蜜芽传媒

ST. LOUIS 鈥� On the morning of July 18, Fred Lewis got a call from a friend who happened to be near Lewis鈥� building on Martin Luther King Drive. Someone was breaking in.

For more than 20 years, Lewis has owned the former J.C. Penney store near the city鈥檚 border with Wellston. The previous owners all but gave it to him, weary from maintaining a building designed for a tenant that had departed as the neighborhood declined.

The three-story concrete building, in the International Style and on the National Register of Historic Places, is a testament to long-ago days when the Wellston Loop was a bustling streetcar hub and a major regional shopping center.

Though it鈥檚 now in one of the city鈥檚 roughest neighborhoods, Lewis insists no one had ever broken in 鈥� until this year. And the intruder wasn鈥檛 a scrapper or an addict. It was a contractor working for the city.

鈥淚鈥檝e been here 22 years,鈥� Lewis said from the sidewalk that afternoon as he sized up the damage to his door. 鈥淚鈥檝e never had an incident. Ever. Until the city came in.鈥�

Now, the city has a tax lien recorded against his building for a repair contract that had been estimated at $163,000, even though repair work hasn鈥檛 even started.

Lewis鈥� building is one of some 50 privately owned buildings where the city has hired contractors to do repairs and then billed the owners for the work, part of a program rolled out last year called Stable Communities STL. Another 20 or so are in the process of having the repair work bid out. Over 100 properties have been included in the program. More are being added as the city spends down the remaining $4 million of the $13 million originally set aside for the program.

The city鈥檚 actions sometimes spur the owners to do repairs themselves. But mostly, the city does the work, and the bills turn into debts recorded against the property.

Since April, special city tax liens have been recorded against at least 15 buildings, including Lewis鈥� old J.C. Penney and three other large commercial buildings nearby on Martin Luther King Drive.

Those liens 鈥� more will be recorded because no owners have repaid the city for the work to stabilize their buildings 鈥� could lead to a sale of some of the properties at a special tax auction. And because the liens are for amounts that often exceed the value of the buildings, the properties may not draw bidders, meaning the city would end up putting them into its land bank, the Land Reutilization Authority.

Some building owners and neighborhood groups are grateful for the city鈥檚 effort to address crumbling properties, and to front the money in areas where property values have tumbled and mortgages to fund repairs are all but impossible to obtain. Also, the city says that it tries to be patient with property owners.

But questions remain about whether owners can reimburse the city, and whether repayment plans or outright debt forgiveness will be extended to those owners.

For Lewis, it鈥檚 a distressing situation, while neighbors say he means well even if he lacks the money to redevelop his property.

Sending a message

Stable Communities was launched without much fanfare. Mayor Tishaura O. Jones in January 2023 signed the executive order creating the program. The Post-Dispatch obtained a copy after submitting an open records request.

Six months later, Jones , STL TV, from a dilapidated Hyde Park home, among the first properties city contractors repaired under the program.

鈥淪table Communities STL is a pilot program that we are stabilizing privately owned properties so they can then be renovated and become, instead of neighborhood sores, neighborhood gems,鈥� the mayor said.

Since then, the program has expanded to encompass 19 city neighborhoods, including the stretch along Martin Luther King Drive where Lewis鈥� building stands. Inspectors have cited the properties with a raft of code violations and begun hiring contractors to do repairs.

The city has always had the authority to conduct emergency repairs on buildings that pose a threat or nuisance. However, the building division lacked the funds to cover the costs of repairs upfront.

Then, in 2022, flush with federal pandemic aid, the city set aside the initial $13 million to launch the program. And it began developing guidelines to prioritize buildings from the roughly 5,000 vacant and deteriorating structures in the city, some of which neighbors had long considered nuisances.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge deal if you鈥檙e living next to one of these properties to see somebody finally take care of them,鈥� said Nate Lindsey, who works on vacancy issues for Dutchtown Main Streets in South 蜜芽传媒.

