Next Legacy Fund One’s St. Louis Flag Plant: Why St. Louis County (Near Creve Coeur) Is Where We Want to Own Apartments.
- teresa90643
- 12 minutes ago
- 5 min read
St. Louis doesn’t usually win the national hype contest. And honestly, that’s part of the appeal.
If you’re trying to build long-term wealth in multifamily—real cash flow, durable demand, and sensible entry pricing—you don’t need a market that makes headlines. You need a market that keeps working when the economy is annoying, interest rates move, and people stop pretending every deal is “once-in-a-lifetime.”
That’s the lens we use at Next Legacy Fund One: buy quality multifamily in places where residents stay for practical reasons—jobs, schools, commute, and livability—then improve the asset through a disciplined, execution-driven value-add plan.
And that’s why we like St. Louis, and why we’re especially bullish on St. Louis County near Creve Coeur.
Why St. Louis deserves a spot in your real estate portfolio
Here’s the big idea: St. Louis can offer a better balance of price and income than many “hotter” markets. When that balance exists, properties have a simpler path to staying occupied and collecting rent.
One of the cleanest data points investors can use is household income. Because income is what keeps rent paid when everything else gets more expensive.
St. Louis County median household income is $82,936 (2020–2024, inflation-adjusted). That’s higher than the U.S. median of $80,734 over the same period and higher than Missouri’s median household income (which matters because it shows St. Louis County isn’t “average Missouri”).
This matters because multifamily performance is a lot less mysterious than people make it. At the property level, stable outcomes usually come from:
Residents who can afford the rent
The neighborhoods they actually want to live in
An operator who doesn’t fumble the basics
St. Louis gives you a strong shot at the first two without paying “poster city pricing.”
St. Louis vs. the rest of the country: what the rent data actually says
We’re not going to cherry-pick a single statistic and call it a day. But it’s helpful to look at recent third-party multifamily reporting to see whether St. Louis has been holding up.
According to Yardi Matrix’s St. Louis multifamily market report, advertised asking rents rose 2.1% year-over-year through August to $1,312, while the U.S. increase was 0.7% in that same comparison window.
The report also notes stabilized occupancy at 93.4% in July, compared with 94.7% nationally.
St. Louis has shown solid rent growth relative to the national pace in the referenced period, while maintaining occupancy that’s broadly in line with the country. That’s the kind of “steady but not flashy” profile that tends to perform well across cycles.
Why we’re not just “buying St. Louis”—we’re buying St. Louis County
Metro-level stats are useful, but they can hide the real story. In multifamily, the neighborhood is the business plan.
St. Louis County stands out because it combines
Strong incomes
Well-established neighborhoods
The school ecosystem that supports long-term residential demand
Even the county-wide per capita income is meaningful: St. Louis County's per capita income is $51,977 (2020–2024, inflation-adjusted).
If you’ve invested in multiple markets, you already know why this matters: better income fundamentals generally correlate with better renter stability, better collections, and fewer “surprises” when inflation shows up.
Why we focus near Creve Coeur (and why this area is a big deal)
Now let’s zoom in.
Creve Coeur is a strong signal inside an already strong county. The income profile alone tells you what kind of household base you’re dealing with:
Creve Coeur median household income is $127,188 (2020–2024, inflation-adjusted).
That’s not a small difference. When you’re operating Class B multifamily, higher-area incomes can translate into:
Lower delinquency pressure
More stable occupancy
The ability to support value-add rent increases when done responsibly (not “rip the rent and pray”)
And because we’re talking about infill in St. Louis County, you’re not betting on growth “moving out there someday.” You’re buying in an area that already functions as a mature, livable job-and-family corridor.
Schools: the demand anchor investors underestimate
Here’s something we’ll say plainly: schools are one of the strongest demand anchors in residential real estate. They’re not the only driver, but they’re a big one—and they influence decisions even for renters who don’t have kids (because schools affect neighborhood stability and resale strength).
We’re not going to claim “the best” without support. But we can show that the school systems surrounding this area are nationally recognized by third-party rankings:
Important accuracy note (because we do this like adults): school assignment depends on boundary maps for a specific address. So we are not claiming a specific school assignment for our property in this blog post. We’re saying the school ecosystem in the immediate area is objectively strong—and that’s a meaningful “stay-put” driver for renters and owners.
Jobs: stable employers matter more than “vibes.”
Good multifamily markets don’t require a single “miracle employer.” They benefit from diverse, established employment.
A regional economic development source highlights multiple major corporate employers connected to the area, including Boeing, Evernorth, Centene, Edward Jones, Energizer, and Enterprise Mobility.
That diversity matters because it reduces “single-industry risk.” Cities that live and die by one sector tend to swing harder in downturns. St. Louis has a more balanced employer mix, which supports the boring thing we care about most: demand that doesn’t evaporate.
The deal we’re buying: The Haven at Craigshire (and why it fits this area)
Our St. Louis County strategy isn’t theoretical. We’re buying in the pocket we like.
The Haven at Craigshire is a 106-unit Class B multifamily property located at 1855 Craigshire Rd, St. Louis, MO 63146, described as stabilized with light value-add and an execution-driven business plan.
Here’s what matters to an investor reading a blog post:
The property is already operating at 97% occupancy with average rent of $1,180 and in-place NOI of $869,071
The purchase price is $14.9M (about $140,566/unit) with a 5.8% going-in cap and a 5–7 year hold stated in the deal snapshot
The plan includes a $1.1M CapEx budget
So why do we like this as a fit for the area thesis?
Because it’s the right kind of business plan for a high-quality submarket:
You start with high occupancy
You improve the product
You grow NOI through execution
You let the location do what it does best: keep demand steady
The deal summary also shows projected return ranges (cash-on-cash, IRR, equity multiple). Those are projections and not guarantees—so we treat them as directional.
Why this matters for Next Legacy Fund One investors
Most investors don’t need more deals. They need better positioning.
What we’re doing in St. Louis County is keeping the renovation scope light-to-moderate
Prioritize cash-flow resilience. Avoid markets with oversupply and overpriced locations and recent rent growth that’s held up relative to the U.S. in third-party reporting and a school ecosystem with nationally and state-ranked districts nearby.
That’s the point of the market selection. It’s not “exciting.” It’s investable.
The bottom line
If you want to build long-term wealth in multifamily, you want markets where the fundamentals are strong without paying for a story.
St. Louis—especially **St. Louis County near Creve has strong household incomes, stable demand drivers, and location quality that supports occupancy and rent stability.
That’s why we’re planting a flag here.
If you want to understand how Next Legacy Fund One selects markets and properties—and how we think about downside risk before we talk about upside—reach out. We’ll share the thesis, the data, and how this St. Louis County strategy fits into a long-term portfolio plan.
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