Development Archives - Bush Construction

Kairos Academy High School

Posted on December 10, 2024

Kairos Academies is a high performing public charter school in St. Louis, serving grades 6 to 12. Founded in 2019, Kairos Academies has a unique teaching method involving a high degree of self-directed work that will enable students for the contemporary work environment they will face as adults. This educational method informs the design of the school’s teaching spaces, which include a higher mix of common and breakout spaces than conventional schools.

Kairos has operated in a leased warehouse space since its start. When it became clear that their ambitious model was delivering great results and they would need a permanent home, they reached out to Bush (formerly UIC in St. Louis) to assist in identifying and developing a new home. Having successfully completed the development of two high-performing charter schools in St. Louis previously, Bush had the experience to help Kairos realize their goals.

Bush’s engagement started with programming and sizing of the project, along with site identification and acquisition. In the spring of 2024, Kairos acquired a 4.5 acre site in the Bevo Mills neighborhood. Bush has created designs to rehabilitate the 100,000 sf existing building on the site into a school that will enable Kairos’ teaching method and allow them to continue to grow.

Bush’s development team is working with Kairos and has helped source New Market Tax Credits along with investments and financing for the projects and will start construction on the project in early 2025.

Green House Venture

Posted on December 10, 2024

The Green House Venture (GHV) is an educational and community resource that synergizes the interests of multiple institutions in South St. Louis city in their search for more robust STEM/STEAM education. The Venture brings Saint Louis University together with four elementary schools, each with its own distinctive mission and character –public, charter, parochial, Christian-in a single Urban Education Alliance District. It will offer hands-on learning opportunities for schools in a building that is itself a model for sustainability and urban agriculture. In conjunction with the SLU Salus Center, it will offer outreach and food distribution programs to benefit the community. In addition, the Venture will be a new, iconic building for the neighborhood, demonstrating that green architecture and urban agriculture are not simply trendy or ad-hoc solutions, but vibrant and lasting visions for the future of living in cities.

The 10,000sf facility includes indoor and outdoor classrooms, bio-lab space, a gallery, growing spaces, and office and support areas. The growing spaces include indoor and outdoor areas to demonstrate the potential for year-round food production, and encompass 5 distinct areas: SMOS Dragon’s Garden, a lesson in the remediation of urban land; the main greenhouse and aquaponics gallery for understanding growing in small ecosystems; the hydroponic roof garden, demonstrating the ease of adapting lightweight roof gardens for home use; the courtyard, a series of trellised fruit trees and growing towers; and the embankment garden, a 2-block reclaiming of unused land adjacent to the highway for urban agriculture and native plants.

Botanical Heights

Posted on December 10, 2024

Botanical Heights is a new name that replaced McRee Town, which at one point was one of the most dangerous urban neighborhoods in the nation. At the time we moved in, the eastern half of the neighborhood had recently been completely torn down and replaced with new housing by a large regional home builder. The western half was assumed to be slated for the same fate; we had a different idea!

Working with a not for profit redevelopment group, the Garden District Commission, which was formed by the nearby Missouri Botanical Garden, we forged a new plan that stabilized the existing building stock and move forward with an ambitious plan for historic rehabilitation and infill building that would re-create a walkable, sustainable, mixed use neighborhood.

To date, our team has developed, designed and built over 40 new homes, dozens of apartments, a facility for Missouri’s top performing charter school, several nationally recognized restaurants and various office and retail spaces. We have guided over $15 million in investments in the neighborhood thus far with another $10 million slated for the coming two years.

The neighborhood has received local and national praise for both the speed and quality of the redevelopment. By working within the context of this long neglected 100 year old neighborhood we have been able to foster a rebirth with the density, amenities, and charm that make city neighborhoods great places to live and work.

Olio and Elaia

Posted on December 10, 2024

Bush (formally UIC) served as design-builder and developer for this new venture by our good friend, chef Ben Poremba. Olio, described as a “grown-up wine bar and eatery,” is located in a former 1930s Standard Oil station that had been covered in plaster and stood abandoned for over a decade. Following a careful uncovering and analysis of the existing structure to determine the original form and brick pattern, we were able to lovingly complete a rehabilitation of this iconic structure. Olio, and its sister restaurant Elaia, are now an important anchor for our redevelopment of the Botanical Heights neighborhood.

Lafayette Preparatory Academy

Posted on December 10, 2024

Phase 1 – Renovation of Classroom Buildings of Historic Lafayette Church

23,000SF

Lafayette Preparatory Academy is a top-ranked St. Louis City charter school and its reputation continues to grow. Their facility is in the prominent and beautiful neighborhood of Lafayette Square, near downtown. They came to us when they found a building in the area that they were trying to serve – the historic Lafayette Church at the northeast corner of Lafayette Square Park. The building had a lot of potential – though not a lot of land – and that worked for the school from a location and financial perspective. We were able to help with the development of the building, including acquisition, financing, deployment of incentives, and planning.

In order to meet the schedule the school needed to begin holding classes in the building, we divided the project into two phases. The first phase was the 23,000sf renovation of two of the old Sunday School classroom buildings. Both of historic significance, one was built in the 1940s and the other in the 1960s, and both were in terrible shape having been vacant for several years. The design team worked with the school leadership and staff to re-purpose the space into light-filled and spacious classrooms, a library, offices, and cafeteria / multi-purpose room. Once complete, the school began using the facility and we began to prepare for Phase 2. Interestingly, the 1940s building had been designed to have two more stories added to it, but the plan was never carried out. With such little space on the site to build, the challenge for Phase 2 was to fit several more middle school classrooms and a gym on the site.

