My sister, Monica, knows the family of a Washington University history student, Laura Smith who is working with the folks behind Delmar DivINe, a non-profit mixed use incubator at 5501 Delmar Boulevard in the West End Neighborhood.
I wanted to meet Laura to learn more about her research project, documenting the neighborhoods surrounding Delmar DivINe and the former St. Luke’s Hospital.
Delmar DivINe is spearheaded by Maxine Clark, a St. Louis County resident working in the city of St. Louis to transform the former St. Luke’s Hospital to a mixed-use non-profit to serve the neighborhood and city at large. Maxine Clark, among other significant accomplishments, was the founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop. She is focusing much energy and resources on giving back to St. Louis and building something I hope you’ll be as excited about as I am.
Laura and Maxine were kind enough to make time for us to meet, tour the building and talk about the project.
Laura Smith left, Maxine Clark right
This conversation was something I didn’t expect. I was reluctant to meet with Ms. Clark vs. my original desire to just sit down with Ms. Smith. I don’t ever want to be perceived or more importantly be a bootlicker to local wealth and privilege.
But, the conversation was real, genuine and positive. I mean that. It changed me a bit in thinking we need all hands on deck to make places like West End, Visitation Park and Academy better. We need another level of influence, $ and desire to lift.
That desire for lift inspired me after our conversation.
This story will focus on our tour and Maxine’s inspiration behind Delmar DivINe.
In a follow-up to this story, I’ll talk more in depth with Laura to get a feel for her historical research and thoughts on the project and neighborhoods surrounding Delmar DivINe.
On a hot August day, I parked my car on Belt Avenue with my camera, research notes and list of question in tow. I was crossing the street to enter the building. A couple in a Buick Regal stopped and asked me how much the apartments cost here. I said: “I don’t know, but I’m fixing to ask.”
With that little happenstance fresh in mind, I breeched the doors feeling optimistic that quality housing is a core need for a normal life. And in my research, this is a key element behind Delmar DivINe.
My sister and I checked in and within minutes were getting a tour of the building, which on our late August visit, was still very much a work in progress with lots of interior buildouts going full steam.
The building is a lesson in history. It’s footprint is very old and remnants of the 1904 hospital are still visible. But, you might not know that from a quick drive down Delmar.
The newer hospital was built atop the old one. It was an E-shaped building and the cladding from the mid-20th Century is likely what you see as you pass.
There are reminders of the old power plant and out buildings from the original hospital along Enright Avenue.
We were welcomed on a tour of the building.
There is co-working and a cafeteria space where the Emergency Room of St. Luke’s used to be. The ghosts of the past were swirling in my head.
There is going to be a deli here, called Deli DivINe. Per the STL Jewish Light, it will be a traditional Jewish deli from suburban resident Ben Poremba who owns several restaurants in St. Louis and the suburbs.
“When asked what type of cuisine was missing from the local food scene, Poremba quickly responded “a deli.” As it turns out, in this month’s edition of the Delmar DivINe newsletter, Poremba talks about his plan to open Deli DivINe, in the former St. Luke’s Hospital on Delmar Boulevard, now the site of Delmar DivINe, started by Jewish entrepreneur Maxine Clark as a hub for nonprofits.
Part of the reason for Poremba locating the deli there is to pay homage to the strong Jewish presence in the north St. Louis neighborhood early in the 20th century.the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
There was much care to keep and restore the original elements of the former hospital. There is a gorgeous courtyard that reveals the brick and stone from St. Luke’s, melding with the mid-Century addition and cladding.
Even the old phone booth was saved, it smells like my house…old wood and metal vs. the contemporary smells of dry wall, carpet and latex paint. They couldn’t do an art installment in it per the historic guidelines. It will remain in its original state.
There are 150 new apartments. 15% are deemed “affordable”. These all rented very quickly. Demand is there and should be a priority for the city to support more projects like this.
Many university students live here working on medical, law, social work, PhD degrees.
Neighborhood people moved in here as well.
The offices for the Clark-Fox Foundation were relocated here from Clayton, MO.
There is art work from patients at Healing Arts and Jennings High School students on the walls, in addition to some of Ms. Clark’s personal collection. It is bright and cheery.
Girls in the Know, Bridge to Hope, Opportunity Trust, Behavioral Health Response (formerly based in the suburbs), Teach for America, Mental Health for America are among the tenants.
The place has copious office space, with a small lunch area to serve the offices which Maxine described as ~33% eduction, 33% health care and 33% community development.
