The deadline to apply for Neighborhood Transformation Grants from the St. Louis Community Development Administration is Monday.
These grants are for nonprofit organizations, contractors and other groups to use toward affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization and public space improvements.
But there isn’t time to start an application now. CDA Executive Director Nahuel Fefer stressed that the application process is not simple.
“These are federal funds, and there's a lot of compliance requirements that we need to help our partners walk through and go through,” Fefer said. “This isn't something that folks are going to be able to put together overnight.”
He said it takes most applicants weeks or months to put their application together. First-time applicants must also have attended an in-person workshop that took place in April.
But there are other opportunities this year. Applications for non-housing public services grants open Aug. 1. These grants could be for a variety of community issues.
“(CDA grants are) fundamentally about making holistic investments, not just into housing, but into the community, into people, into early child care, into health care,” Fefer said.
The St. Louis Art Place Initiative has used multiple CDA funding streams. CDA has granted the organization money to renovate homes, develop an artist residency space and commission public benches designed by artists in the Gravois Park neighborhood.
Kaveh Razani, co-director of the Art Place Initiative, said CDA funding is critical to the city of St. Louis.
“I think they have very, very sound strategic initiative in what they’re doing,” Razani said. “I don’t think they get the credit they deserve.”
The Art Place Initiative has already completed two homes in the Gravois Park neighborhood that are now occupied by artists and plan to build six more by the end of the year. Razani said the goal is to build 20 homes in Gravois Park, and he'd like to expand into other areas.
CDA’s application deadline was extended from June 13 in response to the May 16 tornado. Proposals for neighborhood beautification and green community spaces were due on May 14. Total funding for this category was $500,000, and each individual grant ranges from $50,000 to $100,000. The CDA is reviewing applications for neighborhood beautification now and will begin the process for other applications after Monday’s deadline.
CDA’s grants are primarily funded federally by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, specifically through the Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds. It also uses ARPA funds.
Fefer said he is concerned about the future of this federal funding. The Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget proposes a 51% decrease in funding for HUD and the elimination of CDBG.
“It is under attack right now, and we will see if it's funded for 2026,” Fefer said. “These funds are working to drive real, transformational change.”
CDA received $21 million in CDBG and HOME awards in 2024.
More information on the application process can be found on the city website.
