Emerald Ridge Groundbreaking Ceremony-Partnership in Action

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled on February 10, 2014 for Emerald Ridge (formerly the East Alton Defense Area Redevelopment).

In partnership with SWIDA (Southwestern Illinois Development Authority), Madison County, and the Village of East Alton, Rise will develop 46 new single-family homes in East Alton, Illinois.  The site will consist of 34 single-story and 12 two-story single-family detached homes.  The redevelopment will replace 91 obsolete housing units in the area and the majority of the new homes will be occupied by existing neighborhood residents.  This project is currently in its pre-construction phase and is expected to be completed in early 2015.

The ceremony will be hosted by the Village of East Alton and will begin at 10:00 a.m.

309-319 Ohio Ave.

East Alton, IL  62024

(across from the  parking lot entrance to the Keasler Recreation Complex)

There will be a photo gallery featuring pictures of the defense area as it is and renderings of the finished development.

Complying with the nationally-renowned Enterprise Green Communities program, homes will be built to meet or exceed Energy Star 3.0 standards, ensuring well-built, well-insulated, high performance homes. Five homes are designed to be fully accessible according the DOJ 2010 standards – the latest Americans with Disabilities Act standards. Resident utility bills will be reduced by measures like increased insulation, Energy Star appliances and lighting, low-flow fixtures, highly reflective roofing, and high-efficiency mechanical systems.

Proposed homes will be affordable to families earning 60% of the Area Median Income (exact income varies by family size).  Nearly two-thirds – 63% – of the East Alton population would be eligible for these homes.

We expect residents of the new homes to include but not limited to:

  • Ÿ  Teachers
  • Ÿ  Health care workers
  • Ÿ  Retail workers
  • Ÿ  Village of East Alton/County workers

For more information on the development please contact Mark Stroker at 314-333-7005 or [email protected] and for more information on the groundbreaking ceremony please contact Larry Perlmutter at 314-333-7008 or [email protected].

Rise Collaborates on Community Engagement Training

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

2:30-4:30 pm, UMSL at Grand Center

The Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis presents a workshop on how to carry out constructive community engagement that involves data. This workshop is designed in partnership with Rise, UMSL, and Urban Strategies. The training will begin at 2:30pm on Tuesday January 28th, at UMSL at Grand Center, 3651 Olive. Among other topics, it will cover:

  • How to plan and prepare for a community engagement meeting,
  • Engagement techniques and strategies to provide all meeting attendees different avenues to voice their thoughts,
  • How to determine what information or data would be important to have for residents at meetings on different topics, and
  • How to present and talk about data in an easily understandable way.

At 4:00pm an optional half hour session focused on how to engage and prepare residents to participate in the City of St. Louis’ Consolidated Planning Process will begin. This community engagement workshop is aimed at CBN and SLACO members along with government officials.

In the fall, the annual discussion unfolded about how federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars to the City of St. Louis would be spent.  Federal regulators insisted that the City change its method of deciding where the dollars would be spent.  In a nutshell, the change can be described as moving away from the tradition of Aldermen deciding how CDBG money would be spent within the ward, and toward  a City-wide competition.

The entire experience has led many interested parties in the City to want to increase participation at the grassroots level.  The Consolidated Plan should have considerable influence over how millions of dollars are spent over the next five years, so make sure your neighborhood is well represented.

To register for the January 28 sessions, click here. Registration deadline is January 21, 2014.

ExKuisite Designs by Kimberly Opens in Crown Square

Rise welcomes Kimberly Smith, our newest tenant to the commercial district in Crown Square.

ExKuisite Designs by Kimberly is located at 2611 14th Street and features unique jewelry, hats, bags and other accessories.

The Grand Opening was Saturday 12/21/2013 and as Kimberly puts it  “I am Open for Business and welcome everyone to come shop with me.”

Hours are currently from 10-6 daily, closed on Sunday. Visit the Facbook site at https://www.facebook.com/ExKuisiteDesignsbyKimberly

GrandOpeningCollage WindowUpClose

 

 

John Nuernberger named Citizen of the Year by Brentwood Chamber

John Nuernberger, Asset Manager at Rise was named Citizen of the Year in 2013 by the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce! Congratulations!

In his own words:

1. I was born and raised in North St. Louis County and received my undergraduate degree in Administration of Justice from the University of Missouri St. Louis in 1985.

I Moved to Brentwood in 1998 with my wife Sherry Hartnett who had lived in Brentwood since 1990. She moved here because of the School system. Sherry nor I went to Brentwood schools but all my sons Andy Hartnett (just bought his first Home in Brentwood this year) , Eric Nuernberger, Jake Nuernberger and Cory Nuernberger all graduated from the Brentwood school system.

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