Net Zero LLC has broken ground on three model homes in Northside, developer Paul McKee’s long stalled redevelopment zone north of Downtown. Dwight Arant’s Net Zero purchased the property from Northside Regeneration and has options on lots for as many as 250 other homes. Klitzing Welsh Associates is the architect.





Each house will be energy self-sufficient, with a solar photovoltaic roof, structural insulated panel exterior walls, and windows and doors installed with airtight connections. Heating and cooling will utilize a ductless variable refrigerant flow heat pump system, and every home will have plug-ins for electric vehicles.

A planned community organization will oversee planned parks, playgrounds and maintenance. Homes will be sold as 99 year leasehold mortgages.

Dubbed St. Louis Park Place, planned houses will range in size from 1,200 to 3,000 square feet. As envisioned, Northside’s first residential phase surrounds St. Louis Place, the long hippodrome-shaped park between 21st Street and Rauschenbach Avenue.

The development is two blocks east of the federal government’s planned $1.7 billion National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Separately, Gershman commercial real estate is marketing a 23 acre suburban-style retail site at Jefferson and Cass.