Business

VineBrook Homes owns nearly 2,500 St. Louis properties

Published

2 years ago

May 10, 2023

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Trash bags full of ruined clothes, furniture stained with mold and ruined keepsakes filled the front yard of Carolyn Burton and Jerry Hofee’s former rental home in north St. Louis County. It all had to go in the trash.Burton and Hofee noticed the sewage leak not long after they moved into the rental home on Roslan Place.For months, the pair complained to their landlord through emails reviewed by the Midwest Newsroom that sewage pipes leaked in the home’s basement, destroying their belongings, causing the home to smell like sewage and backing up the upstairs toilet and bath.“I just felt sick all the time,” Burton said.

Above: Sewage and water backs up into Carolyn Burton’s bathroom in a Florissant home she previously leased from VineBrook Homes. Top: Homes line Rex Avenue in April 2023 in Breckenridge Hills, Mo. (Photos by Carolyn Burton and Brian Munoz / St. Louis Public Radio)

There were other problems, too. Burton said electrical outlets throughout the home hissed and smoked throughout the day and vents in the home blew hot air during the summer and cold air in the winter.Still, Burton said repeated requests to the landlord went unanswered. When help did come, the problems weren’t fixed.The home on Roslan Place in unincorporated St. Louis County is just one of at least 2,400 properties in the St. Louis region owned by VineBrook Homes, an Ohio-based real estate company that owns more than 27,000 homes nationwide.The Midwest Newsroom interviewed eight current and former tenants in the St. Louis area — residents with stories similar to Burton’s — and reviewed court filings and Better Business Bureau complaints showing similar tenant issues with VineBrook rentals nationwide.Complaints include unresolved maintenance issues, unfounded evictions, aggressive rent collection tactics, poor customer service and more.The Midwest Newsroom identified the properties that VineBrook owns and manages by reviewing the data from counties where the company operates. During this process, we identified nearly 50 different VineBrook-associated limited liability companies throughout the country.Local property records show the vast majority of properties owned by VineBrook Homes in the region are in north St. Louis County neighborhoods, in census tracts that are predominantly nonwhite and have median household incomes of around $60,000 or less.Omaha and Kansas CityIn Omaha and neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa, VineBrook Homes has purchased roughly 300 homes since 2019, making it the third-largest property owner in the city. Most of the homes are in North Omaha, a predominantly Black area.Additionally, in the Kansas City metro area, census data shows that many of the 1,200 homes VineBrook owns are concentrated in neighborhoods like Ruskin Heights and Fairlane. These communities, in the southern part of Kansas City, Missouri, are nonwhite neighborhoods with incomes of $50,000 or less. VineBrook only owns a handful of properties in and around Kansas City, Kansas.VineBrook Homes declined an interview request from the Midwest Newsroom about the mounting complaints against the company, its pattern of acquiring properties in primarily nonwhite communities and other specific issues.In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said VineBrook provides safe and affordable homes that “breathe life” into local properties and neighborhoods and meet the growing demand for single-family home living.“Our team prioritizes customer service,” the statement read. “We are committed to providing a transparent rental process for our residents and are constantly seeking ways to enhance our customer service offering, incorporating new technologies and touchpoints to deliver a high-quality experience.”
Tenants cry foulRosa Edwards learned about VineBrook Homes through an eviction notice.Edwards lives in a VineBrook rental in north St. Louis County on Avondale Avenue in Northwoods. The company didn’t own the property when she signed her lease. VineBrook owns at least 35 properties in that same census tract.Tax records show the 73-year-old’s former landlord sold the property to VineBrook Homes in 2021, not long after she moved into the house. Edwards said, unbeknownst to her, she became a VineBrook Homes tenant overnight.Before she knew it, eviction notices from VineBrook started to appear on her front door.“We wasn’t behind on anything,” Edwards said. “After that every month they came and stuck eviction notices on our front door.”Edwards and her daughter struggled to get anyone at VineBrook to explain the eviction notices. She said trying to get anyone at the company on the phone proved difficult, a problem Burton ran into as well.Both Edwards and Burton said trips to VineBrook’s office in Maryland Heights often were fruitless. They said sometimes the office was closed, and other times the staff weren’t helpful.A ledger of charges shows Edward’s rent remained the same. The new costs included administration, late fees and new trash and sewer bills that put her behind on what she owed VineBrook.

