One Community Update
October 9, 2024
Source: www.firstalert4.com
A national conference on vacant properties is converging in St. Louis this week, highlighting successful programs locally and in other U.S. cities.
The semi-annual conference, called “Reclaiming Vacant Properties,” is run by the Center for Community Progress, which works with organizations nationwide to address abandoned and deteriorated properties.
Thamarrah Jones, the organization’s director of conferences, said CCP chose St. Louis partly to highlight recent collaborative efforts between City departments and agencies, as well as local organizations that have worked to redevelop, stabilize, or demolish problem properties.
“With all of the challenges that have happened as it relates to vacancy in the city and county, we’ve wanted to partner with St. Louis for a long time,” Jones said.
One organization highlighting its work at the conference is the St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative, which has increasingly developed tools for tracking and mapping vacant properties in the city.
Torrey Park, the director of the Vacancy Collaborative, said such tools have helped to tie problem properties to negligent owners, some of whom own dozens of vacant properties in the area with a mounting pile of code violations and fines.
She said the success of the collaborative could be a useful example to other cities dealing with a high number of vacancies and lack of investment.
“They can learn a lot about how we’re being strategic to address the properties that need it most, Park said.
The conference itinerary also includes visits to successful redevelopment projects in the St. Louis area, such as the Delmar Divine.
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