CDA 2020-2024 Impact Report: Gravois Jefferson Historic Neighborhoods Plan Implementation

This article first appeared in the CDA 202-2024 Impact Report (April 2025), a comprehensive look at five years of housing, community development, and neighborhood revitalization efforts in St. Louis. To learn more about CDA’s programs, investments, and impact citywide, read the full report here.

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More than $5 million has been invested in Gravois Park and Dutchtown’s transformation in and around Marquette Park, leveraging a combination of ARPA, CDBG, and Economic Development Funds to support housing, public spaces, and community-driven improvements.

Affordable Housing

Significant progress is being made in affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization. With a $1 million investment, St. Louis Art Place is creating more than a dozen new affordable homes just blocks from Marquette Park, offering opportunities for stability and artistic expression. Dutchtown South Community Corporation received $200,000 to advance affordable housing nearby, while RISE and Lutheran Development Group are leading the development of Marquette Homes—a project that will turn six vacant buildings, including 3305 Meramec and 3600 South Grand, including 3305 Meramec and 3600 South Grand, into more than 50 units of mixed-income housing. This $15 million initiative represents a major commitment to reactivating underused properties and creating a vibrant residential corridor.

Mayor Cara Spencer joined community partners to break ground on Marquette Homes, a project that will create 52 new affordable housing units, including the redevelopment of the historic Grandview Arcade at Grand and Gravois. 

Neighborhood Beautification

Public spaces and community beautification are central to the neighborhood plan. In 2024, CDA awarded St. Louis Art Place Initiative an $800,000 neighborhood plan implementation grant to rehabilitate a vacant building into an arts gallery, transform a vacant lot into a public art garden, and install public art throughout the plan footprint.

Dutchtown Main Streets was awarded $325,000 to beautify the park and bring new life to a long-vacant property at Virginia and Alabama. That same intersection is now home to the Virginia–Alabama Pocket Park and Community Garden, a CDA-owned parcel being transformed into a shared green space. Just a block away funded by CDA and the Regional Arts Commission (RAC), “Settle Here in Dutchtown,” a striking new mural at 3125 Meramec by artist Marley Billie D., reinforcing the community’s identity through public art.

Health Services

Investments in health and community services are also underway. A $2.9 million investment is supporting Family Care and Habitat for Humanity in the development of a new health clinic on South Grand, significantly expanding access to healthcare for local residents.

These comprehensive investments in housing, infrastructure, public spaces, and community services are strengthening Gravois Park and Dutchtown, making the area more livable, vibrant, and inclusive for the families who call it home.

Rendering of the Family Care Health Center under construction at Grand Ave. and Chippewa St., which will open in 2026. The new brand new health center will accept patients regardless of insurance or income.

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About the Community Development Administration (CDA): The CDA serves as the City of St. Louis' hub for federal, state, and local funds, implementing the Mayor's economic justice agenda. By funding public and nonprofit entities, the CDA supports a wide range of initiatives, including public services, affordable housing development, blight eradication, and other community development activities.