Local short-term rental owners say negligent owners must be held accountable for downtown violence

By Jenna Rae

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    ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — After a teen was killed in a downtown apartment this past weekend, residents, property owners and city officials are raising red flags. All of them said the incident stems back to a short-term rental in a downtown apartment building.

Friday night, a North City 16-year-old was shot and killed inside the Ely Walker Lofts Lobby on Washington Avenue. Monday, police confirmed the teen was at the lofts for a party in a rented out unit. Airbnb has declined to comment if they have units in Ely Walker Lofts.

“It was heartbreaking. It really was. It makes me pretty emotional actually. I’ve lived downtown for about six years,” Rachel Roman said.

That was Roman’s reaction to this past weekend’s homicide at a downtown short-term rental. Roman and her partner own Stay In The STL, a company that does Airbnb and VRBO stays.

“From someone who’s running a short-term rental, it does not help my business at all, and my first thought was someone is negligent,” Roman explained.

That negligence, Roman said, lies on the host.

“It’s their responsibility to be abiding by the policies that the platform sets,” Roman said.

Short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO do initial screenings. According to Airbnb’s website, guests have to submit a government ID, a separate picture of themselves and their home address. Airbnb then runs background checks on their customers and owners before booking. However, Roman said she does her own, more stringent vetting.

“Someone who’s local, that raises some flags. So, I’m just asking them some different questions and just making sure they totally understand parties are not allowed. It’s totally unacceptable. I live in the building, I don’t want that going on, the residents don’t want that going on,” Roman said.

In a press conference Monday, police confirmed the 16-year-old killed in Ely Walker Lofts was attending a party in a rented out unit, something some property owners and tenants said isn’t allowed.

“Management said that they’re a violation of your lease, and you can’t have them because this is a secure building,” Frank Jordan, an Ely Walker Loft resident, said.

Over the last two years, St. Louis Metropolitan Police confirms there have been hundreds of 911 calls requesting service at Ely Walker Lofts. In those calls, 39 were for a disturbance, 15 for domestic disturbance, 20 for theft and theft from vehicles, 12 for suspicious persons and 10 for shots fired or a shooting.

“Not one thing is the problem, but we all need to attack it from all different sides and downtown is just a great place. There are places to host parties, but not down here. We don’t want it, we don’t need it, it’s not welcome,” Roman said.

Short-term rental owners said they’d like to see local restrictions put in place. Right now, the city’s Board of Alderman does not have a bill regarding short-term stays, but have proposed legislation in past sessions. Below is a statement from Board President Lewis Reed.

“The safety of St. Louis is of the upmost importance and remains my top priority. As with St. Louis and many other cities, short-term rentals are an important booster for the economy and tourism. We welcome them to St. Louis so that visitors from all over can come and enjoy our city. However, we also need to preserve and maintain our neighborhoods and take every measure to ensure the safety of our residents and all who visit St. Louis. Given recent events, it certainly warrants a deeper look into the ordinances and policies in place regulating these units to ensure the safety of both our residents and visitors.”

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