Senior citizens' apartment nears completion in E. St. Louis

EAST ST. LOUIS With a striking resemblance to some of the resort condo buildings that dot America's coastal beaches, a $22 million senior citizens apartment building is nearing completion in East St. Louis' Emerson Park neighborhood in the 1000 block of North 15th Street.

The four-story apartment project, called Jazz at Walter Circle, now dominates the city's skyline just north of Interstate 64.

The 74-unit mixed-use building scheduled to open late this year is already a source of pride in a city that has seen few new developments recently.

"One may say, 'Why (in) East St. Louis?' I say, 'Why not East St. Louis?'" said Elizabeth Tolliver, executive director of the East St. Louis Housing Authority.

She and other authority members dared to dream big when planning Jazz at Walter Circle a couple of years ago. The development is a public-private partnership between the East St. Louis Housing Authority and private developers, and it is the first in the nation to combine public housing development funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with New Markets Tax Credits.

The federal New Markets Tax Credit Program was established in 2000 as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. The goal is to spur revitalization of low-income communities. The program provides tax credit incentives to investors for equity investments in certified Community Development Entities, which invest in low-income communities.

Recipients typically banks and community development groups offer the tax credits as an incentive to investors in projects in qualifying Census tracts. They are worth 39 cents on the dollar.

Jazz at Walter Circle is owned by Eco Jazz Inc., a special purpose nonprofit affiliate of the Housing Authority that was created as a developer of record for the project. Walter Circle will be the name of a new street that is being developed just off 15th Street to serve the residents of the apartment project.

Tolliver noted that Emerson Park has been a stable neighborhood for several years in an otherwise often-troubled city. So the site for the Jazz at Walter Circle project seemed logical, she said. And it's just across the street from the Emerson Park MetroLink station, making for easy access, she said.

The project's name honors East St. Louis' history as a jazz capital. Among other lesser known jazz musicians, the city produced the legendary Miles Davis.

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Senior citizens' apartment nears completion in E. St. Louis