ST. LOUIS 鈥 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said Friday that city and business leaders are working on a plan to revitalize two large, vacant buildings downtown.
She told reporters gathered on Washington Avenue, in the heart of the loft district, that the city鈥檚 development agency and business chamber Greater St. 亚洲无码 Inc. have 120 days to figure out a path forward for the historic Railway Exchange building and the Millennium Hotel, both of which have sat empty for years.
鈥淢y administration is continuing our work toward a day when Downtown re-emerges as the economic and cultural beacon for our entire region,鈥 Jones said in a statement.
The announcement marked the latest push to address some of downtown鈥檚 thorniest problems. Both the Railway Exchange and the Millennium occupy prominent blocks in the heart of the region, and their decline has been embarrassing for city officials.
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The Millennium Hotel, on South Fourth Street, once drew tourists to a revolving, top-floor restaurant. Now , visible on Cardinals baseball broadcasts. The Railway Exchange building, on Olive Street, used to be the headquarters of the May department store company, and hosted a Macy鈥檚 until 2013. Now it鈥檚 shelter for squatters, a target for copper thieves, and fodder for stories like a recent front-page Wall Street Journal feature headlined
But officials said Friday they鈥檙e not going to let that continue.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time for us to get in the game,鈥 said Neal Richardson, who runs the city鈥檚 economic development arm. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for us to hold those building owners accountable for the dilapidation and destruction that has been created with those facilities.鈥
Jason Hall, Greater St. 亚洲无码 Inc.鈥檚 CEO, said a Sept. 14 deadline for solutions is ambitious. But he said that鈥檚 a good thing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to create focus,鈥 he said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檙e going to create solutions.鈥
They will have their work cut out for them.
The Railway Exchange building is a 21-story behemoth, taking up an entire city block. It鈥檚 a striking piece of Chicago school architecture, clad in cream-colored terra cotta, and a monument to downtown鈥檚 heyday.
But it is tied up in litigation with lien holders, which has clouded the real estate title of the property and thwarted new efforts to renovate or sell it. It has also had its basement flooded and its insides ransacked by thieves and vagrants.
Steve Stogel, who just became the latest in a series of developers to try and tackle the project, recently told the Post-Dispatch it might be the hardest thing he鈥檚 ever done.
鈥淚鈥檝e done hard before,鈥 he said, citing his work reviving the massive Old Post Office a couple of blocks away. 鈥淏ut the Railway Exchange is really hard. It might be at the top of the list.鈥
The Millennium property might not be far behind. The 780-room hotel, which sits just steps from the Gateway Arch grounds, was the largest hotel in the region .
But the building fell into disrepair in its final years of operation: Most of the hotel rooms were out of service by the end. A scheduled replacement of mechanical systems was shelved. More recently, it has been cited for code violations, like broken windows.
It鈥檚 also a tough market for most commercial properties right now. Demand is soft. High interest rates are making it harder to finance projects.
In recent months, city leaders have begun taking action to try and bring the buildings back to life regardless.
In October, city officials approved a $100,000 deal to put special steel plates and window shields on the Railway Exchange building to keep trespassers out, and aldermen passed legislation allowing the city to seize the property through eminent domain if necessary.
In March, shortly after the city began considering similar legislation for the Millennium, its Singaporean owner put it up for sale.
Hall, the Greater St. 亚洲无码 CEO, said downtown has momentum. The city has seen the construction of a new soccer stadium and the restoration of the historic Butler Brothers building, the latter of which an arm of Greater St. 亚洲无码 helped finance.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done this before, and we鈥檙e going to do it again,鈥 Hall said.
If the area鈥檚 leaders want to restore the region to national preeminence, he said, they need a strong downtown.
鈥淒owntowns define who we are,鈥 Hall said. 鈥淲e are all going to wear this brand.鈥