A north St. Louis County city is on track to receive more affordable housing by 2025.
Beyond Housing and its partners are working to bring 36 new single-family homes to Pagedale Town Center and throughout the city in north St. Louis County. Pagedale Mayor Faye Millett said the $12 million investment is needed for residents in her city.
“I’m happy to see growth in our community,” Millett said. “I’m even happier with the fact that when you look at a house and you drive through Pagedale, they’re going to start looking like we live in [University City] somewhere. I love decent housing, and I want the people of the community to live in decent housing.”
The energy-efficient homes will be a mix of three and four bedrooms. Rents will run $400 to $700. For years, Millett and her constituents have been frustrated with the state of affordable housing in the area and with absentee landlords.
“We need housing where people can walk in and not see a big spot in the ceiling or a big clunk of paste on the wall where they half-fixed it,” Millett said. “Or doors that rotted out or walk on floors that are separated from the wall. I’ve seen it all.”
The St. Louis-based nonprofit has been working to change that. Chris Krehmeyer, the president and CEO of Beyond Housing, said this latest effort is an expansion of the work the organization has been doing to improve the city, including providing a senior building with a full-service bank.
“We’ve already built over 100 homes there,” Krehmeyer said. “We’ve rehabbed a couple hundred homes as well. In addition, we built, own and operate the 24:1 Cinema. We brought Affinia and BJC Health to another new building that we constructed and own.”
In the past 10 years, the average price of single-family homes per square foot has gone up 338% in Pagedale, Krehmeyer said. During that same time frame, crime has dropped by nearly 42%.
“What we want to do is keep building attractive housing stock that people will be proud to live in,” Krehmeyer said. "That will increase property value, which will increase the tax base, which will give more resources for critical and needed services for people living in the city of Pagedale.”
Residents who meet the income and other requirements will have access to a number Beyond Housing’s services, including financial advising and help from a health care liaison.
After a 15-year compliance period, residents will have an opportunity to purchase the homes. Construction is to be completed by early 2025. This marks the 20th project the St. Louis-based nonprofit organization has been involved in since 1988.