Phase 2 – Middle School Addition and Gym Addition

16,500SF

After completing Phase 1 – renovation of the classroom buildings – we began planning for Phase 2, which was decidedly more complicated. The design team was able to squeeze a two-story classroom building between the historic church and the 1960s building, and connect the floors. We also designed and engineered the addition of a full-sized gym on top of the existing 1940s building. The original plans for the building called for a vertical addition of two more floors of classrooms. Ultimately we were able to add the gym and successfully navigate the code changes that were made.

Being in a historic district, the new construction portions of the project faced regulatory challenges and approvals required by City guidelines. We were able to work with the neighborhood and the Preservation Board to design a beautiful addition to the neighborhood and a functional facility for the school.

Marian Middle School Phase 2

Posted on December 10, 2024

After successfully completing the Phase 1 Stem Center, Library and Cafeteria, Marian Middle School began the process of a major renovation to their campus including the historic classroom building and their recreational building, a mid-century structure with a gym, locker rooms, classrooms, kitchen, and chapel. It had been decades since significant work had been done to either building and they were in need of core, shell and systems modernization, and code compliance work, as well as a cosmetic refresh – flooring, casework, lighting, plumbing, painting, lab and classroom space. Our development team led them through the process of financing, fund-raising and deploying incentives, such as historic tax credits.

Renovations were completed on a tight schedule primarily over the summer so the students could be back in the buildings for the fall semester.

Gadellnet

Posted on December 10, 2024

The new Gadellnet headquarters are located in the completely renovated and re-purposed Lunar Tool Building in the Botanical Heights Neighborhood. Gadellnet, a start-up IT company was looking for an office space that would work well for day-to-day workplace functions, and that would also be a differentiator when it came to recruiting new employees. The Lunar Tool Building was made up of two different warehouse buildings from different decades and both qualified for Historic Tax Credits.

The Gadellnet clients, three partners – were looking for open concept work space, flexible open space to accommodate large and small collaborative meetings, as well as conference rooms and offices of different sizes. Additionally, they needed a gym, and indoor and outdoor recreational space, and a large kitchen/bar area for employees and entertaining new clients. We incorporated many of the interesting features of the existing building into the design, maintaining the warehouse feel with large, glass garage doors, exposed brick, factory windows, exposed steel structure, and barn-style dock doors. An old crane became part of the structure that holds up one end of a new mezzanine in the space.

In addition to creating and building a unique design for the workspace, we worked with the client to develop the property, guiding them through a develop-to-suit process that included acquisition, financing, and incentives.

227 North Lindbergh

Posted on December 10, 2024

Our team completed exterior and interior renovations of this 1980s single-user building on Lindbergh in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Starting with a modest building that appeared fit for a Miami Vice episode, we reshaped the building through the addition of a large light monitor and new windows throughout, with a large canopy clad in a custom cedar veneer.

This one of a kind property is available for office, medical, or retail use. Contact Brent Crittenden for more details.

Tower Grove Mews

Posted on December 10, 2024

A rough-shod conglomeration of buildings, the Tower Grove Mews historic stable complex had lots of potential, but was so dark and full of junk, it was hard to imagine. Once we were able to clean out the buildings, we discovered a pretty amazing space in the stable-turned-warehouse. And ultimately, we completely rebuilt that part of the structure after discovering that the roof was held up by storage pallets stacked high. The old stable space formerly housed our St. Louis office, and has since been converted to apartments. There are also three other storefront retail spaces, a restaurant space, and 10 loft-style apartments – all surrounding an open space that accommodates some required parking spots, but also made a charming courtyard, conducive to some great music and festival events.

With exposed brickwork and ceilings, sealed concrete floors, and a number of features from the building’s former use left in place, the one and two bedroom apartments are very unique, full of character, and are what you might imagine when you think of a loft apartment. Exposed brick and timber trusses, full-wall glass garage doors, and old machinery make up some of the features of the apartments.

The project was a development, design, build effort by our team. We worked with the City of St. Louis to complete the design and with the state of Missouri on completing the requirements necessary to receive Historic Tax Credits.

DeTonty Street Apartments (DSA 2)

Posted on December 10, 2024

Located in the Historic Shaw Neighborhood, near the Missouri Botanical Gardens, DeTonty Street Apartments or DSA2, was the 2nd phase of a master plan that spanned three quarters of a block along DeTonty Street. The building is a three-story, new-construction walk-up building, with 20 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units.

Similar to its sibling to the west (DSA 1), DSA 2 was inspired by other brick multi-family buildings in the area. The new walk-up building has high floor-to-ceiling heights, large windows, and Juliette balconies that follow neighboring precedents in both shape and size. The buildings have light, bright and open-concept units that renters love. The interior finishes are simple and modern with exposed concrete floors, industrial-style lighting, cabinets, and countertops. In this iteration of the building, the design team added some unique studio units to the third floor with vaulted ceilings and unique layouts that were leased in record time.

Our development, design and construction teams worked with the Shaw Neighborhood, The City, and CDA (Community Development Authority), and St. Louis Development Corporation on the design and incentives including tax abatement. DSA 1 was the first step toward satisfying the goal to fill a large gap in the urban fabric that was previously an eyesore and the completion of DSA 2 continued the execution of the master plan. Several for-sale townhomes and single-family homes included in the master plan were sold and built within the next few years as well.