The program ties into the city鈥檚 broader work on vacancy. It鈥檚 continuing to stabilize its own LRA properties and prepping them for sale, going after problematic owners such as Dara Daugherty and Paul McKee, and threatening to take over high-profile vacant buildings such as the Railway Exchange downtown.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the city has ever devoted as much time and attention to dealing with this issue, not just with regard to private property owners, but with regard to public property and making sure that investments are made intentionally in these areas,鈥� said Jared Boyd, the mayor鈥檚 chief of staff.

About 20% of the private owners who receive notification that Stable Communities is planning to repair their buildings are spurred to address the code violations, Boyd said, costing the city little more than the price of postage. More broadly, the program has sent 鈥渁 message to bad property owners that the city is not going to tolerate their behavior,鈥� he said.

But some owners have fought back. On Martin Luther King Drive, former Alderman Jeffrey Boyd owns a commercial building that the city has targeted under the program and on which the city has recorded a lien. Boyd has threatened to sue but pulled a permit to repair the roof, so the city is not moving forward with its contractors for now.

McKee鈥檚 NorthSide Regeneration, whose north 蜜芽传媒 real estate holdings have stirred controversy for 20 years, appealed but lost when the city targeted one of its 蜜芽传媒 Place properties on North Market. The city repaired a collapsing back wall and built a new multi-story back porch.

鈥淯nfortunately, there isn鈥檛 a lot of private money to come up to the north side and take these on,鈥� said Virginia Druhe of the 蜜芽传媒 Place Community Association. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 just let these buildings keep falling down.鈥�

In Fountain Park, the long-vacant, turreted building on the east end of the park is boarded up and secured now, but not before the owner hired a lawyer and held off the city with a restraining order for six months last year. Mitchell Jacobs, the owner鈥檚 attorney, said he admires the city鈥檚 attempt to clean up neighborhoods but warned that the process can hurt owners trying to comply. Legally, however, it鈥檚 not much different than the city demolishing a condemned building, 鈥渨hich they have been doing for a long time.鈥�

鈥淭he question is really why isn鈥檛 the city working more with the property owners to help them get this done,鈥� Jacobs said. 鈥淚 think it might be a little bit overzealous in some ways, but the city does have a responsibility to take care of these properties. If they feel that there鈥檚 a homeowner who鈥檚 not cooperating, I don鈥檛 know what other choices they have.鈥�

At the intersection of Hodiamont Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive, city contractors are shoring up the old Kresge building, a former department store that has a caved-in roof and was a haven for the homeless. Its owner, Russell Johnson, said he welcomed the work and plans to continue the project after the city finishes, hopefully finding tenants so he can pay back an estimated $270,000 in repairs. The city has already recorded a lien against his building.

鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 kind of like a jump start,鈥� Johnson said.

Further east, Maurice Green owns the building at the northwest corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Goodfellow Boulevard. City contractors were busy this month shoring up the portion of the building that fronts MLK. But the property鈥檚 Goodfellow Boulevard portion contains popular eatery Mom鈥檚 Soul Food Kitchen.

鈥淚 appreciate what they鈥檙e trying to do for Martin Luther King,鈥� said Green, whose mother started the restaurant. 鈥淚t鈥檚 long overdue.鈥�

But Green said he has struggled to get answers from the city on what comes next or whether he will get some help repaying the estimated $200,000 of work on the property. He figures the city wouldn鈥檛 want to foreclose on a building that contains one of the few locally owned restaurants in the struggling neighborhood. If he鈥檚 going to repay the city, he will need some sort of grant or low-interest loan to finish rehabbing the building in order to rent it to new tenants, he said.

鈥淚 appreciate the start,鈥� Green said. 鈥淭hey need to help me finish now.鈥�

Boyd, the mayor鈥檚 chief of staff, said the city has 鈥渟hown some grace and flexibility鈥� working with owners and would look into Green鈥檚 situation.

In the trenches

Lewis first found out the city had cited him for code violations in late December, when a letter from the building division arrived. He thought it was a mistake.

