Renovation is one giant recycling project – Couple show that green rehab doesn’t have to be expensive – 3 Oct 2009 P-D

Charles and Nikole Zidar drive hybrid cars, compost and recycle just about everything. They put great thought in making sure their carbon footprint on Mother Earth is a small one.

So when they bought a 1901 brick home in the Shaw neighborhood, they saw it as another opportunity to recycle something old instead of buying a new home. They’ve taken great care to make sure the renovation of the 3,400-square-foot, three-story home is as green as possible.

“Just about the greenest thing you can do is renovate an old home,” Charles says.

The Zidars bought the home, which was built by the German owner of a men’s furnishing store, for $118,000. Charles says they’ve added about $50,000 in upgrades, but he believes when all the work is done, the home will be worth more than $300,000.

“Not bad for a foreclosure?” Charles says, as he ushers a guest inside the home’s foyer with deep wood trim and one of three of the home’s original fireplaces. “It’ll turn into a pretty good deal.”

A former tenant bred pitbulls in the home’s basement. Charles says he had to put Vicks VapoRub under his nose just to be able to tour the home.

A cleaning company estimated it would cost $10,000 to clean up the basement, which was filled with cages. Instead, Charles chose to head up the cleaning: He carried out 15 bags of dog feces. “It was disgusting,” he says.

The Zidars have kept much of the home’s décor neutral, as they have focused the look on many of the home’s German-inspired motifs and memorabilia from the couple’s travels to 40 countries (including a poison dart gun from Brazil).

Some of the highlights of the home’s renovation:

– They recycled the glass removed from broken windows, cardboard packing, scrap metal and carpeting.

– They bought fixtures from Habitat for Humanity’s Restore, which sells used home supplies.

– They installed a new driveway, which was made from recycled concrete.

– They bought Energy Star-rated hot water heater and appliances.

– They found enough bricks and stones from the property for their backyard patio and waterfall/pond feature.

– They refinished the wood floors with water-based, low-VOC polyurethane.

– They installed 90 compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Charles says they considered air and water quality, water and energy savings and sustainability during their renovation. They wish they could have done more – like installing recycled glass and paper countertops and geothermal heating and cooling – but the costs were too steep.

Even so, Charles says, renovators can make a low impact on the environment on almost any budget.

“Green renovation does not have to be expensive,” Charles says. “I am too thrifty for that. You just need to make smart decisions and go the extra mile to find the right sustainable products.”

Charles and Nikole Zidar

Ages • He’s 42; she’s 36

Occupations • Charles is manager for construction administration at the Missouri Botanical Garden; Nikole, a biologist, is an instructor at Vance-Granville Community College in North Carolina, Harris-Stowe State University and St. Louis Community College.

Home • Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis

Family • Son Alex, 4; Ceiba, a mixed-breed shelter dog; and two snakes.

Former TV reporter tries his luck at building houses – 25 Aug 2006 P-D

Former Channel 5 reporter Kim Hibbs left journalism to start a house building business with his wife, Jan, a real estate agent. Among his first projects are two new houses in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis and a custom-built house in Chesterfield. Hibbs talked about his new venture, his constant partner and the forces that prompted him to leave television.

How did you move from television news personality to home builder?

My wife and I had thought about getting involved in real estate and home building several years ago. But the timing just wasn’t quite right. I was heavily involved in television, we had just started a family. But about four or five years ago we started to get serious about it. I wanted more of a leadership role in the newsroom, I wanted more anchoring in the newsroom.

At Channel 5, when you have veterans like Mike Bush and Art Holliday around, those opportunities just really weren’t there. It’s tough to move from one TV station to another TV station in the same market as well. And, my wife and I were just dead set against moving out of St. Louis.

Did you also have a non-compete clause, restricting you from working at another local station?

That is one of the reasons we knew we had to look at a second career, because with a non-compete clause there was going to be a six-month period where I could not go work for another TV station.

How was working with the city on the two historic projects in the Shaw neighborhood?

It was a rather lengthy process, and it took a little bit longer than I expected. But I think, since it’s a historic district, I can understand the process and respect it.

