St. Louis targets 85 properties.
ST. LOUIS - The city has begun eminent domain proceedings on 85 properties, nearly all of them owned by Paul McKee's NorthSide Regeneration, surrounding the under-construction National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency site north of downtown.
Lawyers for the St. Louis Development Corp. sent out letters to the property owners on May 31, a key step under the state's eminent domain law. The move signals the city hopes to assemble some sites surrounding the NGA for redevelopment by prying property away from NorthSide, which still owns some 1,500 properties and 200 acres in the area, many of which neighbors complain are neglected magnets for crime, drugs and squatters. Of the 85 letters, 75 went to NorthSide, according to SLDC.
Virginia Druhe of the St. Louis Place Community Association said the neighborhood was briefed on the move late last month and called the city's move "refreshing." Most of the neglected properties in the neighborhood are owned by NorthSide, she said.
"Our neighborhood is full of properties that have stood vacant and unused for a long time," Druhe said. "While generally I would not like eminent domain, we simply need to have access to property so something can be done."
