Archway Commons

What is today Archway Commons was originally built in the late 1890s as the Frank P. Blair School to serve the St. Louis Place neighborhood. The property was converted into 35 units of affordable housing in the mid-1980’s using low income housing tax credits. Evergreen Partners acquired Archway Commons, formerly known as Blair School Apartments, in April 2014 using a combination of 4% Federal and State Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Federal and State Historic Tax Credit Equity, new HUD 221(d)(4) permanent 1st mortgage financing, construction period tax exempt bond proceeds, City of St. Louis HOME Funds and a subordinate loan from RISE St. Louis.

Evergreen completed substantial renovations of the property in February 2015. The renovations will update virtually all aspects of the interior and exterior of the buildings. The rehab focused on modernizing the units and replacing the building’s major systems (roofing, HVAC, decorative historic components, exterior façade repairs). We also converted an unused building on the property into 3 new one bedroom units and installed an elevator in main building to enhance accessibility. Post renovation the property has 18 one bedroom and 18 two bedroom units. 100% of the units serve family households earning 60% or less of the Area Median Income. 12 of the 38 units are received project-based rental subsidy via two HUD HAP Contracts. We worked with both the St. Louis and Kansas City HUD Offices to issue two new 20 year HUD HAP Contracts to the property as part of our preservation plan.

Archway Commons
2707 Rauschenbach Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63106
Phone: (314) 899-9762