ST. LOUIS—After a $27 million redevelopment, Castle Park Apartments in the greater St. Louis region has re-opened. Castle Park is a 209-unit multifamily and elderly Project Based Section 8 property located on Castle Park Drive in Normandy, MO.
Community Housing Concepts Inc. (CHC), a Denver-based nonprofit, acquired the property in 2007 and hired Steele Properties as developer.
The project utilized 4 percent tax credit equity, state and federal historic tax credit equity and bond financing with partner U.S. Bank, which provided the private placement on the bonds. The bank’s community investment subsidiary, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, invested approximately $11 million of affordable housing and historic tax credit equity.
Built in 1891 to house the St. Vincent’s Sanitarium, the property housed in-patients until 1982 when it was sold and converted to apartments. The Castle had not been updated again until CHC acquired the property in 2007 and hired Steele Properties as the developer for the resulting $27.3 million redevelopment.
Because of its Victorian origin and architectural styles, the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
CHC updated the Castle Park property to include new windows, masonry repair, foundation repair and copper metal repair, including replacement of coping metals, gutters and downspouts. Interior construction included a complete rehabilitation of apartment interiors, including new kitchens and bathrooms with updated fixtures, cabinets, flooring and energy efficient appliances. Additional interior improvements include new water heaters, furnaces, doors, drywall texture and paint.
Original Italian marble floors, French tile slate roof and some original fixtures were maintained.