Housing & Community Development Tours

Public Housing Redevelopment in St. Louis: A Local Perspective

This interactive bus tour will showcase the St. Louis Housing Authority’s(SLHA) mixed finance public housing redevelopments, the first of which was done in partnership with McCormack Baron Salazar, Inc. (MBS) and served as a model for the HOPE VI Program.  We’ll also include an interactive bus tour where we’ll focus on some of the 17 mixed-income, mixed-finance public housing developments (including 14  of which were done in partnership MBS) built over the past 17 years, including two which utilized an innovative New Markets Tax Credit financing structure.  

Creative Leveraging to Create Mixed Use: An East St. Louis Housing Authority’s Approach

Getting ‘hands on’ approach is the theme of this visit; after hearing the session presenters narrating the genesis, creativity, tips and the know-how of how this project was put together, you are welcome to see the construction in progress, and experience the ‘transit oriented’ site and proximity of amenities proposed and/or lacking. 

You will be welcomed to the site by the Mayor and City Manager of the City of East St. Louis, and learn of the City participation in the historic New Markets Tax Credit mixed-use development.  This tour visit will provide additional opportunity to understand the intricacies of the project and a chance to ask more questions.

Granite City’s Green Communities

The Granite City Commons project of the Granite City Housing Authority is one of only 34 projects selected nationally for funding from the Category 4 Stimulus Funds.  These funds utilized a modified version of the rigorous sustainability-centered Enterprise Green Communities set of design criteria, which focuses on both sustainable design and social equity. The design and construction of the Granite City Commons meets every applicable credit of the Criteria throughout its 43 housing units in 12 buildings on its 2.5-acre site in Granite City, Illinois.

Close attention was paid to the urban design of the development, which maximizes building solar orientation, a rating system requirement, while still maintaining pedestrian-friendly, street facing buildings. The larger buildings feature solar panels that provide over the 10% renewable energy requirement, and the framing construction method optimizes the use of wood and creates a double layer of insulation on the exterior to form an extremely tight building envelope. This conscientious work by the owner, architect and contractor has lead to a project with anticipated lower maintenance and significantly lower energy costs.