Two affordable housing bills moving through St. Louis City Hall could mean a lot of rehab work on the north side and in the Tiffany neighborhood.
On Oct. 13, the Board of Aldermen's Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee gave do-pass recommendations to Board Bills 57 and 47. Both had their second readings on Oct. 16. Neither is final yet. Together they cover 36 existing buildings and about 128 affordable apartments.
Board Bill 57: St. Louis Place and Old North
Board Bill 57, sponsored by Alderman Rasheen Aldridge with Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier as co-sponsor, would approve a redevelopment plan and blighting study for the St. Louis Place and Old North Scattered Sites Redevelopment Area. The city's summary describes the renovation of 15 buildings into 68 affordable units ranging from one to five bedrooms, at a cost of $18.7 million, using low-income housing tax credits and other public and private money.
The project packet attached to the bill gives more detail. It calls the development Amberstones and lists Efficacy Consulting and Development LLC, working with Communities First STL, as the applicant. The packet breaks the 68 down as 67 rental apartments plus one unit converted to an office for on-site property management, all affordable at 60% of the area median income.
This is a preservation job, not new construction. The parcels, on streets including Warren, North Market, Blair, Hadley and St. Louis Avenue, got a 10-year tax abatement starting in 2008 as part of an earlier affordable housing development, according to the packet.
The bill would allow 15 years of tax abatement: 90% of the assessed value of the new improvements for 10 years, then 50% for five more.
Board Bill 47: Tiffany
Board Bill 47, sponsored by Sonnier, covers the Tiffany Scattered Sites II Redevelopment Area. The city's summary describes the renovation of 21 buildings into 60 affordable units, at a cost of $15.4 million, with the same 15-year abatement structure.
The packet says the 21 parcels are clustered in the 3600 and 3800 blocks of Folsom, Blaine and McRee avenues, and that every unit will be affordable at 60% of AMI. The applicant is Tiffany Developers LLC, a partnership of Efficacy Consulting and Development, TAG Development and Communities First STL.
The scope reads like a contractor's checklist. Each home will be rehabbed with TPO roofs, Energy Star windows, replacement HVAC units, electric heat pumps, Energy Star light fixtures, kitchen cabinets and countertops and Energy Star refrigerators, and some units will get ADA-accessible showers.
The bill summary lists one- to three-bedroom units, while another section of the packet says several units have three, four or five bedrooms. Either way, the city's analysis points to larger, family-size apartments as a selling point.
For contractors, the most useful numbers are buried in each packet's economic analysis, and they're worth a close look before anyone starts pricing work. The packet for Board Bill 57 lists total hard costs of $8,091,755, with targets of $1,942,000 for minority-owned firms and $890,000 for women-owned firms. Board Bill 47's packet lists hard costs of $7,586,850, with $1,821,000 targeted for minority-owned firms and $835,000 for women-owned firms.
The city also spells out the rules. During construction and rehab, the redeveloper must follow all M/WBE, workforce and prevailing wage requirements in its redevelopment agreement, and the St. Louis Development Corporation's M/WBE office monitors them.
There are still steps ahead. The bills need final passage by the full Board of Aldermen, and the packet notes that even after a bill passes, the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority must advertise for developers, designate one and sign a redevelopment agreement before the abatement can take effect. No general contractor has been named for either project.
Why it matters for Contractors
Thirty-six scattered-site rehabs add up to about $15.7 million in hard costs between the two packets, and the scope covers roofing, windows, HVAC and heat pumps, electrical, kitchens and accessibility work. Scattered sites favor smaller crews who can move building to building on the north side and in Tiffany. Prevailing wage applies, and with roughly $5.5 million in combined M/WBE targets, certified minority- and women-owned subs should be talking to Efficacy Consulting and Development now. Watch for final passage by the full board, then the LCRA steps that follow.