Economic Development

Leaders of the Metro East city believe the project will be transformative. Construction on buildings will begin in one year, and the developers say it will be complete by 2033.

The city has made progress on two prominent vacant buildings in the past year, but rebounding from a “real estate nightmare” will take many more years.

“They’re talking about having a $400 to $500 million development,” Mayor Mike Leopold said Monday night. “It’s one of the biggest developments that Swansea will ever get.”

A location has not yet been decided, but leaders from four counties in the St. Louis area say the regional facility will provide training courses for new recruits and veteran officers.

The Wedge Innovation Center will host space for business startups, a venture capital firm and various Southern Illinois University Edwardsville centers. It’s the first completed project from AltonWorks, a real estate company spearheading numerous economic development projects in town.

The old Broadview Hotel has been converted into a 110-unit apartment building for residents over 55 years old. East St. Louis leaders believe this project will anchor future economic development.

A study released Wednesday by the Brookings Institution examines how St. Louis could reverse the perception of downtown as a "real estate nightmare" by converting office buildings to residential uses.

Great Rivers Greenway leaders hope the new bike and pedestrian pathways will lay the foundation for future economic revitalization in a part of the city that has experienced steep declines.

The company will manufacture the jets at its new $1.8 billion facility next to St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

The theater is part of the Marquette Homes project, which includes the rehabilitation of six buildings and construction of three others in the Gravois Park and Dutchtown neighborhoods.