Month: April 2019

NorthSide Regeneration Announces Winners of 6th Annual Project Design Challenge at April 29 Awards Ceremony

NorthSide Regeneration Announces Winners of 6th Annual Project Design Challenge at April 29 Awards Ceremony

St. Louis Developer Paul McKee, Jr. and his NorthSide Regeneration development have named Team 6 from Metro Academic and Classical High School as the Gold Winners of their 6th Annual Project Design Challenge. Team 4 from McKinley Classical Leadership Academy was named the Silver Winner and Team 3 from St. Mary’s High School received the Bronze award. The winners were announced during an awards ceremony on April 29 at the Engineers’ Club of St. Louis.

Six teams representing four St. Louis City high schools (St. Mary’s High School, McKinley Classical Leadership Academy, Metro Academic and Classical High School and Vashon High School) participated in this year’s competition, which challenged students to design an interactive urban park within the NorthSide Regeneration development. Design elements that were to be incorporated into every team’s submission included a variety of sundials, a passive solar food concession building with indoor and outdoor seating, appropriate plant species to enhance the site all year round, water features, a history walk and an amphitheater.

For two students on the winning team, this was the second year that they participated in the challenge, and now one of them is planning on studying architecture at the University of Kansas and the other plans to study mechanical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

This is exactly the goal of our city-wide, high school challenge – to expose more youth to the fields of architecture, engineering and construction,” said McKee. “Year after year, the students surpass our expectations, coming up with innovative ideas and uses for new products and technology in their plans.”

The design challenge was open to any student attending high school within St. Louis City, including public, charter, private and parochial schools. Teams, which could include up to six students, were required to register for the challenge by Jan. 18, 2019.

Participating teams were required to submit a project description between 300-500 words explaining their design theory and solution by the April 5, 2019 submission deadline. Each team also submitted no more than three poster boards showing an aerial location for the park, a site plan, enlarged details/and or elevations and an optional perspective drawing. A 3-D model of each team’s design was also required.

On April 13, 2019, each team orally presented their project, then answered questions before a jury of individuals in the fields of architecture, engineering and construction, plus neighborhood liaisons and representatives of NorthSide Regeneration. This year’s judges included: Michael B. Kennedy, Jr., CEO of KAI Enterprises; Donald N. Koster III, Senior Lecturer at Washington University and Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, and Design Practice Leader at Arcturis; William Laskowsky, Chief Development Officer at M Property Services; Paul McKee, Jr., Chairman of M Property Services and owner of NorthSide Regeneration; David Suttle, Design for Architecture Interiors and Planning; Ramona Tumblin-Rucker, Director of Construction Management at M Property Services; Paul Whitson, Regional Leader of Healthcare at HOK; and Chris Wilson, Project Manager at Cole.

“Our thanks to everyone who helped with this project design competition, especially the teachers and mentors who guided and encouraged the students throughout the design process. We could not have been more impressed with all of the students’ creativity and excellent work,” said McKee. “Thanks to everyone who participated and helped to make this year’s challenge another success.”

To date, over 300 students representing nine St. Louis City High Schools, and over 50 mentors have participated in NorthSide Regeneration’s Project Design Challenge. Past challenges have included, “Planning for the Autonomous Vehicle”, “Neighborhood Entry Marker”, “Urban Park”, “Neighborhood Streetscape” and “Parking Lot of the 21st Century”. The challenge is coordinated every year by Karen Bahr, Executive Assistant at M Property Services.

Participants in Annual Project Design Challenge Submit Plans for Interactive Urban Park

Participants in Annual Project Design Challenge Submit Plans for Interactive Urban Park

St. Louis City high school participants in this year’s Project Design Challenge presented their ideas to a panel of judges on Saturday, April 13. The students were asked to design an interactive urban park within M Property Services’ NorthSide Regeneration development. The winning teams will be announced at an awards ceremony on April 29 at the Engineers’ Club of St. Louis. Best of luck to all of the student participants!

GreenLeaf Market Celebrates April 1 Ribbon Cutting and Soft Opening

GreenLeaf Market Celebrates April 1 Ribbon Cutting and Soft Opening

Staff and owners from GreenLeaf Market, representatives of the City of St. Louis and NorthSide Regeneration, and many other supporters gathered under a white tent on April 1 to commemorate the long-awaited opening of GreenLeaf Market in the NorthSide Regeneration footprint. The 20,000-square-foot grocery store is located at the corner of Tucker Boulevard and 13th Street in north St. Louis City.

A ribbon cutting at the event marked the grocery store’s soft opening. GreenLeaf will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the grand opening on April 13, which will start the normal store hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The grand opening celebration will feature free samples, a “fill-a-basket” food drive for needy families in the community, and drawings for free groceries. Giveaways will also be held for free gas and car washes from the new ZOOM Convenience Store across the street.

“I want to personally welcome GreenLeaf Market to St. Louis. You are vital piece of the puzzle that is helping NorthSide Regeneration lift up this neighborhood that has been overlooked and underserved for far too long,” said U.S. Congressman William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D) at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “Most of us take having a nice grocery store nearby for granted, but for many hardworking people in urban areas with food deserts like this one, having access to a full- service supermarket with fresh produce, meats, fish, dairy and prepared foods will be life changing. And given the fact that many residents in this neighborhood depend on public transportation, having a good store within a few blocks from home is the difference between a livable neighborhood and a failed neighborhood.”

GreenLeaf Market is locally owned by St. Louis Grocery Group, in partnership with Good Natured Family Farms, a cooperative alliance made up of 150 family farms located in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. The market features locally- and regionally-grown produce and meats and a wide array of unique items that shoppers won’t find at other grocery stores. The store also features a state-of-the-art kitchen managed by an experienced, on-site chef focused on creating farm-fresh, nutritious and fully-prepared grab-and-go food selections. GreenLeaf Market, which created 72 full- and part-time job opportunities for local residents, plans to offer convenient curbside pick-up for online orders to better serve the needs of commuters and people working downtown. 

“I’m excited that small and mid-sized farmers can get their agriculture into an urban area. And for the people who live and visit and work around here, they now have a choice for fresh produce,” said Glenn Mitchell of St. Louis Grocery Group. “It’s a $20 million plus project and it’s a little risky, but I’m excited to be a part of it all.”

Good Natured Family Farms co-owner Diana Endicott said she plans to replicate the success of her business in the Kansas City area in St. Louis at the new GreenLeaf Market.

“Here we are today, after many years of planning and reaching out. We hope to do the same thing to utilize some of the farms that we currently have, but have also spent two years of research, sponsored by the USDA, to locate farms around this area that would be able to bring fresh produce and meats, cheeses and honey. We also want local artisan products, handcrafted products, to be able to help them come to the marketplace,” she said at the ceremony.

Dr. Katie Plax, Medical Director at The Spot, a center devoted to the health and well-being of St. Louis City youth ages 13 to 24, spoke at the ceremony about the physical and mental health benefits young people in the community will realize by having GreenLeaf Market in their neighborhood.

“GreenLeaf to me is the green sprout of a brighter future ahead for the northside of St. Louis and those who live and work here. To healthy kids and families to chronic disease prevention and treatment, to system and policy change to reduce hunger and to powerful collaborations for a mission that better serves our community, we celebrate,” said Dr. Plax.

For more information about GreenLeaf Market, visit www.GreenLeafMarketStl.com.