Lutheran Development Group

Thank you to the volunteers for spending the day with us in Dutchtown! After a tour of the neighborhoodand LDG projects, the team worked at Marquette Park—picking up trash, planting Missouri natives, and painting planters. We are so grateful for giving their time, energy, and hard work to one of our greatest community spaces!

Thank you to the LCEF volunteers for spending the day with us in Dutchtown! After a tour of the neighborhood and LDG projects, the team worked at Marquette Park—picking up trash, planting Missouri natives, and painting planters. We are so grateful for giving their time, energy, and hard work to one of our greatest community spaces!

🩺🗓️ Join us for a Community Health Fair for DeSales residents and our neighbors on Saturday, June 13th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the gymnasium of St. Francis de Sales Oratory (2653 Ohio Ave, St. Louis, MO 63118).

We’re excited to bring together local vendors for a full day of wellness, connection, and community resources. The event will feature:

• Vendor tables throughout the entire event
• Yoga/Stretch class at 11:00 AM
• Bingo at 12:00 PM
• Zumba class at 1:00 PM

We hope to see you there! ❤️

Our Marquette Homes project featured by First Alert 4!

In partnership with Rise, the project is bringing more than 50 affordable homes to Dutchtown and Gravois Park while restoring long vacant buildings and renewing vitality to those blocks. 🏗️🏘️

First Alert Forward: Marquette Homes project nearing completion, bringing dozens of new affordable housing units to Dutchtown neighborhoods A building that sat vacant for more than a decade along South Grand is being restored as part of a larger effort to create affordable housing in St. Louis

Sometimes the first tool needed to create affordable housing isn't a hammer. It's a lawyer.

This Dutchtown four-family building sat abandoned for years. Most people could see the physical blight: broken windows, boarded openings, and neglect. What they couldn't see was the legal blight.

This property was owned by a dissolved LLC, with a lienholder located in England. Redevelopment couldn't happen until title was cleared.

Since 2018, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri's Neighborhood Advocacy Program has helped neighborhoods return more than 700 formerly vacant housing units to productive use by eliminating legal barriers that make acquisition and rehabilitation impossible.

Today, thanks to Lutheran Development Group, this building has been transformed into deeply affordable housing serving residents at or below 60% of Area Median Income.

As we talk about increasing housing supply and revitalizing neighborhoods, we should remember that many vacant properties aren't blocked only by construction challenges—they're blocked by legal challenges. Deceased owners, dissolved entities, liens, probate issues, and title defects often stand between a vacant building and a family needing a home.

Special thanks to Jason Sapp, Gray Ritter Graham, and the many pro bono attorneys who help make this work possible. And thank you to St. Louis Development Corporation - SLDC for its innovative commitment to supporting neighborhood revitalization through free legal services that help remove barriers to redevelopment.

Yesterday there were 8,592 vacant buildings in the City of St. Louis. Today there are 8,591.

Last month, as part of Missouri SHINE Week, volunteers from and joined us for a clean-up around and our properties on Oregon Place.

The transformation of the street was immense! Volunteers cleared trash and debris, repainted trim and window coverings, and helped install a new fence. We completed a few final touches in the days that followed, and the impact continues to show.

We are grateful for the time, care, and partnership that made this work possible.

It’s a little over a week away from the Dutchtown Spring Clean in Marquette Park! 8:30-11:30am Saturday April 25th. We will have snacks, coffee, and all the tools needed! Let’s clean-up some alleys! 💪

4418 Louisiana is on the market! Our 5th of 8 total new construction 3bd/2bath homes in Greater Dutchtown.The previous 4 have sold or are under contract so they are going quick! Check out the listing in our story.

Thanks to for highlighting the work happening across St. Louis to expand access to homeownership.

We currently a home available with $35,000 in down payment assistance in Dutchtown, with more coming soon. These projects take time and partnership, but they are creating real opportunities for homeownership while also strengthening our neighborhoods.

Interested in learning more? Email [email protected]

Read the full article in our Story