Urban League Hosts Grand Opening of Senior Housing in Dellwood

STL Partnership facilitated strategic partnerships for project

Urban League of Metropolitan Saint Louis, Inc. recently held the grand opening for its new senior apartments in Dellwood. The new facility, located at 9947 West Florissant Ave., includes 44 new apartments that are fully leased.

L to R: STL Partnership staff: Quen Agnew, Juan Lewis and Maude Trost

During the initial stages of this project, St. Louis Economic Partnership (STL Partnership) served as a facilitator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which performed the initial assessment of the site and determined the site was clean and safe for senior housing. The previous business at this location was destroyed by a fire during civil unrest 10 years ago, along with three other neighboring buildings.

The EPA and STL Partnership coordinated community envisioning and market analysis for these sites. In November 2016, the EPA Land Revitalization Team created conceptual redevelopment plans for the four sites along the West Florissant Avenue corridor. The goal of the planning process was to help the city jump start its public engagement process by providing visual images of potential types of redevelopments that could occur along the corridor.

In May 2017, the Land Revitalization Team conducted a site visit and workshop with local stakeholders in Dellwood to engage with the community and explore reuse options for each site. During the workshop, attendees identified and considered short- and long-term visions for each of the four properties, as well as the corridor overall. A senior living facility was one of the recommendations made by the community.

“We look forward to continuing to partner with Urban League,” said Maude Bauschard Trost, senior project manager of community investment for STL Partnership. “This is a fantastic project, but it is only the beginning. There are still other opportunities in the works including Urban League Plaza.”

This facility and other projects along West Florissant Avenue will be showcased at a mobile workshop for the Center for Community Progress’s Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference. The Conference will take place in St. Louis from Oct. 9-11.

Additional strategic partners for this project included: Centene Corporation, City of Dellwood, Gardner Capital, Great Southern Bank, Grow America, KAI, Missouri Housing Development Commission and St. Louis County.