Gateway Arch Park Foundation to buy Millennium Hotel site
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - The Gateway Arch Park Foundation announced Thursday that it is buying the site of a closed downtown hotel.
The non-profit is under contract to purchase the property where the Millenium Hotel sits. The hotel, located in the 200 block of S. 4th Street, has been vacant since 2014.
READ: Local entity to purchase Millennium Hotel, according to STL Officials
The Gateway Arch Park Foundation says it will work with the St. Louis Development Corporation, Greater St. Louis Inc. and city officials on a redevelopment plan for the site.
Mayor Tishaura Jones released the following statement about the purchase:
“Public-private partnerships have been key to Downtown’s progress, and this project is the latest demonstration of just how far we can go when we work together. I’m grateful to Gateway Arch Park Foundation and Greater St. Louis, Inc. for their collaboration in making this happen. We look forward to continuing our partnership to bring vibrant development to the cultural hub of the St. Louis region.”
On Friday Ryan McClure, the director of the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, said the goal of the Millenium’s purchase was to return the property to local ownership.
McClure said the foundation could not yet comment on specific details of the transaction, such as the purchase price.
He said the first step for the property would be to conduct a full assessment of the building’s condition before trying to market it to a true developer that could responsibly identify and implement a use for the property.
“We’ll be working with Greater St. Louis and the city to see what’s needed here,” he said. “I completely understand the questions about what’s going to happen here. We all want to know that. We’ll work through a thoughtful process to get to that point.”
Friday also marked a major deadline for another problem property downtown: the massive Railway Exchange Building at 6th Street and Locust.
The St. Louis Development Corporation had previously made an offer to the building’s current owners, Hudson Holdings, this summer. While SLDC and city officials have not disclosed details of the offer, SLDC Director Neal Richardson said a city-ordered appraisal of the building had valued it at $6 million. Richardson specified that several significant liens against the building would likely lower the value substantially.
Hudson Holdings faced a September 20 deadline to respond to the city’s offer. Richardson said the city had not heard from the company so far. He said the city could start petitioning to seize the property through eminent domain as early as Monday if Hudson did not accept the offer.
“As we’re working toward an agreement with them, they’re not responding allows us to take action,” he said.
Several residential and commercial properties near the Railway Exchange have complained of vagrancy and security issues stemming from break-ins at the property. The city also published a report on Friday noting that new measures to secure the building had resulted in improvements on the block, with no breaches of the building in the last three months.
Alex Oliver, who owns the newly remodeled Six Cord building around the corner, said he and other residential developers have noticed substantial improvements in safety Downtown, as well as a growing interest in tenants moving into the district.
He felt the key to continue attracting residents and developers would be to focus on creating new destinations and amenities for the area.
“I think we’re part of the turnaround story to get people excited about coming down here, having great architecture, shops, a walkable neighborhood,” he said.
The news on both properties was encouraging for Matt Ratz, the owner of Ukraft near Kiener Plaza. He said he felt that the blighted buildings were a bad look for downtown St. Louis and hoped that local control of them would lead to their reactivations.
“There’s a lot of positive momentum in downtown St. Louis right now,” Ratz said.
Copyright 2024 KMOV. All rights reserved.