For the next three years, Edwards struggled as the cost of living in her Avondale home far exceeded the original rent. She staved off eviction time after time, paying VineBrook Homes each time the company threatened to evict her and her daughter.Now, Edwards said, they want to leave.“They have done so much to me in the last three years,” Edwards said. “We’re just trying to get out of here.”Unlike in Cincinnati, VineBrook has yet to run afoul of St. Louis County leaders. A spokesperson for St. Louis County said in an email that complaints about VineBrook are basic or run-of-the-mill in nature and are handled according to its usual practices.The company is known to the region’s tenant support groups, however.Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s housing unit provides free legal assistance to low-income families and individuals facing eviction or rent-related lawsuits.Susan Alverson, who leads the unit, said she’s received complaints about VineBrook.“Several tenants have called us, most regarding rent and eviction lawsuits against them,” Alverson said.Over the past three years, tenants have filed more than 470 complaints against VineBrook Homes through the Better Business Bureau. While this consumer protection organization has no legal power, VineBrook met with the nonprofit to address a pattern of complaints filed by tenants.The Midwest Newsroom asked the Better Business Bureau, through its headquarters and several branch offices, whether VineBrook has addressed the tenant complaints but did not receive a response.”The Midwest Newsroom also asked the attorney general’s offices in both Missouri and Nebraska if they are aware of complaints from renters about VineBrook. The Nebraska attorney general’s office said it “cannot comment on consumer complaints or investigations.” The Missouri attorney general’s office did not respond to the request.

Nick Silver lived in a VineBrook home with his children until late February 2023. Silver, who is 99% blind, said he found eviction notices on his door during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.“It’s kind of like a scare tactic,” Silver said. “It’s super aggressive.”

Kavahn Mansouri

Midwest NewsroomNick Silver stands in front of his former VineBrook Homes rental on Dammert Avenue in south St. Louis County. Silver says VineBrook mistakenly tried to evict him twice during the COVID-19 pandemic as he awaited rental assistance from Missouri. (Kavahn Mansouri / Midwest Newsroom)

Silver moved into a VineBrook rental property on Dammert Street in unincorporated south St. Louis County shortly before the pandemic began. At the height of the lockdown, his massage therapy business stalled, and he struggled to pay rent to VineBrook Homes.As a result of late payments, Silver said VineBrook locked him out of the online payment system and maintenance portal for eight months for missing payments during the pandemic.Even as he applied for help from Missouri’s rental assistance program and repeatedly told VineBrook associates money was on its way, he said the company filed two evictions against him.Silver said the company later withdrew the eviction filings and admitted it made a mistake in filing the evictions. Still, he said it’s a reflection of VineBrook’s customer service.“They’re hard to communicate with,” Silver said. “When you call them you have to go through layers of people until you get anyone who can do anything.”All the while, his rent continued to increase. Silver’s rent started at $775 in 2020. By the time he moved out of the 5,700-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath home in February 2023, his rent stood at $905 a month.“You get locked into a lease at $775, and when they renew the lease they can renew it at any price point they want,” Silver said.

Brian Munoz

St. Louis Public RadioVineBrook Homes owns several properties that line Rex Avenue, pictured last month, in Breckenridge Hills. (Brian Munoz / St. Louis Public Radio)

