Daily Dose of Blairmont 192

• 2734 James "Cool Papa" Bell Avenue (Union Martin LLC, April 2008, $179,800 - multiple properties)

October 2008

Just west of yesterday's house, this is another painted stone-front house, with delicate inscribed carvings around the windows. A coat of bright blue paint makes it an exuberant note on this block, if not exactly historically accurate.

An active church stands right next door. Blairmont could make their premises safer and more attractive by renovating this house and getting renters or an owner into it. In fact, with all the property they own here, they could improve the entire block. What if some of the church's own parishioners could live right next door to their church? There's already an owner-occupant to the east; what if there could be a whole block of them?

Links:

• 2734 James Cool 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 191

• 2716 James "Cool Papa" Bell Avenue (N & G Ventures LLC, August 2005, $15,000)

October 2008

This house is one I missed the first time around. Stone front facades like this are common in this neighborhood, inviting canvases for bright colors. Imagine an entire block of such restored houses, painted in a rainbow of colors. Blairmont has the ability to make it happen!

Links:

• 2716 James Cool 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 115

• 2709 James "Cool Papa" Bell Avenue (MLK 3000 LLC, October 2006, $100,000)

May 2008

This Blairmont house is surrounded by two owner-occupied houses, another privately owned house, and one LRA building.



Price bounce: Sold in March 2006 for $50,000. Six months later, the price had magically DOUBLED; it sold for $100,000 in October.

Links:

• 2709 James Cool 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 85

Left to right:
• 2731 James "Cool Papa" Bell Ave. (N & G Ventures LLC, Nov. 2005, $20,000)
• 2729 James "Cool Papa" Bell Ave. (N & G Ventures LLC, Oct. 2003, $?)
• 2727 James "Cool Papa" Bell Ave. (Larmer LLC, March 2008, $?)
• 2723 James "Cool Papa" Bell Ave. (N & G Ventures LLC, Sep. 2003, $739)
• 2721 James "Cool Papa" Bell Ave. (privately owned)

May 2008

This batch is a ragged looking group, and show no signs of improvement under Paul McKee's ownership (unless removing the upper-floor windows is somehow an "improvement".)




Vacant since 2002, 2723 is the worse of the bunch. Its exterior layer of brick is spalling off, creating a hazard to anyone nearby. Have pity on the owner-occupant next door!



A second owner-occupant lives just west of the Blairmont cluster, and three more to the east.

Possible price bounce: 2727 sold in October 2007 for $17,000. It seems to have sold again in March 2008 to Larmer, for an undisclosed amount. Given the lack of a second sales record and price, this may simply be a database error.

Links:

• James Cool 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?