The first letter, a condemnation of the building, arrived in late December. By the time he received it, the city had already drafted a letter to begin emergency stabilization, before Lewis even had a chance to appeal the condemnation.

He called his alderwoman, Pam Boyd, who arranged an April meeting with officials from the 蜜芽传媒 Development Corporation and building division. Also on the call was Boyd鈥檚 daughter, Toni Cousins, the president of the 蜜芽传媒 Board of Education who was recently hired as the CEO of nonprofit development group North Star Community Partners. The group hopes to help revitalize MLK and last year won from the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

During the meeting, SLDC President and CEO Neal Richardson told Lewis he would talk with the mayor鈥檚 office, and he asked Deputy Building Commissioner Dylan Mosier to pause work on the building.

Lewis thought it had been resolved. But by July 10, the city recorded the lien on his property. A contractor the city hired showed up a week later and tried to get in, explaining the city told him to get an estimate for the remediation work.

The J.C. Penney building has seen better days. There are a few front windows missing. The front security cage was damaged by a reckless driver. But Lewis insists the building is solid. And it appears, at least from the outside, to be in better shape than many of the buildings in the area.

He doesn鈥檛 understand how the city determined some of the violations, particularly the ones where an inspector would have had to be inside. Among the violations listed in a building division letter: 鈥渋nterior structural members are rotten,鈥� 鈥渋nterior of building is littered with debris,鈥� and 鈥渞odent/insect infested.鈥�

Other violations include missing windows on the east and west. Lewis points out he has no windows on the east and west. The city inspectors claim it鈥檚 鈥渙pen to unauthorized entry鈥� and a 鈥渉arbor for vagrants and criminals.鈥� Lewis said his building has always been secure. He has dogs guarding the inside. There鈥檚 never been a call to the Citizens Service Bureau about the building being unsecured, according to city data.

But inspectors say Lewis has not moved to begin making repairs or improvements to his building. In the April meeting, Mosier, the deputy building commissioner, stood by his inspectors鈥� assessment of the code violations.

鈥淭he scope of work that was put together didn鈥檛 require any of the building condition staff to enter the building,鈥� he said, according to a recording of the meeting Lewis shared. 鈥淚 really want to emphasize that here.鈥�

Lewis is no developer. He鈥檚 a track coach. But he and others in the neighborhood say he鈥檚 one of the few property owners on the street who isn鈥檛 absentee. He mows the LRA lots to the west of his building and planted trees there. His mother taught for years at the now closed Hempstead Elementary nearby.

鈥淲ho鈥檚 here on a daily basis?鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淲ho鈥檚 here in the trenches?鈥�

Boyd, the alderwoman, said she is sympathetic to Lewis鈥� plight and tried to help him. But she said he has owned it for 20 years and it鈥檚 time to get something done there.

鈥淭hose are beautiful commercial buildings,鈥� she said. 鈥淢r. Lewis has taken good care, but move forward. Don鈥檛 let that just sit there.鈥�

The mayor鈥檚 chief of staff says the city is trying to spur new investment on Martin Luther King Drive.

鈥淭here may be some well-intentioned people who are not great property owners, and who, despite their intentions, are holding back the ability to activate those neighborhoods,鈥� Jared Boyd said. 鈥淎nd I think we鈥檙e open to having conversations about providing off ramps for people like that, if they鈥檙e interested, or potential partnerships with other developers.鈥�

Though the city insists it has no interest in using the program to acquire private property, Lewis fears that will be what happens after years of paying property taxes while dealing with trash, crime, homelessness, drug use and prostitution.

鈥淎ll for what?鈥� Lewis fumed. 鈥淭o come in and say we鈥檙e gonna take your stuff now?鈥�

But Lewis admits he would need some help to redevelop his building. As would just about every other private property owner nearby.

鈥淲ho isn鈥檛 in over their head in this neighborhood?鈥� Lewis asked. 鈥淓verybody in north 蜜芽传媒 is in over their head.鈥�

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