it?


February 2008

May 2008

The handsome little front house is doing fine, but the wood frame back house was one of the May 2008 arson victims.

Price bounce: first sold for a paltry $1,000 in 2004. Then someone shelled out $90,000 for it in June '06. Then three months later, MLK 3000 has it for $96,000. Awful expensive property to just let it burn down like that!

Links:

• 3114 Glasgow at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 73

Left and right:
• 3508 Cozens Avenue (JVL Renaissance)
  
• 3510 Cozens Avenue (Dodier Investors LLC, 200 )

May 2008

Here's an absolutely beautiful pair of buildings in the southern reaches of JeffVanderLou. Blairmont owns the one on the right (vacant, deteriorating, unsecured), while the left one is owned and operated by omnipresent rental company JVL Renaissance (maintained, occupied, freshly painted.)





These two stand amid the urban prairie common in JeffVanderLou's southern reaches; they are very nearly the last buildings on their entire block. The Blairmont building has already lost a cornice bracket and a terra cotta medallion. What a shame it would be for this lovely house to come down.

Like yesterday's building, 3510 Cozens seems to have bounced between owners with a sharp jump in price, from $17K to $28.5K only a month later.

Links:

• 3510 Cozens at the city's Geo St Louis database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 72

Left and right:
• 2530 Hebert Street (privately owned)
  
• 2532 Hebert Street (N & G Ventures LC, December 2005)

February 2008

Watch that right-hand house change through the years! Here it is in 2002:

June 2002 - photograph by Kevin Keiffer

And again in March 2007:


And... oops! Looks like the brick rustlers hit another Blairmont house. Su-prise, su-prise.

May 2008

This property's sales history also brings to light another questionable tactic. Since Paul McKee essentially hand-wrote a tax credit bill for himself, a higher property value means more money flowing back to him if/when his development scheme goes into effect. Well, what happens if some company, say, Blairmont Associates LLC, buys a property for $10,000, then sells it to some other company, like, oh, maybe, N & G Ventures LC, for $50,000?

That's $40,000 of "value" magicked up out of nowhere. Awfully handy if you happen to own both of the companies involved, since "nowhere" is in reality "taxpayers' pockets".

Funny thing is, that seems to be almost exactly what happened. 2532 Hebert was sold for a nice, round $10,000 in March 2005 to an entity that, sadly, isn't listed in the city's online records. Then in December of that same year, it sold in a "closed sale" for an astonishingly inflated $50,000 to N & G Ventures.

Previous selling prices had not gone over $20,000. Is northern St. Louis Place suddenly that desirable? Why would such a valuable property be allowed to get hit by brick rustlers?

Links:

• 2532 Hebert at the City Assessor's database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont:
  Built St. Louis || Ecology of Absence || What Can I Do?

Daily Dose of Blairmont 4

Today's Blairmont-owned building stands in the south end of the St. Louis Place neighborhood; it's been owned by Blairmont Associates Ltd. Co. since the spring of 2005.

• 1923 Madison Street - built 1888

August 16, 2003


November 11, 2007

Still occupied in late 2003, 1923 Madison was boarded up and empty three years later. More telling, all the windows were removed from the upper floors. They were cheap vinyl windows, not particularly lucrative. Why remove them? Well, the only real consequence of removal is that it opens the building up to the weather, speeding up deterioration and decay. Folks, you figure it out!

Now, you might think that this is an ordinary four-square flat building, and to an extent, you'd be right. It's got the red brick, Second Empire slate tiled mansard roof, and dormer windows so common to 1880s buildings in St. Louis.



It still has the lovely slate tile patterns and dormer detail, but the brick cornice so typical of St. Louis buildings appears to have been lost in a remodeling some years ago. Likewise, the house's neighbors east and west have been lost, leaving it as a lonely survivor along Madison.

But.... just look look look what it does for the view from adjacent Knapp Street!


September 2, 2006

More than just a stock building, it forms the termination of a lovely little urban vista, capping off a varied run of historic buildings -- and new construction as well, as new houses have gone up on the west side of Knapp, their massing and scale in keeping with their hundred-plus-year-old neighbors across the street.

• 1612 Knapp Street - built 1875

The shorter building at right, with the white windows, is another Blairmont property -- 1612 Knapp, owned by "Dodier Investors LLC" since December 2006. So not only is the vista's finale in danger, but the vista itself is also jeopardized!

This neighborhood is not going away. There's brand new houses going up right down the street. Blairmont has nothing to gain by sitting on this lovely building and letting it fall apart.

Price bounce: 1923 Madison sold in April 2005 for $10,000. A few weeks later it sold for $17,500 to Blairmont.

Links:

• 1923-1925 Madison at the City Assessor's database
  
• 1612 Knapp at the City Assessor's database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont

Daily Dose of Blairmont 3

• 2510-12 E. Sullivan Avenue - built 1905

February 11, 2008

Blairmont is not noted for keeping its properties in the best of repair.

The building's ruins stand in the north end of the St. Louis Place neighborhood. It was intact when "N & G Ventures LC" purchased it May 2006.

Price bounce: First sold in 2005 for $4,000, bought from an owner-occupant. Then in May 2006, N & G bought it for $140,000. Good LORD! Are the bricks made of gold?

Links:

• 2510-12 at the City Assessor's database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com, showing the house while still intact.
  
• More on Blairmont

A Daily Dose of Blairmont

In order to keep this issue in the spotlight, I'd like to share a few of the houses owned by Blairmont and its assorted sibling shell companies.



This charming quartet of cottages stands just a bit east of Grand, south of St. Louis Avenue. All four are empty. Three are owned by "MLK 3000 LLC", and the fourth by the LRA. They are, from left to right:

• 3007 Montgomery Avenue (Blairmont, January 2007) - built 1906
  
• 3005 Montgomery Avenue (Blairmont, January 2007) - built 1906
  
• 3003 Montgomery Avenue (LRA)
  
• 3001 Montgomery Avenue (Blairmont, October 2006) - built 1906

Situated on an odd, triangular parcel of land framed by Garrison and Coleman, they're staggered to step back from the street. They're not quite parallel; they fan out slightly from the back, keeping the houses on each end parallel to the side streets. The result is a lovely little bit of rhythm.



Their neighborhood bears the unwieldy name of JeffVanderLou. Brick rustling and abandonment have taken a heavy toll on the area's surviving stock of beautiful brick homes, and sprawling light industry has hemmed in the area to the east. But a few dozen historic homes still remain, many occupied, and some even restored to top condition. And just behind these houses, two entire blocks of faux-historical new houses have recently risen, somewhat tepid in their architecture but perfectly urban in their massing and placement.


Their decoration signals a stylistic shift in the neighborhood, with dark brown common brick on the front walls, decorated with geometric patterns in glazed white and green brick -- elements more common in the early 1900s, as opposed the 1880s/1890s stock common to the area.



Price bounce #1: 3007 sold in March 2006 for $10,500; 3005 sold for $5,000. The two properties sold again in January 2007 for $125,000. What the heck is inside these places?

Price bounce #2: 3001 sold three times: $50,000 in June '06, $60,000 in October '06... then $35,000 just a few days later. A price drop? Very odd.

Links:

• The properties at the City Assessor's property database
  
• Aerial view from Maps.Live.com
  
• More on Blairmont