ST. LOUIS — A proposal to partially raze a historic building in the Central West End for apartments was denied Monday despite the city’s preservation agency admitting it had “overlooked†a report from the developer detailing the property’s structural problems.
The St. Louis Preservation Board voted 4-1 to withhold approval for developer Lux Living’s plan to partially demolish the Engineers’ Club Building on Lindell Boulevard for 200 apartments following the recommendation of the Cultural Resources Office, which staffs the board. Commissioner Jack Coatar, a city alderman, voted for the project. Commissioner Michael Killeen was absent for the vote.
The commissioners voted against the proposal even after Meg Lousteau, director of the Cultural Resources Office, admitted her office failed to include an engineering report from Lux Living about the building’s structural conditions in the agency’s findings to the board. Lux Living Principal Victor Alston said the report, which Lux submitted to the city in October, detailed issues including cracks in the basement walls and water damage.
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Lousteau apologized and said her agency had “overlooked†the document. Alston did not respond to a request for comment after the meeting.
St. Louis-based Lux Living wanted to demolish parts of the Engineers’ Club Building, at 4359 Lindell Boulevard, for a 7.5-story apartment development. Lux planned to keep the auditorium on the west side but partially raze the one-story eastern section, keeping the front, south wall and parts of the back, north wall, according to plans filed with the city. St. Louis-based Remiger Design is the architect on the project.
The Cultural Resources Office was against Lux Living’s proposal due to the historic significance of the site to the midcentury modern architectural movement. The agency also said Lux’s plan “entails the loss of most†of the building.
The Engineers’ Club building was built in 1965 and houses the Engineers’ Club of St. Louis, a professional organization that formed in 1868, according to its website.
John Killips, president of the Engineers’ Club, told the city agency in a letter that the club has 500 members, a fourth of what it had when the property was built. The facility is primarily used for events, which average fewer than 10 a month, and is otherwise vacant. The building has $750,000 in deferred maintenance costs, and only its auditorium is compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.
Neither its neighbor Rosati Kain nor Washington University wanted the building, he added.
“The club cannot justify future operation of the facility,†Killips said in the letter. “Selling the facility and leasing a much smaller space will allow the organization to continue to thrive.â€
The organization has yet to find a new home, its real estate broker, Cushman & Wakefield’s John Warren, said.
Alderman Jesse Todd, whose ward includes the property, also voiced his support for the project during Monday’s meeting.
The property is not in the National Register of Historic Places but is listed as one of St. Louis’ 25 most significant examples of midcentury modern architecture in a 2013 survey done by the Cultural Resources Office.
The agency cited that same survey when it went against Lux Living earlier this summer when the developer sought to demolish the Optimist Building, located a half-mile west. Lux executives have said they’re still pursuing the Optimist Building and are redesigning plans.
But developers have demolished other buildings the agency had deemed significant, like Queeny Tower at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, several buildings on St. Louis Community College’s Forest Park campus and the Pevely Dairy complex.
