HIGHLIGHTS

• In the past 6 years, St. Louis has added nearly 13,000 new housing units, most of which are non-subsidized and are affordable only to high-income households. 

• The number of new housing units being built annually has decreased by 40% since 2015.

• An estimated 10% of all new housing units were built using an affordable housing subsidy since 2015. 

Overview 

A critical component towards building new affordable housing opportunities is increasing the quantity of new units. New construction of rental housing occurs predominantly in higher rent categories, with very limited subsidies for new construction of affordable units. While research suggests increased housing supply at all levels can improve affordability in the long term, new construction has both a supply effect and an amenity effect in the short-term. 

In addition to new construction, we are also considering other strategies to increase the number of new affordable units through inclusionary zoning and new housing vouchers.  In this section, we will review what we know today about quantities of new affordable housing being built in St. Louis City and County in terms of:

• All new housing units

• New subsidized affordable housing units

• New public housing units

All new housing units

HUD maintains the State of the City Database Systems Building Permits database, which tracks the quantity of housing units built in single-family and multi-family buildings for over 21,000 jurisdictions across the country. From 2015 to 2020, there were a total of 12,773 new residential units built in St. Louis City and County. In terms of units, housing construction has decreased by 40% between 2015 and 2020. 

In recent years, roughly half of all housing units built were single family homes. The other half of units were built in multi-family buildings with more than five units. Newly constructed two- and four-unit buildings are very rare in the region, only making up 1-2% of new builds.

Areas that already attract new construction have the opportunity to enact policies that either require developers to include affordable units within their developments or to fund affordable units elsewhere by contributing to an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. There are 35 municipalities where new housing has been built since 2015. However, the majority of all new housing units are being constructed in unincorporated Saint Louis County. 

New construction of multi-family buildings has been occurring in only twelve areas of St. Louis. The City of St. Louis has 50% of the region’s new construction of units in multifamily buildings, which means it has the largest number of opportunities to require developments to include affordable housing or to subsidize the construction of affordable units.   

Units in new multi-family buildings

1. St. Louis City 3,212 units

2. Unincorporated Saint Louis County 1,368 units

3. Clayton 618 units

4. Richmond Heights 271 units

5. Creve Coeur 238 units

6. Maplewood 174 units

7. Ellisville 144 units

8. Jennings 141 units

9. Pine Lawn 113 units

10. Webster Groves 44 units

11. Eureka 20 units

12. Kirkwood 12 units

We do not know the asking rents or for-sale prices of new construction. 

New subsidized affordable housing units

Given that most subsidized housing projects use a mix of incentives, it is difficult to produce a unique count of new subsidized affordable units from all sources of HUD funding. We estimate approximately 10% of new housing units from the past 6 years were built using an affordable housing subsidy. This estimate is based on the assumption that 80% of all affordable housing development use multiple sources of affordable housing financing.

According to HUD’s LIHTC database, the use of Low Income Housing Tax Credits in the St. Louis region to fund new construction of affordable units peaked in the 2000s. In 2019, 232 units of newly constructed subsidized housing were placed into service, of which 182 units were dedicated to low-income tenants. These units were located in 4 developments:

1. Covenant Place II

   Zip Code: 63146 

   Type: Senior apartments

   Number of Units: 102 

   Percent Low Income: 61%

2. Pine Lawn Manor

   Zip Code: 63121 

   Type: 3-bedroom single family homes

   Number of Units: 41

   Percent Low Income: 100%

   Other funding: 24:1 Community Land Trust Loan 

3. River Bluff Manor

   Zip Code: 63111

   Type: Senior apartments

   Number of Units: 46 

   Percent Low Income: 89% 

4. St. Ferdinand Homes II

   Zip Code: 63113

   Type: Mixed income

   Number of Units: 43 

   Percent Low Income: 88% 

The City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) is funded by a use tax paid by businesses on purchases of goods from outside the State of Missouri. All funds must benefit households with incomes at or below 80% AMI, while 40% of funds must benefit households with incomes at or below 20% AMI.  AHTF can be used for construction/rehabilitation, education and training, rent/mortgage/utility subsidies, home repairs, homelessness prevention, shelters, and neighborhood stabilization. In 2020, AHTF supported the construction of 134 new homes, including single-family homes and rental homes. Over the course of the last 5 years, AHTF funds were awarded to 21 projects which produced 608 units of housing. The County’s AHTF program has not yet distributed funds. 

The Home Investment Partnership Fund (HOME) are grants to states and local governments to implement housing strategies to increase homeownership and affordable housing opportunities for low and very low-income households. HOME funds can be used for tenant-based rental assistance, housing rehabilitation, homebuyer assistance, and new construction of housing. HOME funding can also be used for “necessary and reasonable” activities related to the development of affordable housing, including site acquisition, site improvements, demolition, and relocation. Housing developed with HOME funds must serve low- and very low-income families, including:

• Rental housing: 90% of families served at 60% AMI, no more than 10% of families served at 80% AMI

• Homeownership assistance: Families at 80% AMI

In their 2020 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, St. Louis City reports building no new housing units in 2020 through CDBG and HOME funds due to the coronavirus pandemic. Saint Louis County leads the HOME Consortium which also includes the City of Florissant (the only stand alone entitlement community in the County), St. Charles City, O’Fallon, St. Charles County, and Jefferson County. The County reported delays in receiving HUD funding and low levels of construction activity in 2020, with only five units of affordable housing constructed in 2020. In St. Louis City, HOME funds have been awarded to 28 projects which produced 620 units of housing since 2015. 

The Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG) are grants to local governments to fund community development activities, including improving housing quality, providing affordable housing, and creating economic opportunities for low- and moderate-income people. Since 2015, CDBG funds were awarded to 33 projects which produced 406 units of housing. Of the 90 municipalities in St. Louis County, 78 participate in the CDBG program. In 2020, Saint Louis County did not designate any CDBG dollars to new construction or rehabilitation projects.

New public housing

There have been no new public housing units that have been constructed in the St. Louis region in recent years. The newest property managed by St. Louis Housing Authority is its North Sarah III low-rise development that was completed in 2018. The HOPE IV program was used to build the newest public housing units, but at the expense of decreasing the number of total public housing units. St. Louis demolished its high-rise public housing complexes and replaced them with low-rise developments. For years, the Housing Authority of Saint Louis County has repeatedly applied and been denied LIHTC to build new units at its Arbor Hill Apartments complex. The last time public housing was built in Saint Louis County was 1985 for the Hillsdale Housing Authority.

Data Recommendations

In order to better measure any increases in the quantity of affordable housing stock, we recommend…

1. SLDC and Saint Louis County track asking rents of for-rent new construction.

2. SLDC and County track the asking price of for-sale new construction.

3. Saint Louis County publishes the number of housing units built using HOME, CDBG, and AHTF (when active) dollars

4. Saint Louis County tracks the number of residential building permits at a smaller level of geography, such as zip code or Census Tract for Unincorporated Saint Louis County.