ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - Eminent domain is off the table for current residents and businesses near the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus currently under construction. But a St. Louis Alderman says delinquent developers are on notice.
"That's the neighborhood I actually grew up in so it means a lot to me to make sure that residents aren't displaced," explains 14th Ward Alderman Rasheen Aldridge. Speaking on KMOX's Total Information AM, Aldridge says a new redevelopment plan does provide for eminent domain if developers continue to allow vacant buildings to crumble. "It's hard to do a block by block redevelopment when a lot of these properties have bad actors that just haven't done anything."
The measure sponsored by Aldridge and recently signed by Mayor Tishaura Jones, provides a ten-year tax abatement for current residents, to protect them from taking a huge tax hit if development in the area pushes property values higher. It also gives residents a say in any development proposal over a million dollars in value. He adds it was crafted with input from the St. Louis Place and Jeff-Vander-Lou Neighborhood Associations.
The NGA is expected to move into the new facility at Cass and Jefferson in 2026.
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