Since 1999, the St. Louis County 

Economic Council (CEC) has identified nearly 400 

abandoned, tax-delinquent, publicly-owned properties. 

The CEC also created a plan to redevelop a large number of them for residential and 

commercial purposes while improving surrounding 

infrastructure. 

JUST THE FACTS: • With help from $300,000 in EPA Brownfields Supplemental Assistance funding, the CEC identified an initial 38 abandoned properties for potential residential use, and performed environmental assessments to quell contamination fears. 

• Habitat for Humanity provided $927,000 in redevelopment funding to construct 15 single-family houses on 12 properties in April 2001. provided $978,000 to build 12 additional homes on a mix of publicly- and privately-owned properties. 

• Investment in 27 new, affordable houses and a neighborhood park has given Wellston’s community a sense of hope and optimism not experienced in decades. 

Returning Properties to Residential Reuse 

Wellston, MO 

continued � 

W Houses built by Habitat for Humanity on a former brownfield in Wellston. 

ellston, Missouri, a small suburb north of St. Louis, is enjoying recent success in restoring brownfields for residential reuse. frustrated with a multitude of boarded-up abandoned houses, derelict, closed-down businesses and littered streets, a small Habitat for Humanity neighborhood has taken root. PA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Grant and a $100,000 Supplemental Assistance Grant, the City of Wellston, working with the St. Louis County Economic Council (CEC), was able to leverage nearly $2 million in redevelopment funding through an innovative partnership with Habitat for Humanity-St. Louis to build 27 affordable homes. into the community motivated the city to transform a former parking lot into a 2.5-acre park. Wellston is becoming a community reborn, thanks in part to this historic partnership and a community’s determination to reclaim itself. 

Wellston began as a center for manufacturing, including a large foundry and an electrical components manufacturer. of Wellston’s major employers fled or closed, leaving properties with real or perceived contamination behind. Wellston came with the closing of a large factory and a foundry in 1983 that left major brownfields tracts throughout Wellston. As employers left, most of the community followed, with a 60 percent decline in population. Today, the mostly African-American, 2,400-person community suffers from a staggering 46 percent poverty rate and a 22 percent unemployment rate. 

Since 1999, the CEC has identified close to 400 abandoned, tax-delinquent, publicly-owned properties throughout the city. properties to productive reuse, the CEC created a plan to redevelop a large number of them for residential and commercial purposes, while improving surrounding infrastructure. Wellston formed the Wellston Redevelopment Corporation (WRC) to administer the plan. ’s first goal was to environmentally assess and, if needed, clean up these former residential properties and then turn them over to a developer. of the $200,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant awarded in 1997 and a Supplemental Assistance Grant in 2000, the CEC identified an initial 38 abandoned properties and performed environmental assessments to quell contamination fears. y, no cleanup was required. 

and Assessment 

In 2002, Habitat 

In a community 

With the help of a $200,000 E

Furthermore, the influx of new families 

But throughout the mid-1900s many 

However, the hardest blow to 

Determined to return those 

The CEC and the City of WRC

With the help 

Fortunatel

A brownfield in Wellston, Missouri. 

CONTACTS: U.S. EPA Region 7: 

(913) 551-7003 

Visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/ brownfields/ 

In 2001, as Wellston was assessing these lots, Habitat for Humanity-St. Louis was looking for a community to host its 15th anniversary “Blitz Build,” building 15 homes for 15 families in 15 days. Taking advantage of their complimenting goals, the City of Wellston and Habitat for Humanity formed a partnership to transform 12 of these brownfields into new living space. 

“This was a natural partnership,” exclaimed Elizabeth Noonan of the CEC. “We were looking for a developer at the time and Habitat was a perfect choice. lots.” 

Habitat for Humanity provided $927,000 in redevelopment funding to construct 15 single-family houses on 12 properties in April 2001. the success propelled the partnership to build more homes. additional homes on a mix of publicly- and privately-owned properties, using $978,000 in Habitat funding. 

“We came to Wellston because there was a need in the community for rebuilding,” said Kimberly McKinney, executive director of Habitat for Humanity-St. Louis. Today, the area surrounding the Habitat neighborhood has really come around.” 

With plans to construct up to 13 additional Habitat homes in the works and the influx of more than 27 children into the neighborhood, the city discovered a need for recreational greenspace. A former parking lot and service station property located across the street from the Habitat neighborhood was chosen to be transformed into a 2.5-acre park. new ballfield, a playground, a basketball court, a concession stand, and walking paths. To date, the CEC has leveraged a $300,000 Regional Empowerment Zone grant to fund cleanup and park design costs, and a $106,000 Recreational Park District grant to assist in park design. built by the St. Louis Cardinals Care Ballfield Program, a program that funds the construction or refurbishing of youth ballfields in disadvantaged neighborhoods. 

of 2004, the park will be a part of a connected greenway system being developed throughout the metropolitan region. 

Wellston, once overlooked, is fast becoming a place to call home. The partnership between Habitat for Humanity-St. Louis, the St. Louis County Economic Council and the City of Wellston was instrumental to the project’s success. investment in the new 27 affordable houses and neighborhood park has given the community a sense of hope and optimism not experienced in decades. 

City of Wellston/Habitat for Humanity project, please contact Kerry Herndon, EPA Region 7, at (913) 551-7286. 

They had the knowledge and expertise of developing residential 

As each house was raised, In 2002, Habitat built 12 

“

Currently undergoing cleanup, the park will feature a 

The ballfield will be 

Expected to be completed by the end 

Furthermore, 

For more information about the 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA-560-F-04-263 Wellston, Missouri and Emergency September 2004 

Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/