Grand Opening to be held at Arlington Grove
The St. Louis Housing Authority, McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc., KAI Design & Build, Robert Fulton Development Corporation, and Urban Strategies, Inc. are pleased to announce the Grand Opening of the Arlington Grove Phase I mixed-use, mixed-income community in the 22nd Ward of the City of St. Louis. The community includes 112 mixed-income garden and townhouse apartments, a mixed-use building with commercial space fronting Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Drive and the adaptive rehabilitation of the William Ittner-designed, historic Arlington School, which now features 21 loft-style apartments. The development came out of a master plan for the area and was supported by the neighborhood anchor, the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church.
“As Friendly Temple grew, we knew as a faithful community that we must take control of the destiny of our surroundings,” explained Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Michael Jones. “We had to invest in our future and that of the area. We also knew that the fundamental of success was through collaboration and team work. Through the efforts of many, Arlington Grove is an example of what a powerful team can do through God’s guidance and we are truly blessed.”
Alderman Jeffrey Boyd, who has worked diligently on the redevelopment of the Arlington Grove Project since 2004 with the assistance of the City’s Urban Planning and Design Department, said, “This is the direct result of my vision to create a better living community. A vision that is collective and shared amongst all stakeholders including residents, businesses, and churches. Phase one of this project is the catalyst for both housing and economic development growth of this community.”
The St. Louis Housing Authority received a $10 million Capital Fund Recovery Competition (CFRC) grant for Arlington Grove from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act economic stimulus program. The CFRC program required that the development meet stringent sustainability requirements and include focused efforts on economic development – challenges exceeded by the Arlington Grove team.
“Arlington Grove represents a new model of mixed-income housing in St. Louis. Not only is this community in a new neighborhood for the Housing Authority, and demonstrates how to adaptively reuse a beautiful, historic landmark, but it also raises the bar for energy efficiency in affordable housing. Every dollar our residents will save in their utility costs is a dollar that can help them build financial stability – resulting in real economic change,” said Cheryl Lovell, Executive Director of St. Louis Housing Authority.
In addition to the new housing and commercial space, the development also generated economic benefits in the community by targeting construction jobs and contracts to disadvantaged businesses and workers. 40% of the $27.3 million in construction contracts went to Minority-Owned, Women-Owned or Section 3 (businesses that hire low-income workers) firms and 33% of the new construction jobs created by the project went to Section 3 workers. Each of these jobs paid an average wage of $26.14 an hour.
“We are especially proud of these results,” said Vincent R. Bennett, Chief Operating Officer of McCormack Baron Salazar. “The purpose of the stimulus was to put people back to work and our team achieved the goal to capture the economic impact of this investment in this community and supported the vision of Alderman Boyd and the Friendly Temple to further the neighborhood’s transformation.”
The $34 million development was financed with equity from Enterprise Bank and Trust generated from an allocation of 4% low-income housing tax credits from the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC), proceeds from a tax exempt bond allocation from the City of St. Louis Industrial Development Authority, Replacement Housing Factor funds and the CRFC funds from the St. Louis Housing Authority, Tax Credit Replacement exchange funds from MHDC, HOME funds from MHDC and the City of St. Louis. The development will also benefit from a tax abatement provided by the City of St. Louis.
Arlington Grove was developed by McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. in partnership with the St. Louis Housing Authority. KAI Design & Build served as the architect and the general contractor, with minority participation coordinators, TAALKE, LLC and HGF, Inc. The development also has a Human Capital Development Plan implemented by the Robert Fulton Development Corporation in collaboration with the St. Louis Housing Authority, Urban Strategies, Inc. and the philanthropic community of St. Louis.