St. Louis Public Schools Hears Proposal to Redevelop Two Vacant School Buildings

Date Posted: November 4, 2025

Posted In: Featured, Projects,

The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), working in tandem with the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA), has submitted offers to acquire two shuttered properties from St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS): the former Marshall Elementary School in the Ville neighborhood, vacant for about 22 years, and Cleveland High School in Dutchtown, vacant roughly 19 years.

On Oct. 27 at a meeting of the SLPS real estate committee SLDC offered approximately $200,000 for the Marshall campus and $300,000 for the Cleveland campus. The board members listened to the proposal to develop Marshall Elementary School into a mixed-use development and invest $3 million in redeveloping Cleveland.

SLDC plans to tap federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds—via LCRA—to stabilize and weather-proof the buildings, with a view to ultimate mixed-use redevelopment or disposition to a private developer.

From a construction-development standpoint, the projects present significant risk and opportunity. SLDC staff noted that the Cleveland site will pose greater technical challenges—elevator installation, fire-damage remediation, particularly in the auditorium, and complex site constraints associated with the track and field parcels.

For Marshall, the building appears structurally sound, but the long dormancy has led to deterioration—including storm damage—requiring careful engineering.

At this stage no binding sale has been approved, and the SLPS Board of Education is considering the proposal under their real-estate committee.

 SLDC also said that if a private developer came forward with a viable offer, SLDC would not block a private acquisition and would support a developer that could move immediately to redevelopment. SLDC representatives said incentive requests such as tax abatement or TIF would come later and require additional approvals from the board and other bodies.