This Old House Magazine recently rated the Shaw neighborhood as one of the top places to buy an old home in the Midwest. They site the Victorian era neighborhood’s beautiful homes, wide streets, and proximity to Tower Grove Park and the Botanical Garden as aesthetically pleasing features that make the neighborhood a pleasant place to be. In addition, they mention the growth of local cafes, pubs, galleries and restaurants as an appealing features. The homes in the neighborhood were built between 1880 and 1940 and feature a mix of Victorian-era, Queen Anne, and Second Empire homes and also some Arts and Crafts, Georgian, and English Tudor. The prices of course are also appealing. They say you can buy an unrestored Victorian era home for as little as $125,000 or double if it is restored.
This is a neighborhood that I am very familiar with and it is one of my favorites for many of the reasons mentioned in the article. The homes are beautiful and the neighborhood becomes more vibrant each year as more people move in and businesses open. One of the great features of this neighborhood is the diversity of the people. There is a mix of income levels and races in the neighborhood, which gives it a good feel. The article mentions that homes could be bought for $125,000, but this would most likely be an unlivable home. Victorian homes that are livable cost $200,000 and above with a nicely restored home costing $300,000 and up. This neighborhood is still rough in some parts, as there are some bad land lords who don’t screen their tenants well. However, I think the Shaw neighborhood is well on its way to revival and I don’t see it turning for the worse. The new Biotech corridor along Forest Park Parkway is nearby, and this neighborhood provides great housing stock for future employees of this corridor. This is a neighborhood that I personally am interested in investing in, and there are some great investment opportunities here.
I’m going to begin a new feature where I examine one neighborhood per week and give a general overview and opinion of investment in the neighborhood. I’m going to start with Tower Grove South because it is one of my favorite neighborhoods and one I’m very familiar with.
The Tower Grove South Neighborhood has two smaller neighborhoods within it, The Tower Grove Heights Neighborhood and the Grand Oak Hill Neighborhood. The Tower Grove Heights Neighborhood borders Grand Ave on the east, Tower Grove Park on the north, Utah Place on the south, and Gustine on the west. This is the most desirable area in Tower Grove South. Much of the housing stock is large, especially on Utah Place, which is a divided street with landscaping in the middle. In general as you move West and South in the neighborhood the housing stock becomes smaller and there are a higher number of multi-family housing.
One of the great features of Tower Grove South is the fact that there is a variety of housing stock. Near grand Ave and Tower Grove Park the houses are generally larger. As you move west from Grand and South from the park the housing gets smaller. In the days before cars rich people lived near the major streets and poorer people lived further away. After the advent of the car many of the rich and middle class people have moved further from the poor to the suburbs. Tower Grove South is well positioned to be a well integrated (economically) community because of the variety of housing.
There are two major business districts in Tower Grove South. The Grand South Grand Business District is on the Eastern border and contains a large variety of shops and restaurants. This area is being considered for a major renovation as part of the federal great streets initiative. The Morgan Ford Business District is growing quickly. In 2005 many of the buildings on Morganford, just south of Arsenal were boarded up. In the last few years roughly twelve new businesses have opened and the area is thriving.
I think Tower Grove South is one of the best neighborhoods to invest in because it is already stable, but still has room to grow. There are other neighborhoods that have a much bigger upside, but also have far greater risk.
