Neighborhood Businesses

Your downtown condo will sell

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Things are a little slower in downtown St. Paul than they are in the rest of the city:

Median days on market in St. Paul = 35 Average days on market = 38

Downtown St. Paul condos:

Median days on market = 59 average days on market = 82

There is a 4.2-month supply of downtown condos vs. a 1.3-month supply of homes for sale in St. Paul.

There is a 2.6-month supply of condos on the market in all of St. Paul and they sell in about 44 days.

Downtown St. Paul is still experiencing a seller’s market. Overall the downtown market tends to be more stable and it changes more slowly.

There is more housing than ever downtown and more than 10,000 residents. There are fewer businesses. I don’t have any number but I can see the vacant storefronts as I walk through the skyway.

The popcorn wagon is vacant and for sale. I am tempted. I would move it down to the river or maybe it could go near one of the many microbreweries in my neighborhood and I could sell popcorn.

 

popcorn wagon
Popcorn wagon for sale

This just in from the National Association of Realtors for July: “Existing condominium and co-op sales were recorded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 500,000 units in July, down 9.1% from June and down 29.6% from one year ago” “The median existing condo price was $345,000 in July, an annual increase of 9.9%.” Single Family homes were up 10.6% for the same period.

Saint Paul Neighborhoods

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

Each St. Paul neighborhood has it’s own personality. There are people in every neighborhood who will tell you their neighborhood is the best. I always find that amusing because my neighborhood really is the best. 😉

The people who live near Grand avenue in the Summit Hill neighborhood were able to persuade the city not to put parking meters along Grand avenue. They had all sorts of great reasons for not wanting meters. Some of those reasons had to do with how the meters might look and some business owners were concerned that having to pay for parking could hurt their businesses.

Recently a whole bunch of parking meters were installed in the West 7th neighborhood along West 7th street. I am not sure how it all came down. I can’t find any news articles about it and I don’t think there was a community protest. After all they are just meters not rail tracks.

I do know that those meters will generate revenue for the city and that the West 7th community and it’s businesses are strong and vibrant and the meters will not have a negative impact on them.  I am not sure how they will impact the character of the historic buildings as they will be competing with several other modern amenities that we never should have allowed on the street.

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Parking on West 7th

 

parking
Parking meter on west 7th

The building in the background is one of the oldest in St. Paul. It is kind of hard to see the meters in front of it because of where the cars are parked. I took the photos on a Sunday morning.

5 Comments

More historic preservation

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

People don’t always consider businesses when they think of historic preservation. This business restored the iconic sign that has been a kind of landmark in the area for decades. They did a wonderful job and it looks like a cleaner slightly more modern version of the original. I am sure they could have found a less expensive option but I am happy that they went with the mid-century modern type sign.

liquor barrel
Restored sign

The other side of the building as a lovely mural made by local artists. I’ll post the photograph when I find it.

2 Comments

Change happens

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

When we moved into the home we live in now we were so excited that we only had to walk a couple of blocks for an ice cream cone.  Now the DQ is gone. It is a good thing that we did not buy the house just because of the DQ. It doesn’t matter where you live neighbors and businesses are likely to come and go.

Neighborhoods can really change and sometimes it happens gradually over a period of decades. Our neighborhood has changed so much in the last 20 years that it is like we moved without moving. 🙂

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Brewery is now apartments for artists

Posted on by Teresa Boardman
schmidt brewery
Schmidt Brewery Artists Lofts

Even with my wide angle lens I could not get it all in. The renovation of the Schmidt Brewery is in it’s final stages and many of the apartments are occupied. There are income limits and rents starting at $844 a month for a one bedroom.  There are 247 live/work rental units in the complex. See the Schmidt artists lofts web site for details.

This is a unique project and an exciting one. We don’t always have a way to save historic buildings and this one is a treasure.

I have written a few articles about this over the years. 

Coming this week. .

Posted on by Teresa Boardman

 I usually write this the day before or after Thanksgiving but this year I want to put it out there right away.  There should never be a special day for shopping local.  We should shop local everyday unless of course we need warm woman’s boots. 

As a local business myself I can tell you that most of the money that I make each year gets spent right in my own neighborhood.  I am not part of a big national franchise, and there is no HQ in another state that I send the money to.  There isn’t any big corporation or glass office tower either . . .I’ll have to work on that.  I like to say that real estate is local and so am I and I was made right here in St. Paul too. 

As the economy continues to heal from the last recession I can see the impact on local businesses up and down the street.  Several near where I live have new signage and have made improvements to their stores.  One hired my niece so she can know the joy of earning money, paying taxes and paying some of her own expenses. 

All year long and especially during the holiday season if I get to choose where we meet or where we go for lunch or coffee I choose the small neighborhood business every time. 

Last summer I bought some used furniture from a store just a block from my house and fixed it up so that it almost looks like new.  A similar item at Target or Walmart would have cost 4 or 5 times as much.

If you must shop on Thanksgiving day or the day after please consider shopping in your own neighborhood and don’t forget that next Saturday, November 30th is shop local day. 

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Wescott Station