RHCDA has been working in Wellston since 1998. We were asked by St. Louis County to assist the community organization in revitalizing the housing in the community. This was the beginning of a long-term relationship with the City of Wellston and Wellston Community Support Association (WCSA).
Wellston experienced significant decline and disinvestment since shortly after WWII. The once thriving commercial strip, the Wellston Loop, had become abandoned with vacant storefronts and dilapidated buildings lining Martin Luther King Boulevard. Wellston had long been a manufacturing center but with a changing economy many factories closed and the buildings were left vacant. The housing stock shared a similar fate. Composed of mostly small single-family houses, most blocks were pock marked with vacant houses, vacant lots and dilapidated housing. In 2000, almost 19% of the housing stock was vacant.
The St. Louis County government targeted Wellston and its industrial strip for redevelopment. It redeveloped the old Wagner Electric facility into a state-of-the-art workforce training center, the MET Center and began an ambitious plan to acquire and make ready industrial sites in the Wellston Technology Park. A Redevelopment Plan was created for the entire City of Wellston and the Wellston Redevelopment Corporation was created to review and approve development proposals and grant development incentives. St. Louis County committed funds to upgrade sewer and storm water systems in the residential areas of Wellston and targeted federal Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds for building demolition and housing development.
It was in this environment that RHCDA and Wellston Community Support Association began their residential revitalization efforts. In partnership with Wellston Community Support Association, RHCDA has completed three developments, has two more underway, and a sixth and most significant redevelopment project is currently in predevelopment:
Wellston Homes Phases I-III
78 new single-family lease/purchase homes for households earning less than 60% of Area Median Income.
Total Development Cost: $14,200,000
Currently Under Development:
WCSA Homes IV
15 new single-family lease purchase homes for households earning less than 60% of Area Median Income
Total Development Cost: $4,048,000
Wellston Heights
9 new 3 and 4-bedroom single-family for-sale homes for households earning less than 80% of Area Median Income. Three of these new homes (with development costs of $563,000) have been completed to date.
Total Development Cost: $1,688,000
Total Community Investment to Date: $18,811,000
Currently in Predevelopment:
Easton Manor
229 new mixed income single-family for-sale homes on a 36-acre site being planned
Projected Development Cost: $90,000,000
Total Projected Community Investment: $109,936,000
