AFL-CIO BIT JV Back to Work in St. Louis
The two entities teamed up again for a $51 million apartment development.
By Adriana Pop
St. Louis—Construction is currently underway for Encore at Forest Park, a $51 million apartment development at 5700 Highlands Plaza Drive in St. Louis. The project marks the second joint venture between the AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust and Balke Brown Transwestern.
Encore at Forest Park in St. Louis
Encore at Forest Park consists of 246 units, with anticipated occupancy in 2017. Amenities will include a quarter-acre courtyard, pet-friendly facilities, a fitness studio and a pool. Plans call for a mix of 37 studio, 79 two-bedroom and 126 one-bedroom apartments. The property will also have four penthouse three-bedroom units with views over the entire campus and Forest Park.
Once complete, the five-story building will be surrounded by a mixture of office mid-rises and retail as a part of the Highlands at Forest Park redevelopment over the land that previously housed the St. Louis Arena. The area boasts convenient access to all major highways, nearby biking trails and city attractions.
Local community advocates, union leadership, politicians and members of the Missouri business community celebrated the Encore at Forest Park groundbreaking earlier in June.
“Building Investment Trust projects like Encore are physical representations of our collective actions, showing how we can take our pension funds back into our community to help create well-paying jobs in St. Louis,” stated Pat White, president of the Greater St. Louis Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
The two joint venture partners have previously completed work on Cortona at Forest Park, a 278-unit multifamily property in St. Louis. That $69 million development lies directly next to Encore, and has been consistently rated one of the best apartment projects in the city by the St. Louis Apartment Association.
Over the BIT’s 28-year history, the fund has invested more than $130 million in St. Louis for the development and acquisition of nine projects. These developments include a total of 525 housing units and 1.48 million square feet of commercial real estate.
Image courtesy of Encore at Forest Park