The meeting rooms on the third floor will be named after St. Louis Civil Rights leaders with photos and quotes from these good people. There are large classroom spaces. It is all connected and wired for modern tech access.
Throughout the campus, there are 20 conference rooms with high tech boards, cameras and sound. Office tenants have access to all of this space, including a gym and swimming pool.
The 7,000 sq. ft community space hosts neighborhood association meetings from all over this area.
It is a bridge rather than a barrier, so they engage all neighborhoods around here not just the West End.
They aspire to be a voting site. Maxine said they want to be like Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, where anyone can come and feel safe and at home.
There is little trash on the immediate property, they have strategically placed trash cans to encourage the basics of dignity. And, per Maxine, people are now throwing trash in a can vs. the ground.
Little things make me happy, and Maxine has prioritized this simple need of dignity and opportunity to do the right thing.
This property has a long history.
St. Luke’s was downtown through 1866, started by the Episcopalians. Cholera hit and they moved west to the West End Neighborhood (formerly Cabanne Neighborhood) purchasing the property in 1902 and two years later opened in 1904. They built this place in two years!
1951-1965 was the timeframe for the re-claddings/modernizations. St. Luke’s started buying property in West County in 1974, and shortly thereafter moved the nursing campus to the suburbs.
They served St. Louis until 1984. The 70s and 80s were brutal for St. Louis, and this is just one example of the mass exodus to the suburbs leaving St. Louis in the lurch.
Upon moving to the burbs in 1984, they leased the property to companies that ran downsized hospital services or health care. Regional Hospital, Connect Care, these are among the places that existed here trying to make it work.
Eventually health care uses ceased in full by 2014 and a for sale sign went up. It was hanging on by a thread by then. It was assumed by the St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority.
These properties were non-profit before Delmar DivINe. They are now tax contributing entities per the funding structure. Currently, they pay ~$48,000 annual property taxes per city records, whereas before there were $0 property taxes. New market, historic tax credits, mortgage HUD, a bank loan and personal donations make up the funding structure.
Skeptics and cynics will claim this is gentrification. I disagree. This is new housing, so no displacement, rather adding investment and mixed uses. I reject this belief, but there will be those who disagree this is white influence in a Black neighborhood. In reality, this was a white Jewish and gentile neighborhood, historically and flipped quickly to Black after white flight. One or two generations of each.
But this part of St. Louis might have been a local model of integration back in the day, with Soldan High School as an epicenter of cultural melding.
We’ll get to that in part two.
Delmar DivINe has the right goals to build a modern, better place.
They are encouraging car free lifestyles, working with Metro to build a new bus stop right in front of the building. It will be a modern, solar heated, dignified bus stop vs. the dumpy one that was there when the area was abandoned and unrecognized.
Maxine made a deal with Metro to fix this stop up if they would build another one in a different neighborhood.
Bike racks are conveniently placed, rain swales and new sidewalks and street trees line the property.
Per Maxine:
“This is joyful work. We are so excited to be working together. We are comfortable here, trying to solve the future and how to do things in reasonable stages.”
“We got it done, in spite of COVID. We are getting people together, people are coming back to work.”
“Minority owned businesses were solely used for the project.”
Women designed the interior spaces where reach, format and convenience of movement were considered and prioritized.
“I’m proud that when people say Delmar, they are saying Delmar DivINE vs. Delmar Divide. This small change is so beautiful, and the first step in saying this is not a dangerous street, this is a place where things are happening and you can be proud to live or work here.”
Maxine shared a story when a contributor/donor was here visiting for a tour.
“They were walking through the offices where people were having meetings and working. The contributor/donor ducked into the room and asked what they were working on. They talked and said she wanted to know more. They shared contacts and the donor wants to learn more and be supportive.”
Connections and positivity are happening in a space that was decidedly inactive and declining. As an eternal optimist, I get this stuff is important. Reaching out for help from people you’d never have asked for help before.
Per Maxine, “I’m proud of the connectivity. Maxine. 1 + 1 = 100.”
I asked her when she is most excited about in the next six months.
“It will be 100% full and people will be activating the space post-COVID. Building a neighborhood within a neighborhood. Working and living in the same space. Employees get a discount on rent as a pre-existing neighborhood resident.”
Of the 150 apartments, 60 already have residents moved in. All apartments are rented out. Demand is obvious and filling a critical need in this part of St. Louis. They did not have to advertise for the available housing, they just used word of mouth and sending flyers to local universities and employers.
