“When people are under stress, handing them a brochure and telling them these people can really help you does pretty much nothing,” Duffe said.

The latest housing development, known as Blair Homes, should have its first units complete and ready for move-in by the spring. By the end of next year, all the homes should be finished.

ND Consulting received an award last year of Missouri Low-Income Housing Tax Credits which, together with federal low-income housing tax credits, should provide about $6 million in financing. The city of St. Louis granted preliminary approval for 15 years of property tax abatement on the homes last week.

Soon, Duffe said, another company may join ND in its Hyde Park development efforts. She said she’s in talks with UIC, the developer that has been very active in rebuilding Forest Park Southeast and the former McRee Town neighborhood now known as Botanical Heights.

With many stately, late 19th-century brick structures in need of rescuing, more help in the neighborhood is welcome, Duffe said. And she doesn’t believe that attracting more developers to the area is as far-fetched as it might have a couple of decades ago. After all, the new 3,100-employee western headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will be built just to the west of the neighborhood.

“With the NGA being a mile away, I don’t think it’s a crazy pipe dream to think that,” she said.

A message from David Nicklaus Want to stay smart about what's happening in St. Louis? Make a modest investment in a Post-Dispatch subscription and I'll tell you how developments around the world affect local businesses big and small. Subscribe today: Just $1 a month

Daily updates on the latest news in the St. Louis business community. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.