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Happy Thursday! The big news this week is the return of the Kirkwood Apartments, a 60-unit mixed-use proposal for the former Commerce Bank site. This has (predictably) received a lot of pushback from the Facebook crowd, mostly because the structure itself is rather unremarkable. I share that opinion, but I'm also firmly of the opinion that Kirkwood's overly prescriptive zoning code, which mandates that buildings break up their massing rather than utilizing a single coherent design and which incentivizes big boxy structures in the first place, is partially to blame for the ugliness. Hopefully, ARB cleans the design up a bit but regardless, this is positive news for Kirkwood's economic growth, affordability, and dynanism. Check out the story here if you haven't already:
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Kirkwood Apartments: Episode II - Return of the Apartments
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The rumors of the Kirkwood Apartments' demise are greatly exaggerated. Just a few months after the 300 N. Kirkwood Rd project was finally pronounced dead, a new developer, TriStar Properties, has revived it in much of its original form —60 apartments, 2,940 square feet of retail, and 111 parking spaces across four stories— utilizing the same architectural firm, Stock & …
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- Tonight's City Council meeting agenda is pretty light, but it should see them give final approval to both the Forrest Ave Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and the modest Floor Area Ratio (FAR) reform. I'm a little worried that the latter could get watered down even more, so fingers crossed it gets approved as is.
- A few items from last week's Webster Kirkwood Times:
- Page 5 was full of Kirkwood-specific news, including:
- Info on tonight's City Council vote as to whether to allow Proper Cannabis to extend their hours to 10pm
- The FAR vote I mentioned above
- The beginning of the Transportation Development District (TDD) half-cent sales tax increase to fund city streets and sidewalks that was first approved of by voters last November. I was against the tax increase, mostly because I thought there were much better ways to raise the revenue
- The Eye on Kirkwood section also had some nice information on tomorrow's festivities as well as some updates on various streets projects around town
- Now is the time to request the city plant a new street tree next year. Street trees are great for property values, walkability, and help counteract the heat island effect, so if you have a suitable spot, submit it to the city using this form here!
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That's it for this week! The 4th of July festival in Kirkwood Park tomorrow night begins with food trucks at 5pm, live music starts at 7, and fireworks begin at dark. Have a great weekend and happy Fourth, everyone!
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