St. Louis was ranked fourth on the list of top 10 markets for real estate investing by HomeVestors of America Inc. HomeVestors is the franchise real estate company whose billboard ads read “We Buy Ugly Houses” — but we won’t hold that against them! The top 10 markets named are:

1. Gary, Ind.
2. Tucson, Ariz.
3. Fort Worth, Texas
4. St. Louis
5. Dallas
6. Oklahoma City
7. Atlanta
8. San Antonio
9. Kansas City, Mo.
10. Houston

“Despite changes in the real estate market, our franchisees are buying more houses than ever before and posting record-setting numbers in markets across the U.S.,” said John Hayes, president and CEO of HomeVestors, in a statement.

Dallas-based HomeVestors of America Inc. specializes in buying, rehabbing and selling single-family homes in the U.S. The company has more than 250 franchises in 32 states.

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Planning work is underway to remake three blocks of Euclid Ave, from Lindell Blvd on the north to Forest Park Parkway on the South. The group behind this makeover is the Central West End-Midtown Development Corporation which is spending $400,000 on the planning and engineering for three city blocks of a single street. The development team, headed by Denver-based Civitas, made a public presentation Monday evening on the issues and proposed options. Check out Steve Patterson’s blog Urban Review STL for lots of details.

Mixed-use fever shows no signs of cooling, according to a survey published in Building + Design magazine. The Fall 2006 survey of development execs, conducted by National Real Estate Investor and Retail Traffic magazines, showed that mixed-use was the dominant retail property type for both new development and redevelopment projects over the previous 12 months.

Here are the stats:

• 28% of respondents developed mixed-use properties during the last 12 months.
• 28% developed freestanding/single-tenant properties.
• 25% developed non grocery-anchored strip centers
• 18% developed lifestyle centers.

Mixed-use projects ranked even higher in developers’ future plans. Fifty-two percent plan to develop mixed-use properties, followed by freestanding, single-tenant properties (36%), non-grocery-anchored strip centers (32%), grocery-anchored strip centers (30%), downtown urban centers (29%), and lifestyle centers (28%).

The reasons? More people want to live - and shop - in urban areas where the action is. And the rising cost and availability of greenfield sites is prompting developers to consider in-fill in urban areas. Also, communities increasingly want “smart-growth” projects that minimize sprawl and create a live-work-play environment.

The University of Missouri is hosting a January 12, 2007 forum for Missouri-based engineers and architects engaged in design and construction services. Attendees will learn about the University’s selection process and recent changes to their design and construction program.

The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Reynolds Alumni Center on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. The agenda includes a Q & A and lunch. Be sure to RSVP by December 22, 2006, and only one representative per firm can attend. Contact Toni Henley at Facilities Planning & Development, henleyt@umsystem.edu, or call 573.882.7989.

An interesting aspect of the $535 million I-64 reconstruction project is the design innovation encouraged by MoDOT. In addition to bidding MoDOT’s first design-build project, proposers were allowed to use standards from other state agencies so long as they had previously been approved by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials or the Federal Highway Administration.

“They could propose California bridges, Texas barrier walls, Missouri pavement and someone else’s signs,” said MoDOT spokeswoman Linda Wilson. “We wanted to provide the flexibility to mix and match good standards that maybe they had used in other states.”

Wilson, quoted in ENR, said it took the contractors awhile to understand that MoDOT wanted their ideas and was not going to dictate every single spec. Wilson added that once they caught on, the bidding contractors liked the approach and “hoped other states would follow the lead.”