‘Red hot’ market for investorsChris Roeseler, a realtor who specializes in investment property sales in St. Louis, has assisted VineBrook Homes with a handful of transactions. He called the investor market in St. Louis over the past few years “red hot.”Roeseler said VineBrook and similar companies seek “turnkey” homes, where the property needs little maintenance beyond cosmetics and can be ready to rent quickly. He said the company brings needed investment into north county.“They’re knowledgeable and they’re not playing games,” Roeseler said. “They don’t try to beat around the bush.”Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at real estate brokerage firm Redfin, said COVID-19 created a boom in investor purchases of single-family rentals. Low interest rates and increased demand for rentals became an opportunity for investors, she said.Roeseler said he saw what Fairweather described play out in St. Louis, and noted that investor interest in north county skyrocketed during the same period.He said an abundance of homes that needed little work and a growing demand for homes from renters made the area prime real estate. Most of the houses he sold were either vacant or sold by homeowners who inherited the properties.Investor home purchases have since cooled, falling by almost half nationally since February of last year, according to Redfin.VineBrook is funded by investors and managed by the real estate firm NexPoint Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm, according to SEC filings. Dana Sprong, a real estate developer from Massachusetts, founded the company in 2007 in Ohio and later expanded to nearby states.According to VineBrook’s annual report, the company believes it is “the largest single family rental operator specializing in workforce housing in the country.” Workforce housing refers to homes that cost less than $1,400 a month.

Since 2019, VineBrook has acquired homes in the Midwest and South at a staggering pace through mass purchases of real estate portfolios and individual purchases from homeowners.According to VineBrook’s SEC filings, in September 2021, the company owned 15,787 homes, a number that has since ballooned to more than 27,000 homes across 20 states.Nearly 4,000 of VineBrook Home’s rentals are located in the St. Louis, Kansas City and Omaha metro areas. The company lists its many available rentals on its website, filtered by different markets. St. Louis is the company’s third-largest market in the country.In SEC filings, VineBrook officials describe a strategy of purchasing single-family homes for the rental market. In fact, fewer than 4.5% of the company’s holdings are multifamily units like duplexes, villas, townhouses, courtyards or condominiums.Cincinnati v. VineBrookComplaints similar to those the Midwest Newsroom has heard about in other states have landed VineBrook Homes in court in Cincinnati. VineBrook owns more than 3,300 homes there, a portfolio that represents the company’s biggest presence in the country.The City of Cincinnati filed suit against VineBrook Homes in 2021 due to the company owing more than $600,000 in unpaid water bills and civil fees. VineBrook settled with the city, admitting no wrongdoing and vowing to fix issues at its properties.However, the city filed suit again in January 2023, for allegedly breaching the settlement agreement, and accused the company of “repeatedly violating” the settlement agreement, as well as the Ohio Landlord Tenant Act and the Cincinnati Municipal Code.The city also requested a Hamilton County judge appoint a receiver to manage VineBrook’s properties until its building and health code issues are resolved.“We have no tolerance for investors who come into Cincinnati, let properties degrade, and exploit tenants,” said Mayor Aftab Pureval in a press release. “VineBrook’s neglectful behavior has caused significant harm to renters, and the City of Cincinnati will fight back with everything we have to protect our residents.”VineBrook asked for a dismissal of the lawsuit, alleging the City of Cincinnati unfairly targeted the company. “There is nothing illegal about buying homes at a price mutually agreed upon by buyer and seller, providing safe and affordable housing to low and middle-income families, operating across state lines, turning a profit, or owning rental properties through LLCs,” the request to dismiss read. “If this were the case, then the City would need to litigate against all landlords in Cincinnati.”

“When you’re targeting Black and Brown neighborhoods and we already have this incredible wealth gap in these neighborhoods, the very people who need the opportunity to start to build wealth are being blocked out.”

Laura Brunner, CEO of the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority

The company’s business activities also drew the attention of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. In a letter to VineBrook, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio said VineBrook’s “rapid expansion” and “systematic neglect” of properties has severely affected local families in Cincinnati. “Your company had failed to respond to the tenant’s multiple maintenance requests, leaving them without heat for several weeks in the dead of winter,” Brown wrote. “Another tenant contacted my office reporting that VineBrook was attempting to evict them for nonpayment of rent, even though the rent had been paid. Unfortunately, these tenants’ experiences were not unique.”Laura Brunner is CEO of the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, a development agency based in Cincinnati. She agreed that tenants of VineBrook Homes in Cincinnati face rising rent, hidden fees and fast evictions.“There’s always a market for higher rents. If this tenant can’t pay, someone else will follow,” Brunner said. “So we’ve got renters paying too much, subject to eviction in what I would call substandard properties.”Brunner said VineBrook and real estate investment companies like it tend to target low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, many of which are predominantly Black and Brown.“When you’re targeting Black and Brown neighborhoods and we already have this incredible wealth gap in these neighborhoods, the very people who need the opportunity to start to build wealth are being blocked out,” Brunner said, describing the business practice as “predatory.”Manne Cook, an Omaha urban planner with the nonprofit neighborhood revitalization project Spark CDI, said the same issues are true in Omaha. He said investment companies like VineBrook are changing the character of Omaha’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.“What you’re seeing is displacement — that’s the change you’re seeing,” Cook said. “The houses are being purchased from families that have been there for decades — which is good for them — but the prices on those homes are going up for minimal investment and then they’re being rented for prices people in the area can’t afford.”

Brian Munoz

St. Louis Public RadioCarolyn Burton, 64, speaks about her experience with VineBrook Homes last January at her new home in unincorporated north St. Louis County. (Brian Munoz / St. Louis Public Radio)

Wronged and regretfulIn St. Louis, Carolyn Burton and her former partner were eventually evicted from their VineBrook rental on Roslan Place. Burton called it a blessing in disguise.“At that point, I wanted to just cut my losses and get out — and that’s basically what I did,” Burton said. “I felt totally helpless, totally drained, totally scared.”Burton is among hundreds of St. Louis tenants VineBrook has filed evictions against. According to court records, since the company arrived in Missouri in 2019, it has filed more than 800 legal actions against its tenants.Some tenants interviewed by the Midwest Newsroom sought help from nonprofit groups in the St. Louis area that represent tenants threatened with eviction.Burton said the pair fell further behind on rent due to the death of a close relative, and by that time many of the home’s issues still weren’t resolved. She said she decided it was better to be evicted than to carry on in a home where she no longer felt safe.“They promised me a clean, safe, sanitized place to live, and I did not have that,” Burton said.A former landlord helped Burton find a new house after months of sleeping on friends’ couchesShe countersued VineBrook in hopes of getting her deposit back and ridding her legal history of an eviction, but the suit was unsuccessful. And while Burton said she’s happy to be free of VineBrook, she said she still feels wronged by the company.“VineBrook is putting people out every day, and half of the time they don’t even answer the phone,” she said. “You can leave a message or go by their office — sometimes they’re there — sometimes they’re not. But when they’re evicting you, they keep in touch.”Do you have a story to share about VineBrook Homes? Please email kmansouri@kcur.org.Steve Vockrodt contributed reporting, and Daniel Wheaton analyzed data for this article.The Midwest Newsroom is an in-depth and investigative journalism collaboration including KCUR, St. Louis Public Radio, Iowa Public Radio, Nebraska Public Media and NPR.

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Laclede’s Landing is moving from nightlife hub to neighborhood

Published

1 year ago

August 28, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Laclede’s Landing has cycled through many identities throughout the history of St. Louis. Now, some people involved with its redevelopment in recent years hope the landing’s next one will be as a residential neighborhood.The small district tucked directly north of the Gateway Arch National Park has quietly undergone a massive redevelopment with more than $75 million pouring into the rehabilitation of many of the historic buildings at the landing.“We are starting to feel that momentum, especially in the last really 60 days. Things have drastically changed around here,” said Ryan Koppy, broker and owner of Trading Post Properties and the director of commercial property for Advantes Group.Advantes alone shouldered the rehabilitation of six of the historic buildings, which now sport a mix of apartments and retail or office space, he said. Four of those buildings are completed, and of the 119 apartments available, about 90% are filled, Koppy said.“It just shows you what kind of demand we do have for the area,” he said. “We’re separated from downtown a little bit, and for the tenants, their local park where they’re walking their dogs, it’s a national park.”