Per Maxine, the $1.85/sq. ft. is well below the market average. Poor people move often, but she has tenants that hug her and say this is the nicest place they’ve ever lived. There is laundry in the same building…they’ve never had that before. “I’m never leaving, this is the nicest place I’ve ever lived”, said on resident.
The apartments are ADA compliant and they moved fast.
I asked Maxine if Delmar DivINe will this stay non-profit or get sold to a private company once the tax structure and current leadership move on.
“It will be owned by the Delmar DivINe charitable foundation. Currently CRG owns it, Clayco’s real estate group that is the for-profit entity necessary to set up the capital structure. Delmar Divine will buy it from Clayco and retain ownership.”
Upon purchase, Delmar DivINe, a full non-profit will not be required to pay property taxes after the Clayco ownership, so we’re in the sweet spot of the best of both worlds. Most gentrification hawks don’t get this, but should. I didn’t know this until now.
I asked Maxine how Delmar DivINE is working with the community, and even though they rent to some charter school advocates, will they engage with nearby Soldan High School?
“Absolutely, influencing infrastructure upgrades in Ivory Perry Park is a priority for the future. We keep pushing as working with the city is complicated due to their many priorities. We have the resources and drive to work through the hurdles, listen to what neighbors want and better the park.”
“When it comes to collaboration with public schools like Soldan, you want to work with people more than divide them. It can boil down to a Union thing. Kelvin Adams has restrictions on who he can work with and what he can do. It’s about kids not politics.”
Soldan is part of the story, Delmar DinINe are not blocking out SLPS from the conversation and focusing on Charter schools to undermine the educational landscape.
Maxine and her husband were integral in getting an SLPS magnet school Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience. This is one of the mot successful schools in the district and has built quite a community in a short period of time. Maxine described that effort as a series of tremendous hurdles to get Collegiate moving and established. They succeeded and we’re better for it.
Maxine looks forward to working with the community on the Great Rivers Greenway projects that will touch theses neighborhoods in the future. Per Maxing, “I will probably be gone when the Hodiamont Tracks and Brickline Greenway are completed, but I am thrilled by its potential.”
When it comes to the racial makeup of the neighborhood and surrounding areas, Maxine sees a future that is unlike the past of staunch segregation.
“There are more mixed families, lets run with it. Let’s let people who are hungry for a sense of place own their place. But let’s help them get there. This was not a Black neighborhood from day one. The last 50 years were; but there’s more to the story. Let’s work on cementing the current residency landscape and help them stay and grow and integrate. We need to come together and live together throughout the city.”
“I think this is the best place to live in St. Louis. There is no more crime here than in Clayton, MO.”
Kindness, openness, conversation, realism: I love these interactions and walked away feeling optimistic about our future as a city., Laura and Maxine and other movers and shakers are so available if you just ask and show an interest. St. Louis has a legacy reputation of being parochial, but as a new resident who is not “from here”, I disagree. People want to meet and talk, candidly. Even the learned suburbanites get it. And I want to know and learn from them as well as my extended family: residents of the city of St. Louis.
Laura is looking into the history of St. Luke’s Hospital and the surrounding neighborhoods to share it with the residents, tenants and others. When the conversation shifted to Ms. Smith’s work, I got the frisson that only a good song or story can bring.
Part 2 will be a deep dive into the history of this place and what she learned when digging. This is my heart, and I know I can learn from a budding professsional to see how they work and understand the past and their place in the future.
Stay tuned.
I’m in awe of people who accomplish things, big things in their life: people who are successful in their career and then build something positive and give to their community later in life. I will never have that opportunity to BUILD real change, but I’ll volunteer my time and try to take inspiration from those who are doing not just talking.
I don’t typically hob nob with wealthy people. I’m not a boot licker to the County Elite. But, I was so impressed with Ms. Clark’s mission, humanity and humility. I asked if I could refer to her as the Executive Director of Delmar DivINE and she said, no I’m the Chief Inspirator. We talked like real people talk. They gave my sister and I all the time we wanted.
I’m humbled and hopeful after speaking to the Delmar DivINe folks. We spoke frankly about race, inequities and history with a foundation of truth and understanding. I’m impressed by leaders who are older than I who are in tune with the next generation’s approach and desires. I’ve had to learn all this, and Maxine appears to be a student as well.
Godspeed Ms. Clark, Ms. Smith and Delmar DivINe. Thank you for all you are doing in my city.
