ST. LOUIS - A new proposal calls for the City of St. Louis to invest a share of the Rams relocation settlement funds toward "disinvested" neighborhoods.

St. Louis Alderwoman Pam Boyd (Ward 13) introduced legislation on Tuesday that seeks to allocate settlement funds toward "major investments in disinvested neighborhoods in North and Southeast St. Louis and Downtown," according to a news release.

The legislation calls to invest around $132.5 million of funds from the Rams settlement into disinvested neighborhoods in North and Southeast St. Louis and around $100 million into Downtown infrastructure.

According to the proposed bill:

• $107.5 million would be invested for infrastructure projects, including $55 million to disinvested neighborhoods and $52.5 million to downtown.
  
• $85 million would be invested toward rehabilitation of high-impact areas and buildings – $35 million in North City, $20 million in southeast St. Louis, and $30 million downtown.
  
• $25 million would be invested housing improvement, including $10 million downtown and $15 in disinvested neighborhoods.
  
• $15 million would be invested to support small businesses and commercial corridors, including $10 million of which would go to downtown and $5 million to disinvested neighborhoods.

Under the proposal, disinvested neighborhoods that could qualify are ones that meet certain criteria outlined in the City’s Economic Justice Action Plan set forth by Mayor Tishaura Jones.

“The neighborhoods I represent in North St. Louis have waited too long for investment," said Alderwoman Boyd. "We have needs that have gone unmet for decades, and we can no longer sit back and talk about saving this money for a rainy day; in my community, it’s been pouring for decades. This bill will bring much-needed investment to North and Southeast St. Louis and in our economic engine, Downtown.”

Boyd says Alderpeople Laura Keys (11th Ward), Tom Oldenburg (2nd Ward), and Cara Spencer (8th Ward) are co-sponsors of the legislation. It also has the support of local economic development agency Greater St. Louis Inc.

“We applaud the leadership of Alderwoman Boyd and her colleagues from across the city for introducing this legislation," said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc. "We were pleased to collaborate with her on the development of this bill, which will bring much-needed and long-overdue investment to disinvested neighborhoods and downtown St. Louis and help catalyze the long-term, sustainable growth our city and metro need."

The Rams relocation settlement, which yielded $790 million in December 2021 following the NFL Rams franchise moving from St. Louis to Los Angeles, led to the City of St. Louis splitting a sum of those funds with St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Authority.

After the settlement, the City of St. Louis placed around $250 million into an interest-bearing account with the Missouri Securities Investment Program last year.