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioInterior of the Peper Lofts at Laclede’s Landing on Aug. 16

Another 40 apartments are set to come online next year along with some retail space, Koppy said. He added he’s noticed a wide range of people who are considering and moving into the newly refinished apartments.“It’s very mixed, surprisingly,” Koppy said. “We have a lot of young professionals, maybe on their second job out of [university], we have some empty nesters too.”Part of the newfound momentum comes from a new market, the Cobblestone, and coffee shop, Brew Tulum, opening recently and bringing more foot traffic to the area, said Brandyn Jones, executive director of the Laclede Landing Neighborhood Association. She added that more apartments are set to come online within the next few months.“We have a great riverfront area here and so there are plans in the works to activate those spaces, bring people in,” she said.That could be more daytime events, like a farmers market, music festivals (one of which is happening this weekend) or just bringing in food trucks to Katherine Ward Burg Garden, Jones said. It’s a departure from the identity the district held a few decades ago as a hub for nightlife and entertainment.“That’s part of what connects so many people to Laclede’s Landing,” Jones said. “It’s important to tell the story of where we’re evolving. It won’t be what it was in the same exact way, but it will still be fun, and it can be fun early morning, midday or late night.”It’s a view shared by Koppy.“It’s grown up, it’s a bit mature,” he said. “We’re not going to have 3 a.m. bars here anymore because we have residents here.”Koppy added that Advantes is joined by other developers working to rehabilitate buildings in the district.“We all work in unison,” he said. “If I get a call and [a client is] asking for something and maybe the square foot doesn’t really match up with what I have available, but I know it matches up over there, they’re getting a very warm welcome and introduction.”

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioRyan Koppy looks out the window of Brew Tulum Specialty Coffee Experience on Aug. 16 at the Cobblestone on Laclede’s Landing in downtown St. Louis.

This push toward making Laclede’s Landing a residential neighborhood also comes alongside broader conversations about the future of downtown St. Louis more generally as it looks to move away from a dependence on office space. While the city as a whole continues to lose population, downtown added about 1,700 people between 2010 and 2020, according to U.S. Census data.“It’s been wonderful timing to have all that going on, that stress that you’re not just in downtown to work has been critical to part of this rejuvenation and energy down here,” Jones said. “Sometimes people forget Laclede’s Landing is part of downtown, really the original downtown.”And success in the small district could spread beyond its small confines and potentially serve as a model for success, Koppy added.“My idea is, if we could get all the great things of St. Louis coming in through here, we can eventually spread that,” he said. “We understand we can’t change the whole world, but we’ll just make the effort to try and change the world around us.”

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St. Louis barbecue festival Q in the Lou canceled

Published

1 year ago

August 27, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The largest barbecue competition and tasting festival in St. Louis, Q in the Lou, has been canceled. The event was planned for Sept. 6-8, but organizers decided to cancel it due to poor ticket sales and insufficient corporate sponsorship.The traveling festival had low attendance in Denver last week, said Sean Hadley, a festival organizer.“We made the tough decision to cancel Q in the Lou,” said Hadley. “We’re seeing a lack of support … it’s just not there.”The traveling event first came to St. Louis in 2015 and drew hundreds of people to downtown St. Louis for barbecue, live music and a “major party.”“It shut down out of the blue … I’ve gone every year,” said Scott Thomas, local chef and food blogger. “It’s brilliant. You could take a tour of some really amazing barbecue restaurants and competition barbecue guys all in one place.”In a late July news conference, city officials touted Q in the Lou as a significant tourism draw and a boost for downtown revitalization.“Bringing a signature national festival back to downtown St. Louis … is making us stronger,” Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall said then.Less than a month later, ticket holders from every festival stop learned they’d be refunded. On Monday, organizers privatized the Q in the Lou website and deleted its social media accounts.Conner Kerrigan, a spokesperson for Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office, said city officials are disappointed the festival won’t be back this year.“St. Louis knows how to throw a festival … bringing people together to celebrate our culture is one of the things we do best as a city,” Kerrigan said in a statement. “Should Q in the Lou try to come back next year or any year after that, they’ll have the support of the Mayor Jones administration.”

