A St. Louis aldermanic committee voted to advance a bill authorizing the transfer of the lease for the city-owned Homer G. Phillips Senior Apartments after a meeting that stretched more than four hours, pushing the long-stalled measure toward a vote by the full Board of Aldermen. The proposed legislation still does not spell out a repair budget or set deadlines for fixing the building, leaving residents with lingering questions about their homes and when the work will actually get done.
The bill now heads to the full Board of Aldermen, according to FOX 2, marking the next step in a process that would hand the lease for the senior complex to a new operator. Alderman Rasheen Aldridge called the committee's vote a milestone for the building's residents. “Today is a historic step for Homer G. Phillips residents,” he said, per the same report. “It means that the city of St. Louis is taking the next steps to move forward the transfer of the old lease.”
The Ville neighborhood complex sits on a 99-year city ground lease dating back to 1998, according to city records. Under the proposed assignment, current leaseholder EPV2 Dignity House, LLC would hand its operating interest to CIG Homer I LLC under a $50,000-per-year municipal lease, as detailed by the St. Louis American. Residents have reported years of heating and cooling failures along with other maintenance problems at the building, and the proposed transfer would put the lease in the hands of a new company they hope will finally make things right.
A Building With Deep History, Now in Disrepair
The apartments occupy the site of the former Homer G. Phillips Hospital, which opened in 1937 and served for decades as St. Louis's sole public hospital for Black residents until desegregation began in 1955. The hospital trained a substantial share of the nation's Black medical professionals before it closed in 1979, according to background compiled on Wikipedia. Its namesake, attorney Homer G. Phillips, led the campaign for the public facility but was killed before construction began.
That legacy has collided with present-day neglect. Senior residents of the city-owned building have described heating and air-conditioning problems, bugs and trash in hallways, the St. Louis American reported. Those conditions have become part of the lease-transfer debate now playing out at City Hall.
Two Aldermen, Two Bills, One Standoff
The push for a new operator has been complicated by competing legislation and a bitter rivalry between two aldermen from different wards. Alderwoman Sharon Tyus introduced Board Bill 27 back in May, while Alderman Aldridge filed duplicate legislation, Board Bill 80, in September after resident complaints mounted, according to city legislative records. The facility became part of Tyus's 12th Ward in 2023, setting up tension when Aldridge, who represents the 14th Ward, introduced his own version.
Tyus has said she wants financial records reviewed before the city signs off on the transfer, and in September she introduced Resolution 122 demanding audited financial statements from EPV2 Dignity House, LLC, for the seven calendar years from 2020 through 2026, inclusive, alleging the required reporting was never submitted to the city or the St. Louis Development Corporation. It remained unclear whether CIG Homer I had committed to funding improvements. Aldridge, for his part, has publicly reported that the incoming operator was prepared to invest roughly $400,000 into initial floor, paint, and furniture upgrades — but as FOX 2 reported, the pending bill contains no legally binding repair budget or completion timeline to hold anyone to that figure.
Censure Followed a Charged Remark
The dispute over the property has sparked a political controversy well beyond the lease paperwork. During an earlier meeting on the building's conditions, Tyus said she would have put a bullet in Aldridge's head had he been in her Black Caucus, a remark she has since described as a wartime analogy about trust. “No, I'm not going to apologize; I have nothing to apologize for,” she said, maintaining that the statement referred to an enemy in her foxhole during war.
The Board of Aldermen voted to censure Tyus on October 2 over the remark, which St. Louis Metropolitan Police confirmed detectives were reviewing, according to STL.News. Aldridge also filed for a restraining order against Tyus. STL.News said it had not identified a public announcement that Tyus had been charged.
Residents Say Repairs Still Come First
Residents received electric blankets, the St. Louis American reported.
For the residents at the center of the fight, concerns about needed improvements persist as the lease-transfer bill moves forward, as FOX 2 reported, while city leaders remain divided over accountability.
