HUD Committee advances Board Bill 88 to convert Baden School into 50 rental units with amended tax abatement

A St. Louis Board of Aldermen Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee meeting on Jan. 23, 2025 advanced Board Bill 88, approving a redevelopment plan for the 1100 Veronica Avenue area that would convert the historic Baden School into 50 residential units and provide a modified tax abatement schedule.

The measure, introduced by Alderman Pamela Boyd and presented by developers and St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) staff, was amended in committee and received a do-pass recommendation to the full Board.

The redevelopment would reuse the 1907 Baden School building, combine historic tax credits and low-income housing tax credits, and rely on public financing sources identified by presenters. Chris Sherman of Lutheran Development Group said the project will include office space for property management on the first floor and that environmental abatement work is scheduled to begin in April. "It's a project we fully support because it puts a building back on the tax rolls," SLDC representative Zach Wilson said during the meeting.

Under the bill as introduced the requested tax abatement was structured as 10 years at 90% of the assessed value of incremental improvements followed by five years at 50%. After discussions with St. Louis Public Schools and committee amendments, the parties agreed to a revised abatement of 10 years at 75% followed by five years at 50%. Committee Amendment 3 further adjusted the stated base percentage referenced in the bill from 10% to 25% for the calculation affecting the school district's share (as discussed on page 9, line 11 of the amendment).

Presenters described the project as a mix of income-restricted units: 8 units at 30% area median income (AMI), 37 units at 60% AMI and 5 market-rate units, for a total of 50 units. SLDC's analysis presented a Community Benefit Scorecard that scored the project 69 points and described public funding inputs including federal historic tax credits and Missouri housing funds; staff characterized the total project investment as a little over $22 million.

Committee members voiced support for rehabbing a vacant school into affordable housing and for the family-sized units included in the plan. Alderman Pamela Boyd closed by asking the committee for its favorable support "for board bill 88 with necessary amendment." The committee adopted the listed amendments by previous roll and voted to pass Board Bill 88 as amended with a do-pass recommendation to the full Board.

The bill and amendments were handled in committee with motions recorded as adopted by "previous roll"; no recorded roll-call tallies beyond committee members' unanimous voice/roll confirmation were read into the transcript. Staff and developers noted open questions about certain external funding sources and the effect of recent executive orders on ARPA- or federal-related funding, described in the meeting as unresolved and "not specified."