Do you worry you got into real estate too late?

I think in this neighborhood the timing is just fine. These are the first two new homes built in the Shaw neighborhood in 25, 30 years. I think that really gives us an advantage because you just don’t find brand-new construction with historic renovations in a neighborhood that is as popular as the Shaw neighborhood.

Does the slowing in the real estate market concern you?

This is unique enough that we will be just fine with this project. The other thing is everything you see, everything you read is that the bubble is bursting, and that the air might not come out all at once, but that there is a slow leak. We have sold three homes in the past six months — either brand-new construction or homes that have been significantly gut rehabbed. Three homes in six months shows that people are still out there buying homes.

You’re having problems on both coasts, but you’re not really having problems in the St. Louis area.

Do you think you’re going to have to lower the prices of these homes or it will take longer to sell them?

What I firmly believe is because of the unique nature of these homes and the neighborhood that they’re in, it won’t take too long to sell these homes. We won’t lower the prices. We’ve invested in them. And, I think really the price points — $324,000 for a 2,500-square-foot home — you can’t find new construction any­-where in St. Louis for that price, let alone the Shaw neighborhood. So we think we’re priced right.

How much would this house be worth in Chesterfield, on a standard lot?

You could make an argument this home would be worth $450,000.

Why so much more?

I still think there is a core group of people who haven’t bought into the fact that St. Louis is the place to live. You still have crime stories. You still have the St. Louis Public Schools continually in the limelight. For families, if you’re going to move, you’re not going to move to the city of St. Louis right now because of all this infighting in the school district.

They say running a business together and remodeling can be two of the biggest stresses on a marriage. You and your wife do both every day. How?

The one thing about working with Jan is whether it’s raising kids or dealing with our personal finances, we’ve always seemed to be on the same page. When we go pick out light fixtures, floors, kitchen cabinets and everything for the homes and talk with our architects, we’ve always been on the same page. We don’t have one of us trying to do something and one of us trying to do something else.

How did you meet?

I actually was dating another girl — this was years ago — and that girl took me to a party at Jan’s house.

And that was that?

That was that.

You must have some disagreements.

We make decisions together and we always seem to agree on what decisions we’re making. I think we’re both laid back and low-key enough that if someone has a strong feeling about something, fine. It’s never really a point of contention. I focus much more on the construction side and she has her Realtor’s license so she focuses a lot more on marketing and selling.

How do you find subcontractors and develop those relationships?

A builder is only as good as his subs. It’s trial and error. We also found some mentors who have helped us along the way. So as far as that goes, it’s a lot of referrals.

Did being a former reporter make you more willing to ask for help?

My wife always says, “Why do you ask so many questions?” and I say, “Because I was a reporter.” I was on TV in St. Louis for six years. I think that helped a lot in getting us going, as far as having people respond to us and be willing to help us. I’d be foolish to think that it didn’t.

What were some of the changes you saw during your time in television?

When I first started, the producers, the reporters, seemed more mature, more experienced. I guess it’s a function of budgets. I think in this day and age, the reporters are getting younger, the producers are right out of school and it’s all to save money. I think you really don’t have the time that you used to developing stories, working sources, making sure you had both sides of the story, making sure you had the best story possible.

—

Kim Hibbs Age: 47

Occupation: Co-owner Hibbs Homes LLC

Education: Bachelor’s in business administration, Principia College in Elsah, Ill. Career: 1983-1999, reporter and producer for various television and radio stations; 1999-2005, reporter and anchor for KSDK (Channel 5) St. Louis; 2005, co-founded his current company.

Family: Lives in Chesterfield with his wife, Jan, and their two children, Alexa and Brandon.

Residents Oppose Plan For 39th Street – 11 Jan 1988 P-D

A plan for redevelopment of a three-block stretch of 39th Street south of Interstate 44 from a depressed shopping area into town houses has moved one step closer to reality. But people who would be displaced by the redevelopment have bitterly complained about the plan.

On Friday, the Board of Aldermen approved by a vote of 23 to 0 the redevelopment plan, which was introduced by Alderman John Koch, D-8th Ward.

