On the edge of Interstate 44 in the Shaw neighborhood, 17 new homes will be built in the style of the neighborhood's historic district.

The St. Louis Preservation Board last week approved plans by Millennium Restoration and Development to build the 17 single-family houses with detached garages in the Shaw Neighborhood Historic District. The approval of the DeTonty Place development is subject to the review of final construction documents and materials by the Cultural Resources Office staff.

The 17 homes would be built on a largely vacant 546-foot stretch of the 4100 block of Detonty Avenue, said Tim Vogt of Millennium Restoration. Two vacant residential buildings at 4118 DeTonty and 4126 Detonty will be demolished.

The houses will sell for $350,000 to $450,000 and will be 2,000 to 2,500 square feet on lots of 32- by-135 feet.

"It's a great opportunity for a continuing row of new construction and it gives us an opportunity to re-establish a block," Vogt said. "They're really nice historic infills."

Originally, McBride and Son proposed to build 15 single-family houses using designs from its Botanical Heights development in the McRee Town neighborhood to the north.

At a meeting last September, the Preservation Board required that revisions be made to the design of McBride's proposed buildings to make them compatible with the historic buildings in the neighborhood. Subsequently, McBride chose not to make the required revisions and withdrew from the project.

At last week's Preservation Board meeting, Jan Cameron, preservation administrator for the Cultural Resources Office, said the design of the 17 houses replicated the original rhythm of the block.

There will be six different building types mixed in, with four two-story options and two three-story options, Vogt said.

"We picked the placement of the buildings in order to keep the best rhythm of the block," Vogt said. "All the details on these buildings come from existing buildings in the neighborhood."

Michael R. Killeen, architect for the project, said the homes will combine a historic look on the outside with a modern look inside.

Giving his endorsement at last week's meeting of the Preservation Board was John Williams, executive director of the St. Margaret Housing Corp., an organization formed to promote quality housing in the Shaw Neighborhood.

"We are very excited about this project," Williams said. "We are anxious to get this project underway."

Alderman Joseph Roddy, D-17th Ward, who represents the area of the development, sent a letter in favor of it.

Millennium has restored numerous homes on the South Side. Besides DeTonty Place, it is planning the Fleur-de-Lis development at South Jefferson Avenue and Arsenal Street, a development of 33 condominiums and commercial properties, and the VAL Place, a 20-townhouse development facing Virginia Avenue and Alabama Avenue near Delor Street.