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Alton’s Jacoby Arts Center likely to relocate permanently

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1 year ago

August 27, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The Jacoby Arts Center, a staple of Alton for many in the Metro East community, will likely permanently move out of its downtown building at the end of September.Its departure and relocation from the historic building that the arts center has called home for the past 20 years has created a tense situation for not only the arts center’s supporters but also the local development company working to revitalize Alton’s downtown that owns the building.“It’s an unfortunate situation,” said Chad Brigham, the chief legal and administrative officer with AltonWorks, the real estate company owned by another prominent local attorney working to develop the town. “I wish there wasn’t misunderstanding and disappointment in the community. It’s difficult sometimes to clarify that.”When news of the likely departure spread in June via a letter from the Jacoby Arts Center to its supporters, an outcry on social media quickly followed. Some assumed it would be the end of the arts center.“There’s a lot of feelings right now that I think are more about the building itself than there are about the Jacoby Arts Center,” said Valerie Hoven, vice president and treasurer of the nonprofit arts center’s board.For supporters of the Jacoby, moving from the building and likely never returning will be a sad affair. Exactly what’s next for the arts center remains unclear. However, Jacoby board members believe this will not be the end of the organization. It will likely look different though.

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioThe Jacoby Arts Center earlier this month in downtown Alton

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioThe Alton-based Jacoby Arts Center features more than 75 St. Louis-area artists and their work.

The history of the buildingFirst dubbed the Madison County Arts Council, the nonprofit arts center renamed itself after the Jacoby family gave it the current building in 2004. AltonWorks founder John Simmons purchased the Jacoby Building in September 2018, according to property records from the county.Managing the large building, at 627 E. Broadway, became too expensive for the Jacoby Arts Center. In 2018, the organization approached Simmons to purchase it, said Dennis Scarborough, a past president of the board and a downtown business owner.“Of course, it sounded really, really good,” Scarborough said of Simmons’ purchase. “He took over the insurance, property taxes, all those kinds of things that were really, really getting into our budget, and he rented it to us at a fair price.”The two parties entered into a lease agreement initially for five years. Since then, Simmons has spent more than $1 million in upkeep, taxes, insurance and more on the building. The lease has been extended twice until the end of September this year.Over the six years, Jacoby paid $1,500 per month, which covered a portion of the utilities.“It’s been wonderfully generous of AltonWorks,” Hoven said.Because the building is aging and needs repairs, Brigham with AltonWorks and those connected to the arts center have long known the Jacoby Arts Center would need to relocate — at least temporarily.

Renovations on the Jacoby building will begin this fall. They’ll include modernizing the aging building, repairing the old elevator and putting in apartments on the second and third floors.

News of the likely departure and controversyRenovations will begin this fall. They’ll include modernizing the aging building, repairing the old elevator and putting in apartments on the second and third floors.In May, it became clear that a preliminary proposal for the arts center to return to the building after renovations finished in 2026 would not work for them, Hoven said.She estimates the first floor and basement of the Jacoby Arts Building span roughly 20,000 square feet.

Chad Brigham is a business and legal adviser for AltonWorks.

AltonWorks’ initial idea floated to the arts center would only provide 2,553 square feet, according to both Hoven and Brigham. While the board calculated the price for the new space to be at least triple the current payment, Brigham said there was never a specific price discussed.“No discussion in terms of actual rent price,” he said.AltonWorks didn’t make a specific rent offer because the organization doesn’t even know itself, Brigham said.In addition to cash from John Simmons, there will be loans, tax increment financing and state tax credits to cover the $20 million in building renovations. The entities financing the cost of renovations will also help determine the rent when the construction is complete, Brigham said.Regardless, the price required to return will be too much for the arts center to pay, Hoven said. Also, the organization would like to maintain the many programs it offers to the community — a rentable event space, a dark room and a clay studio, for example — in the future.“For us to really meet the needs of the community and be sustainable, we need a space where we can offer some of those programs — the artists’ shop, and other spaces that offer some kind of income as well — so that we can continue to give money back to the community,” she said.AltonWorks offered at least two other locations as possible alternatives from their vast stock of buildings along Broadway to house the arts center during the roughly 18 months of construction. Those alternatives came with similar deals requiring the Jacoby to cover only utilities, Brigham said.“We did put in a great deal of work behind the scenes in trying to find an interim solution,” Brigham said. “We wanted to find a place for them to go, where it was easy for them to continue programming, whether it’s 100% of it or some portion of it, that would work for them.”Initially, the arts center hoped to keep the basement during the renovations, Hoven said. When it became clear the preliminary offer to return was for much less space than the arts center anticipated, the letter to the community was sent.“The letter that came out was merely showing our surprise,” Hoven said. “Don’t misinterpret it as panic. Don’t misinterpret it as desperation.”

