It’s Time We Get Started
Looking West on Felix Street from 12th Street - September 27th 2023.
What do…
Columbia
Springfield
Joplin
Kansas City
St. Louis
Have in common?
All are cities that are experiencing a renaissance of investment, vibrancy, and people.
Columbia has a vibrant downtown full of local and national shops and restaurants, working together to serve the residents of Columbia and the college students that populate the city for 8 months out of the year.
Springfield’s downtown is showing signs of life as locals open up new restaurants, shops, a hotel expands, and more housing is built to satisfy increased demand from students at Missouri State University and just general folks doing to Springfield because of work opportunities.
In the aftermath of the 2011 tornado, Joplin’s investment ticked upward. Some from the reconstruction of their community, but also from the influx of new residents looking to live a laid back life.
Kansas City has attracted a wide-range of new residents looking to live in a laid back city where locals leave their mark in nearly every neighborhood. Coupled with great schools, responsive local government, lower crime, and great connectivity to the rest of Missouri and Kansas, plus the nation, Kansas City is establishing itself as an economic powerhouse straddling two states.
St. Louis is in a period of redefining itself. It’s starting to shake off its downfall from the loss of population to the fall of the manufacturing and river trades. Neighborhoods across the city are seeing locals open their own businesses and renovate the grand old houses while the Central Corridor attracts the new buildings, jobs, and visitors.
But St. Joseph, tucked in the northwest portion of the state on the border between Missouri and Kansas, has been a quiet dark horse, quietly awaiting its time to shine bright. Being only 50 minutes from Downtown Kansas City, and 30 minutes from Kansas City International Airport, St. Joe is uniquely positioned to experience its own renaissance.
The city, once larger than Kansas City, played a significant role in the Westward Expansion of the United States and can directly be pointed to as the reason for Kansas City being what it is today. Jesse James, the notorious western outlaw, was based in St. Joseph and was killed there. The Pony Express, which made the run to Sacramento in 10 days, had its start and home base in St. Joe. Gold rush wagons were outfitted before making the trek across the Great Plains to California and other areas out west. As railroads developed, St. Joe became a terminus for many of them before losing out when the railroads chose Kansas City for their river crossing into Kansas, and the rest of the continental US. In the heyday of St. Joe, the American Dream was alive and well. The middle class and commerce prospered. A true boomtown that even residents in the 1950s thought would continue for many decades into the future.
But the dream didn't pan out. The 1970s did a number on downtown St. Joseph. Density and vibrancy plummeted as hundreds of traditional buildings were demolished in an urban renewal effort that did nothing but destroy it. I-229 cut downtown off from the Missouri River, and the once grand Robidoux Hotel came crashing down. Most of the manufacturing and livestock jobs left the city. Factories closed down. As a result of the reduction of general productivity, other businesses slowly began to leave, emptying the city of additional service jobs.
The heart of Downtown St. Joseph is Felix Street Square, a small park surrounded by buildings of varying styles and types. This is also the part of Downtown that has seen most of its vacant buildings be redeveloped into other usages, but many others remain awaiting their restoration.
Today, St. Joseph is a city ready to make a comeback. You can feel optimism among the citizens who live there. Young and old. Poor and rich. Business owner or not. St. Joe’s citizens take pride in their small city. The buildings that have been renovated were done so lovingly with many of them now being home to bars, restaurants, shops, art galleries, offices, event spaces, and even residential lofts. Beautiful old homes, both mansions and row houses, are slowly being restored by those who’ve been priced out of Kansas City and even Omaha. The healthcare system, Mosaic Life Care, is the largest employer in town. The old stockyards are now home to food processing jobs and other warehouse jobs. Hard work is rewarded in St. Joe.
The grassroots efforts to restore St. Joe are beginning to yield positive results, but the vast amount of land, and sheer number of remaining vacant warehouses and homes is a challenge that’s seemingly daunting. Yet focusing on these buildings means the future of St. Joe can be a vibrant city that thrives in an entrepreneurial mindset.
Anthony Hugo (left) and I (Chris Stritzel) are seen at the new Kansas City International Airport Terminal for a preview day on February 14th 2023.
When Anthony and I set out to start a new real estate development company, the first that I’ve been able to find founded and owned by members of Gen-Z, we knew we were facing an uphill battle. High interest rates, inflation, and the generally bad reputation developers have were all working against us. But we set out to be different.
We were attracted to St. Joe because of the grassroots efforts by citizens there to preserve and restore their city. Coupled with the beautiful old homes, apartment buildings, and warehouses, and the clearly defined street grid, we knew that St. Joseph is a city ripe for thoughtful redevelopment.
What we don’t want to be are the developers that destroy a city’s character in search of large profit margins. Those same buildings that attracted us to this city are the same buildings we will look back on for inspiration moving forward. We even hope to own some of them. Our development styles will be grounded in tradition. Think real brick, symmetry, curved windows (where necessary), stained glass windows, and (in some areas) traditional ground-floor commercial with residential on top.
We want to be a part of the community. We want to be the type of folks that you would you would stop walking down the street and have a friendly conversation with or have a spirited chat at a neighborhood bar.
Looking west on Felix Street in 1928. Of the buildings in view, only 5 exist.
Everything we do in St. Joseph will be done in the spirit of those who’ve been working hard to bring their city back. Anthony and I both have skills that’ll allow us to put some of our own labor into each project we do, meaning that each project will be a labor of love in more ways than one. The architects we work with will also be chosen based on the quality of their work and their willingness to imagine St. Joe as if it were their hometown.
Beyond the people, architecture and history, St. Joe, like Columbia and Springfield, also has a university (Missouri Western) and like St. Louis and Kansas City, is positioned in an area that could grow naturally thanks to superior connectivity. St. Joe is connected to Omaha and Kansas City via I-29 and Kansas via US-36. Amtrak could be expanded to the city, bringing passenger train service back to the city for the first time since 1960. The Missouri River can, and should be used, as a method of both transportation (connecting to the Mississippi River and reaching deep into the Great Plains) and recreation. With the rise of work from home, a city like St. Joseph becomes an option for those wanting to live in a city, but without all the headaches that come with doing so.
Renovating, and eventually constructing, buildings to serve these folks is critical to ensuring St. Joe comes back to life. One building at a time. One block at a time. One neighborhood at a time. Change doesn't happen overnight, it’s a slow moving force whose speed varies by economic conditions.
With St. Joe being a stable community, it appeals to us. Interest rates may be high right now, but the properties you buy and redevelop/restore here will be worth more after the work is completed than they were when you bought them + the loan value and interest. This isn’t the case in larger cities.
Yes, we’re starting a new development company in a difficult lending environment.
Yes, our first investments will be in a slow moving, tertiary market.
Yes, we’re seeking to redefine what’s possible in real estate.
Yes, we’re planning on boosting the grassroots efforts to restore St. Joseph.
Yes, we’re ready to get started.
Yes, we’re super excited.
We have work to do, and I can’t wait to share more, especially our first project (that’ll make a splash), in the coming months.
It’s time we get started.
The video below features clips and audio from the 1954 documentary, “This is Our Town - St. Joseph).