Michelle Duffe, president of the 39th Street Redevelopment Corp., said the plan would bring ”the redevelopment of a very bad stretch of blighted property in our neighborhood.” Duffe also said that tenants in the building would have no immediate need to move.

The plan calls for tearing down most buildings between DeTonty Avenue and Russell Boulevard. The plan envisions construction of town houses, possibly two-bedroom units costing about $90,000. A six-family unit at 39th Street and DeTonty Avenue would be renovated.

The plan calls for tearing down buildings to make open space until developers build the new housing.

Open space will bring in good buyers, Duffe said.

The people who would be displaced said last week that they were concerned that they might face higher rents or would be forced to sell their property for less than what they believed it was worth.

”I don’t understand it,” said Howard Holland, owner of a well-kept building that houses his hair salon, several other businesses and three apartments in the 2000 block of South 39th Street.

”What resources does a guy have to protect his place? How can you fight 20-plus aldermen? They come along and say, ‘Hey, it’s tough.’ ”

Holland will be 60 in February. He bought the building in 1964. He has been in business for 31 years.

He said he had planned to use the building’s revenue to augment his Social Security when he retired. He said he hoped he had five or six years before his building would be bought and razed.

Holland said he had spent about $35,000 in the last decade on such items as new furnaces, roofing and tuckpointing. Some apartments have been remodeled.

Eva Dunaway, who lives in an apartment on the corner of 39th and Castleman, said, ”I don’t want to split my family up.”

Dunaway lives with her two daughters, each of whom have young children. She pays rent of $560 a month, including utilities, for five furnished rooms and two baths.

”They say they are going to put in flower gardens and a pool,” she said.

She questioned the need for a park area with Tower Grove and Reservoir parks only five and two blocks away, respectively. But Duffe denied that gardens or a pool were in the redevelopment plan.

Duffe and Koch said the plan ultimately would increase property values in the surrounding Shaw neighborhood. Duffe said she hads letters from 24 groups, churches and institutions favoring the plan.

Among those, said Duffe, are the Shaw and Flora Place neighborhood groups, St. Margaret of Scotland School and the Tyler Presbyterian Church.

Koch said the demoliton and redevelopment would not happen immediately. He said the elimination of the blighted area would make current residential property more attactive to buyers and would encourage newer housing to be built.

About three years ago a committee of the Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association began studying the building problems at the area’s east entrance, Duffe said.

That area has been dying since the state bought property for the construction of I-44 in the 1960s, she said. Much of the property on 39th Street is vacant and some has been vandalized, she said. In earlier talks, some property owners were uncooperative with the group’s plans.

In early 1986, said Duffe, the neighorhood association decided they had to act, and they set up a redevlopemnt corporation.

Initially, she said, consideration was given to acquiring blighted buildings and selling them to individuals willing to commercially develop the first stories with residential above.

But Duffe called the former business area obsolete.

She said that she had told James Reynolds – the operator of a dry cleaning firm at 2009 South 39th, who moved into the block about 10 months ago – that he was at risk.

But Reynolds said the building was in good shape and that he would have to start his business all over if the building were taken over by the redevlopment company and razed.

Jean Daugherty, with her husband, Charles, owns the building, which has several stores. They said they had taken care of their property and done repairs.

”I don’t want these people thrown out of their homes,” Jean Daugherty said. Daugherty said she and her husband owned a total of five store units and 22 residential units in the area.

Mildred Bone, 78, who has lived in an apartmemt in Holland’s building for 47 years, said any move would be a wrench. ”At 78, its hard. I’ve been here so long. Howard’s always kept the outside so nice. Why can’t they let this building stand and tear down the garages (buildings to the north and south). I’m just sick about it. I cry myself to sleep about it.”

Bone said she lived on about $350 a month and recently had to place a sister she had cared for in a nursing home.

Another longtime resident, Opal Lester, has operated a music s tore that she and her late husband started 41 years ago.

”It makes me sick to think of it (leaving),” she said. ”I’m very much shaken.”