ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis riverfront area near the Gateway Arch grounds is finally starting to rebound after five years of construction to renovate the tourist attraction.

Laclede's Landing saw the number of restaurants and bars drop from 17 to seven during the construction, which ended in March. But investors are now planning and building apartments in the historic riverfront district that would attract an influx of residents, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Philadelphia-based Red Rocks Group is looking into purchasing two buildings in Laclede's Landing. Red Rocks hopes to create 60 apartments and renovate street spaces for commercial use. The sale could close by the end of summer.

"People want to be on the river," said Mark Zvibleman of SVN/Infinity Commercial Group, the St. Louis-area company representing Red Rocks in the transaction.

The apartments would follow the new lofts being built in the neighborhood by Advantes Development. The developer is completing a $12 million renovation of a 120-year-old building.

"We saw it as an amazing downtown submarket very ripe for the pickings, being able to springboard off the Arch grounds opening up and the fact there was no residential on the Landing at all," Advantes owner Brian Minges said.

Advantes' apartments are set to open by the end of the year.

Great Rivers Greenway is turning a vacant lot it owns in the Landing into a riverfront garden. Construction should begin this fall and take about a year to complete, Great Rivers spokeswoman Emma Klues said.

Minges said it's a matter of time before the area fills in.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com