ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - An affordable housing project on Labadie Ave. in north St. Louis has been delayed, following three incidents of vandalism since June 2026.

Jean Crumpton, executive director of the Cote Brilliante Presbyterian Housing Corporation, said the building at 4700 Labadie Ave. is designed as apartments with two bedrooms and one bath for low- to moderate-income families.

 Apartment building with two bedrooms and one bath. It is specifically for low-to-moderate income affordable housing,  Crumpton said.

Suspects shattered at least 10 brand-new windows, stole copper wires from air conditioning units and took some of the units as well.

 They sawed off the cages, threw them over in the yard, then took the air conditioners up off the pad,  Crumpton said.

Project nears completion but needs more funding

Crumpton said the project is about 90% complete, but more money is needed for repairs from the May 2025 tornado, as well as the vandalism.

 So, now, as an organization, we've used a lot of our reserves to cover all of these extraneous costs that were not anticipated,  Crumpton said.

 Well, it's been very frustrating because each time we have a setback, then it costs more money. We're trying to get the project finished and get people into the apartments because they are for low-to-moderate income families,  Crumpton said.

 In order for us to finish this project, we need $400,000 more. And that is to finish all of the exterior and interior and get all of the contractors paid off,  Crumpton said.

Insurance partially covered some costs, but Crumpton said it is not enough to complete the project. The organization is now looking to the city for more help after officials initially invested $1.4 million in 2024.

City says it is committed to the project

Tom Nagel, with the St. Louis City Community Development Administration, said the city remains invested in the building.

 This is an investment in the neighborhood. We are filling this gap, this building that was vacant for more than a decade,  Nagel said.

 The city, CDA, we're going to work with our partners and we're 

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