Sophie Proe

St. Louis Public RadioA smorgasbord of radios are displayed at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton.

The commentary on social media was passionate. Some critics of AltonWorks said the organization has good intentions but hasn’t executed those plans. Others said Jacoby hasn’t planned well enough for the future.For Brigham and the AltonWorks team, some of the criticism has been disappointing.“I thought that there were some decent solutions. Were they perfect? No, but they were very, I thought, very good solutions,” he said. “And the fact that it has come to the point that it is right now is a bit hurtful.”AltonWorks remains committed to the arts, Brigham said. John Simmons remains one the largest donors of the Jacoby Arts Center, Hoven and Brigham said.“I don’t think there’s ever been a question of our support of that organization — of our affinity for that organization,” Brigham said. “While some of the events were unfortunate, some of them were encouraging. The entire community rallied around the Jacoby Arts Center. That’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to have a love for the arts like that in a downtown community.”Sara McGibany, the executive director of Alton Main Street, an organization aimed at preserving the town, said AltonWorks should be commended for its vision. In many ways, her organization and AltonWorks share a vision for a thriving downtown.Even though AltonWorks hosts public meetings, McGibany believes the current situation lacks true community engagement.“We really think that if AltonWorks can get past some of the communication hurdles — and harness the community’s passion and shift to more of a bottom-up decision-making process that centers on community input — then we can turn around the growing sentiment of distrust that’s happening now,” McGibany said.Scarborough, the past board president and downtown business owner, echoed the praise for Simmons and his support of the Jacoby Arts Center. With the Jacoby likely moving, the future looks bleak, though.“It’s a community arts center that does a lot of good work,” Scarborough said. “The community is going to suffer, and they’re going to be missed by the community if they’re not there.”

Eric Lee

St. Louis Public RadioShalanda Young, director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, talks to Illinois U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, during a tour of a construction project by AltonWorks last April in Alton. AltonWorks, who is building the LoveJoy Apartment Complex is receiving over $1 million in federal funding.

What does the future hold?AltonWorks will continue forging ahead with its ambitious plans to revitalize Alton. The organization hopes to conclude construction on the Wedge Innovation Center, which will have a restaurant, retail and co-working space, this fall. Lucas Row, a mix of apartments and retail space, is scheduled to be completed next spring.The remainder of the arts and innovation district, currently named after the Jacoby, will also move forward.“I believe in two years it’s going to be a much different place,” Brigham said of Alton. “It’s going to be thriving. It’s going to be new businesses, new tenants — and it’s going to be a nice proof of concept for what you can do in a small community like that.”The Jacoby board recently formed a strategic planning committee. Its task: figuring out what’s next for the arts center. The committee will reevaluate what space the Jacoby needs, what programs it wants to offer to the community and how they want to make that a reality.Keeping the arts center is essential for board members like Hoven. In her experience, it’s been a place where local aspiring artists get their start.“Art is one of the only ways to show your true authentic self,” Hoven said. “And there’s more people than I realized who do not get that opportunity every day.”The Jacoby will shut its doors to pack over the next month. Hoven said she’s optimistic the board will have concrete plans by the end of September when their lease officially ends.“Alton is such a fabulous and supportive community,” she said. “We still have lots of great options, so that the Jacoby Arts Center will continue to thrive in Alton and beyond.”

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