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Returning Properties to
Residential Reuse
T Tellsi
Wellston, MO
rellston, Missouri, a small suburb north of St. Louis, is enjoying recent
success in restoring brownfields for residential reuse. In a community
frustrated with a multitude of boarded-up abandoned houses, derelict, closed-
down businesses and littered streets, a small Habitat for Humanity
neighborhood has taken root. With the help of a $200,000 EPA Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Grant and a $ 100,000 Supplemental Assistance
Grant, the City of Wellston, working with the St. Louis County Economic
Council (CEC), was able to leverage nearly $2 million in redevelopment
funding through an innovative partnership with Habitat for Humanity-St.
Louis to build 27 affordable homes. Furthermore, the influx of new families
into the community motivated the city to transform a former parking lot into
a 2.5-acre park. Wellston is becoming a community reborn, thanks in part
to this historic partnership and a community' s determination to reclaim itself.
Wellston began as a center for manufacturing, including a large foundry and
an electrical components manufacturer. But throughout the mid-1900s many
of Wellston's major employers fled or closed, leaving properties with real or
perceived contamination behind. However, the hardest blow to Wellston
came with the closing of a large factory and a foundry in 1983 that left
major brownfields tracts throughout Wellston. As employers left, most of
the community followed, with a 60 percent decline in population. Today, the
mostly African-American, 2,400-person community suffers from a staggering
46 percent poverty rate and a 22 percent unemployment rate.
Since 1999, the CEC has identified close to 400 abandoned, tax-delinquent,
publicly-owned properties throughout the city. Determined to return those
properties to productive reuse, the CEC created a plan to redevelop a large
number of them for residential and commercial purposes, while improving
surrounding infrastructure. The CEC and the City of Wellston formed the
Wellston Redevelopment Corporation (WRC) to administer the plan. WRC's
first goal was to environmentally assess and, if needed, clean up these former
residential properties and then turn them over to a developer. With the help
of the $200,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant awarded in 1997 and
a Supplemental Assistance Grant in 2000, the CEC identified an initial 38
abandoned properties and performed environmental assessments to quell
contamination fears. Fortunately, no cleanup was required.
continued ^
Houses built by Habitat for Humanity on a
former brownfield in Wellston.
JUST THE FACTS:
• With help from $300,000 in EPA
Brownfields Assessment and
Supplemental Assistance funding, the
CEC identified an initial 38 abandoned
properties for potential residential use, and
performed environmental assessments to
quell contamination fears.
• Habitat for Humanity provided
$927,000 in redevelopment funding to
construct 15 single-family houses on 12
properties in April 2001. In 2002, Habitat
provided $978,000 to build 12 additional
homes on a mix of publicly- and privately-
owned properties.
• Investment in 27 new, affordable
houses and a neighborhood park has given
Wellston's community a sense of hope and
optimism not experienced in decades.
Since 1999,
the St. Louis County
Economic Council (CEC)
has identified nearly 400
abandoned, tax-delinquent,
publicly-owned properties.
The CEC also created a plan
to redevelop a large number
of them for residential and
commercial purposes while
improving surrounding
infrastructure.
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In 2001, as Wellston was assessing these lots, Habitat for Humanity-St. Louis was looking
for a community to host its 15th anniversary "Blitz Build," building 15 homes for 15
families in 15 days. Taking advantage of their complimenting goals, the City of
Wellston and Habitat for Humanity formed a partnership to transform 12 of
these brownfields into new living space.
"This was a natural partnership," exclaimed Elizabeth Noonan of the CEC.
"We were looking for a developer at the time and Habitat was a perfect
choice. They had the knowledge and expertise of developing residential
lots."
CONTACTS:
U.S. EPA Region 7:
(913) 551-7003
Visit the EPA Brownfields
web site at:
http://www. epa.gov/
brownfields/
Habitat for Humanity provided $927,000 in redevelopment funding to construct
15 single-family houses on 12 properties in April 2001. As each house was raised,
the success propelled the partnership to build more homes. In 2002, Habitat built 12
additional homes on a mix of publicly- and privately-owned properties, using $978,000 in
Habitat funding.
"We came to Wellston because there was a need in the community for rebuilding," said Kimberly
McKinney, executive director of Habitat for Humanity-St. Louis. "Today, the area surrounding the
Habitat neighborhood has really come around."
With plans to construct up to 13 additional Habitat homes in the works and the influx of more than 27
children into the neighborhood, the city discovered a need for recreational greenspace. A former
parking lot and service station property located across the street from the Habitat neighborhood was
chosen to be transformed into a 2.5-acre park. Currently undergoing cleanup, the park will feature a
new ballfield, a playground, a basketball court, a concession stand, and walking paths. To date, the
CEC has leveraged a $300,000 Regional Empowerment Zone grant to fund cleanup and park design
costs, and a $106,000 Recreational Park District grant to assist in park design. The ballfield will be
built by the St. Louis Cardinals Care Ballfield Program, a program that funds the construction or
refurbishing of youth ballfields in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Expected to be completed by the end
of 2004, the park will be a part of a connected greenway system being
developed throughout the metropolitan region.
Wellston, once overlooked, is fast becoming a place to call home.
The partnership between Habitat for Humanity-St. Louis, the
St. Louis County Economic Council and the City of Wellston
was instrumental to the project's success. Furthermore,
investment in the new 27 affordable houses and neighborhood
park has given the community a sense of hope and optimism
not experienced in decades. For more information about the
City of Wellston/Habitat for Humanity project, please contact
Kerry Herndon, EPARegion 7, at (913) 551-7286.
A brownfield in Wellston, Missouri,
Brownfields Success Story
Wellston, Missouri
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA-560-F-04-263
September 2004
www. epa. gov/brownfields/
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