St Louis to award $18 million in grants for affordable housing projects

The City of St. Louis’ Community Development Administration (CDA) has announced its second year of Neighborhood Transformation Grant awards for Affordable Housing Production.

The $17,531,048 in awards will be leveraged more than tenfold to catalyze over $250 million in development. The 22 funded projects include over 926 units spread out across 42 sites, in 19 neighborhoods citywide.

Awarded developments include:

• The renovation of the vacant Baden School into 51 affordable units
• A mixed income and mixed use new development on Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd
• The first redevelopment phase of Clinton-Peabody, the City’s oldest public housing
• The renovation of the vacant Economy Inn Motel into permanent supportive housing
• The Virginia Plaza project, which includes the rehabilitation of multiple vacant four family buildings in Carondelet
• The fifth and final phase of the Choice Neighborhoods renovation of Preservation Square
• The renovation of the Prince Hall State Office Building into senior housing
• The renovation of Eliot School in the Fairgrounds neighborhood into permanent supportive housing

The awards announced today are funded through a variety of federal funding sources, including: the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA – $3.88 million), the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG – $2.43 million), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME – $4.00 million), and HOME-American Rescue Plan Program (HOME-ARP – $7.22 million).

These awards add 18 new projects to the City’s portfolio of over 100 affordable housing projects (Baden School, Clinton Peabody, Preservation Square, and Virginia Plaza were previously awarded funds), bringing the total number of city funded affordable units under development since 2022 to over 3,500.

This affordable housing pipeline sums to over $800 million in total construction development, and includes more than 400 units completed since 2022.

“These awarded projects demonstrate the City of St. Louis’s proactive approach to improving our neighborhoods and addressing housing disparities in our communities,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. “Too many of our neighborhoods have historically seen decades of neglect and this new investment in affordable housing will benefit St. Louis working families for generations to come.”

These awards reflect a mix of for sale units, affordable rental units, and permanent supportive housing. Collectively, these projects will create opportunities for families to build wealth, expand the supply of affordable rental housing, and help house our unhoused neighbors.

“Generations of racial segregation, restrictive covenants, redlining and discriminatory appraisal practices have left scars like the Delmar Divide, collapsed homes and vacant lots etched into the fabric of St. Louis,” executive director Nahuel Fefer said.

“CDA is committed to supporting the production and preservation of housing as diverse as our city and to working with residents and a diverse and talented cohort of developers to lay the foundation for long-term growth in neighborhoods where investment is needed most. These awards are about more than housing, they are about economic justice and rebuilding residential markets left behind by historic disinvestment.”

These awards continue Mayor Jones’ administration’s efforts to expand and diversify the pipeline of city funded affordable housing production and preservation. According to the City’s 2023 Affordable Housing Report (pg. 73), between 2015 and 2019 the City subsidized a total of 1261 units, including 65 for sale units, and 39 units under 30 percent AMI.

These investments layer with the City’s ongoing investments into safer streets, public safety, and community amenities ranging from early child care centers and health clinics, to community gardens and murals, to small businesses and commercial facades.

CDA is also working to secure additional federal housing funds through its 2025-2029 Consolidated Planning process and its active Section 108 Loan Application.

Neighborhood Transformation Grants Economic Justice Index (experience.arcgis.com) City of St. Louis Economic Justice Action Plan (www.economicjusticestl.org)

Additionally, CDA prioritized projects proposing the rehabilitation of vacant buildings and development of city vacant lots, commitments to universal design and quality durable construction, and alignment with the city’s sustainability plan and neighborhood plans.

Applications that were not selected are invited to debrief with CDA staff to discuss how they might strengthen their proposal in future funding rounds.

The Affordable Housing Commission’s annual housing production funding cycle is currently open and closes on October 18th. CDA anticipates opening its annual Neighborhood Transformation Grants – Housing Production funding cycle in the first quarter of 2025.