Austin Barzantny chats with Tara Bolen from WUMCRC on his role as a local developer and the impact Grove Properties has made in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood.
Q. What is Grove Properties?
A. Grove Properties is a real estate development and management company specializing in homes and renovating historic properties in the Grove neighborhood that are put up for sale or lease.
Q. How long has Grove Properties been around?
A. We are fairly new, just a couple years old. I however, have been renovating properties in this neighborhood for the last 5 years.
Q. How big is your company?
A. Grove Properties has approx 15 people that work for us. The majority of employees are skilled tradesmen and carpenters.
Q. Where are you located?
A. We are located on Manchester in the heart of the Grove right at Manchester and Tower Grove Avenue.
Q. What is your role?
A. I’m the developer. As the developer, I put projects together. I find potential projects, then locate the resources to build them, and using our construction crew to complete renovation. We bring in architects and designers as well to assist in the historic renovation. Also, as the broker for Grove properties as well, I will the property once it is finished.
Q. What has been some of the major past accomplishments of Grove Properties?
A. We’ve renovated over a dozen historic properties in the neighborhood to date. We have several more projects in the pipeline. We just received a award from the Landmark Association for a building completed on Arco Avenue that was listed as one of the “10 most enhanced buildings in the city.”
Q. Why did you decide to develop in FPSE?
A. Location is number one. There are numerous residents in St. Louis that want to live on the central 40 corridor. Also, the Grove neighborhood is central to a lot of institutions such as Washington University Medical Center, BJC, and Forest Park with easy access to downtown and St. Louis County. It’s also a fairly new historic district. The Grove/Forest Park Southeast neighborhood hit the historic register in 2000 making it eligible for tax incentives to build properties. Without that incentive, a lot of homes we restore wouldn’t be feasible projects.
Q. What projects are you currently working on?
A. There are several projects happening now. Our focus is on 2, 3 and 4 bedroom rental units in the neighborhood as well as 2 single family homes under construction.
Q. What do you want the greater FPSE community to know about Grove Properties?
A. The Grove is a fantastic neighborhood. I’ve been a resident here for the past 4 years. The Grove has a great future & we hope to be working on many projects here in the foreseeable future.
Q. Do you offer homes to buy or just rental property?
A. Both actually. The majority of the property we work on is for rental projects. At least, twenty percent are “for sale” projects. We have a new project that involves a couple homes that are “rent to own.” This means renters will be able to apply up to a full years rent towards the future purchase price of the home if they decide to buy from us.
Q. How can people find out about available homes?
A. Go to our website: www.liveinthegrove.com or call us at 314.241.2222
Below: Pictures from recent Grove Properties projects.
