ST. LOUIS — A developer proposing a $40 million student housing complex in Midtown is planning to make a $250,000 contribution to affordable housing in the city at the request of the area’s alderman, Tina Pihl.
The $250,000 contribution was mentioned at a meeting of the St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corp., which vets development in the area around St. Louis University.
New Jersey-based Aptitude Development is planning a seven-story, 177-unit apartment complex at the corner of Vandeventer and Forest Park avenues. It has the site owned by a Crescent Electric Supply affiliate under contract and plans to rent the project’s 508 bedrooms by the room, as is common in the student housing industry.
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Zach Feldman, Aptitude’s vice president of new development, told the Midtown Redevelopment Corp.’s board March 28 that the developer was “very excited about the project and to be a part of the community and energy in the area.†He added that “they have met Alderwoman Pihl’s request to contribute $250,000 to her affordable housing fund,†according to the group’s meeting minutes.
Pihl said the contribution likely will go to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
“They came into this project wanting to really be a community partner here in St. Louis,†she said in an interview. “We are in need of affordable housing, so they were supportive of contributing to increase that.â€
The developer’s potential contribution to affordable housing would not be the first Pihl has pushed for. Adjacent to the Aptitude site, developer Steve Smith’s City Foundry made a $1.8 million contribution to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund in exchange for her support for $18 million in tax increment financing incentives. That project, which includes a food hall and grocery store, recently started building its own apartment component.
Pihl and Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, both elected last year, have placed new emphasis on winning developer commitments to affordable housing in exchange for public tax incentives.
But Aptitude is not seeking tax incentives for its project, its leaders have said. The Midtown Redevelopment Corp., formed in 2017 and controlled by St. Louis University and SSM Health, has development review powers over a swath of Midtown surrounding SLU’s campus. It can also offer property tax abatement to developers, but it is not offering the tax break to Aptitude, according to the meeting minutes.
“This is significant for the area, significant for the city, and the biggest thing is it’s going to be fully assessed in terms of the taxes that are going to go to St. Louis Public Schools,†Pihl said.
After the $1.8 million deal with City Foundry was reached, Pihl sponsored a separate bill so the city’s affordable housing trust fund could actually accept the contribution. The bill also specified that the contribution needed to be directed to affordable housing in north St. Louis and in Pihl’s ward.
Pihl has not introduced a bill so the affordable housing fund could accept $250,000 from Aptitude, but she said she intended to earmark some of the contribution to affordable housing in north St. Louis.
“I’m going to bridge the divide, so there will be some money going to the north of Delmar (Boulevard),†Pihl said. “I’m committed to spreading the prosperity that we have here in the 17th Ward.â€
Pihl’s ward in a swath of the central corridor has seen among the most development activity in recent years. Under St. Louis tradition, the alderman representing an area where a development is proposed must carry rezoning and tax incentive bills, giving Pihl a large amount of sway over projects in the ward.
Pihl in December said she supported the Aptitude project, according to a letter sent to the city’s planning commission. In March, a rezoning bill for the project she introduced in February passed the Board of Aldermen.
An apartment project in the Central West End’s Cortex tech hub stalled a year ago year after Pihl and the Jones administration reentered negotiations over its incentive package. Pihl eventually moved a rezoning bill forward for the project. She said Thursday that negotiations were continuing.
