City of St. Louis Awards $4 Million to Bring 250 Tornado-Damaged Affordable Rental Units Back Online

Today, Mayor Cara Spencer announced that the City of St. Louis is awarding $4 million in Tornado Repair and Preservation Grants to bring 250 tornado-damaged affordable rental units in North St. Louis back online. The awards are led by the Affordable Housing Commission in partnership with the Recovery Office.

The Affordable Housing Commission board approved the funding on Friday, October 23. The awards now advance to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment for final approval.

The funding comes from the $79 million in Board Bill 22 Rams settlement funds dedicated to long-term tornado recovery.

The projects will repair affordable rental units that were damaged or left uninhabitable by the May 16, 2025 tornado. Every unit will remain affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of area median income, with most reserved for households at or below 60 percent.

"Many of the families in these buildings had to leave after the tornado, and some have been waiting more than a year to come back," said Mayor Cara Spencer. "These awards put 250 affordable units back on the path to reopening and keeping them affordable for our residents who live in these neighborhoods."

The Projects

• Roosevelt Towne Apartments, River City Affordable Housing: $750,000 to repair and modernize 154 affordable units at 711 N. Euclid Ave. in the Fountain Park neighborhood for households at or below 60 percent of area median income, as part of a $66 million redevelopment. The property will be sold to a nonprofit operator to preserve it as affordable housing long-term.
• Alumnus Gardens: $1,221,180 to restore 54 affordable units at 4409 St. Louis Ave. in the Greater Ville neighborhood, including 9 for households at or below 30 percent of area median income and 45 at or below 60 percent. All residents had to evacuate after the tornado.
• North Newstead V: $1,184,191 to repair 31 affordable units at 4100 block of N. Newstead Ave., 4400 block of Kossuth Ave. and 4400 block of Lee Ave. in the O'Fallon and Penrose neighborhoods for households at or below 60 percent of area median income, including 7 units that are uninhabitable today.
• Justine Petersen Housing & Reinvestment Corporation: $538,229 to rebuild 7 affordable units across three properties in the West End, Fountain Park and Greater Ville neighborhood for households at or below 70 percent of area median income.
• Tabernacle Community Development Corporation: $306,400 to repair a 4-unit affordable building at 4289 Kossuth Ave. in the O'Fallon neighborhood for households at or below 80 percent of area median income after its exterior wall collapsed in the tornado.

Leveraging Recovery Dollars

The City's $4 million supports more than $84 million in total repair and redevelopment, with owners, insurance and other sources covering the rest. Work on the projects is expected to finish between April and November 2027.

Each award is a forgivable grant. Owners must keep the units affordable for six years after completion, secured by a deed of trust and a land use restriction agreement recorded on each property. The grant is forgiven only if those requirements are met.

"The Recovery Office is invested in helping impacted residents stay in or return to the neighborhoods they call home," said Julian Nicks, Chief Recovery Officer.

"Affordable housing that survived the tornado should not be lost to it," said April Ford Griffin, Director of the Affordable Housing Commission. "These awards help our community development corporations and nonprofit and for-profit affordable housing organizations finish repairs, bring residents home and keep rents within reach for working families for years to come."

What Comes Next

The Affordable Housing Commission has four applications still awaiting review and approval in Round 2, expected in late November. The current funding request will go before the St. Louis Board of Estimate and Apportionment for final approval.