THE POSTWAR BUILDING BOOM

St. Louis Park was still a pretty small town when the war ended, with lots of open space to build houses on.  Even before the war was over, City officials sensed what was coming.  In a letter dated May 15, 1945, Mayor O.B. Erickson reported that:

Our Planning Board has just completed a comprehensive zoning map for all St. Louis Park, designating residential, commercial and industrial factory land use. This is quite important in order to regulate the tremendous building of homes and businesses establishments contemplated after this war.

VA loans authorized by the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (the G.I. Bill) often required little or no money down, making five million Veterans able to buy homes. Home construction also benefited from technology developed during the war, and standardization of building materials brought the price to an affordable level. National housing production jumped from 140,000 units in 1944 to a million in 1946.

Changes in the Federal Housing Act of 1949 provided homebuilders with profit incentives to construct single-family home developments in the suburbs. Locally, despite the Planning Department’s argument for 50 ft. lots, the City allowed 30 ft. and 40 ft. lot sizes, which made large-scale development profitable for developers. Hundreds of homes were built for an average price of $7,000.

A record 1,122 building permits were issued by the City in 1950. This was the third largest number granted in the state, behind Minneapolis and St. Paul. St. Louis Park was also third the following year. Adolph Fine was responsible for 219 of those homes. Between 1950 and 1956, 66 new subdivisions were recorded and 2,700 new homes were built, mostly above Minnetonka Blvd. and generally in a cul de sac street pattern. In all, 60 percent of St. Louis Park’s homes were built between 1946 and 1954. The largest number of building permits were issued in 1950 and 1951, with a dip in 1953 (1046 permits) and a resurgence in 1954 (1288 permits).

Some of those homes, built to VA specifications, were so small that the neighboring homeowners appeared before the Village Council to complain that they were having a negative effect on their home values. A representative from the VA testified before the Council that their goal was to stimulate the building of homes that veterans could afford for $25 a month. Some of those houses are located on the 3100 block of Utah, and the 1600 block of Blackstone and Alabama.

In 1947, St. Louis Park annexed 10 acres of Minnetonka Township, sold by car dealer Earl Gerard. The land was described as being on Excelsior Blvd. between National Tea and Hopkins. (The National Tea building must have been torn down, as all of the buildings along the western stretch of Excelsior Blvd. were built in the 1950's.) 

Also annexed were the Kilmer neighborhood in 1953 and Shelard Park in 1954 due to the Park’s ability to provide sewer and water. In 1955 the 75-acre (Stanley) Ecklund and (Leonard) Swedlund tract west of County Road 18, south of Wayzata was annexed. In 1956, Park annexed yet another 207 acres from Minnetonka, South of Wayzata Blvd. and west of Highway 18. The developers and builders who owned this land wanted it in St. Louis Park because Park had only a 40 ft. minimum lot line and they could build more houses on the same land. Minnetonka was not happy and filed charges; Park conceded before it went to court. Minnetonka soon changed its status from Township to Village to prevent any future attempts to annex their land. In August 1958, a red banner headline announced that the Grand Jury would investigate the “Tonka land grab,” with issues of taking money not reported to the IRS and phony signatures on petitions asking for the annexation. The whole affair ended inconclusively in September 1958.

A notable exception from the typical small home of the time was the $35,000 Alcoa “Care Free” home, built by the Aluminum Company of America in 1957 at 8000 Westwood Hills Drive. An article and pictures can be found in the August 8, 1957 issue of the Dispatch. Another such home was built for $58,000 at 2300 Texas Ave., using 7,500 lbs of aluminum. The latter was opened for a six-week public examination on November 24, 1957.

Fine Homes, led by Adolph "Bob" Fine, was headquartered at 6301 Minnetonka Blvd. as early as 1947. Fine made a substantial contribution to St. Louis Park by selling homes to members of the Jewish community when others had restrictive covenants, contributing to the movement of the area's Jewish community from North Minneapolis. Most of his homes were located around Texas Ave. on the north side of town, but he did build some infill houses as far south as Brookside. Among other endeavors, Fine developed the Texa-Tonka shopping center – in increments – throughout the 1950’s.

Another major builder was the Bruce Construction Company, located at 1820 Independence Ave. in St. Louis Park. In a color, glossy booklet called Better Living in a “Bruce Built” Home, the company announced the opening of the Westdale Addition to St. Louis Park, located one block south of Wayzata Blvd. at Highway 18, overlooking Westwood Hills Golf Course. Homes ranged from $16,000 to $22,000, which were fairly high end at the time. The Crestview Addition, adjacent to the Minneapolis Golf Club, was an exclusive area of homes in the $26,000 to $40,000 range. The booklet offered decorating ideas, and featured advertising from local contractors such as the Black Top Service Co., 7400 W. Cambridge Street, and Plehal Heating Co., 3982 Alabama Ave.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.