Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct that only the Most Holy Trinity Catholic school closed. The church is open.
A nonprofit planning to create a geospatial job training center is asking the city of St. Louis to grant it up to 15 years of tax abatement for the project.
Gateway Global plans to renovate the former Most Holy Trinity Catholic school, at 1435 Mallinckrodt Street, in St. Louis’ Hyde Park neighborhood into a facility that will house office, classroom and lab space. The facility’s location was not previously disclosed.
The city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday gave its approval for the 15-year tax abatement. The plan now heads to St. Louis’ Planning Commission for its review. The Board of Aldermen has final approval.
The renovation is projected to cost $7.5 million, according to LCRA documents. Gateway Global aims to utilize $3 million of its own money, $2.5 million of debt and roughly $2 million in federal and state tax credits to pay for the renovation, the documents show.
Gateway Global took over the former school grounds in early July, real estate records show. Most Holy Trinity closed in 2020 due to financial losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. It had opened in 1860 and held the record for longest-operating Catholic school in the city.
The facility would train area youths and young adults for careers in geospatial and other related industries. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s new headquarters is under construction about 1½ miles south of the school.
Gateway Global is led by CEO Zekita Armstrong Asuquo.
