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ST. LOUIS — Local apartment developer Lux Living has sold its row of vacant South Kingshighway houses after a yearlong struggle with the city over the site’s future.

Property records show a limited liability company called DAZII LLC, led by Derek Zimmermann, bought the seven buildings in the 1000 block of Kingshighway on Wednesday for an undisclosed price.

But Alderman Michael Browning, who represents the neighborhood, said Thursday on social media that NorthPoint Development had acquired the properties. He thanked Zimmermann and Zimmermann’s wife, Toni, “who took it upon themselves to facilitate the acquisition of the properties in an act of love for their neighborhood and their city.�

“There is still a lot of work to do,� Browning .

NorthPoint Development is a Kansas City-based developer that specializes in warehouse construction. It’s not clear what is planned for the site, or whether Derek Zimmermann is connected with NorthPoint.

Browning said in a message that it was a “double closing,� meaning Zimmermann already sold it to NorthPoint and that real estate records should reflect the transaction shortly. Browning said NorthPoint has done residential projects in Kansas City.

Zimmermann and NorthPoint Development did not return a request for comment.

The houses at 1070-1094 South Kingshighway, just south of Interstate 64 and Barnes Jewish Hospital, were dilapidated before Lux Living bought them in 2021 from an affiliate of Drury Hotels. Lux has done little work to maintain the buildings and wanted to demolish them to make way for a new, six-story apartment complex.

But the city denied Lux’s request, stating the properties are structurally sound and that the proposed design would not fit neighborhood standards. In June, it ruled that Lux had to make repairs to stabilize the buildings or else the city would perform the work and bill the company.

Earlier this month, Lux the city, saying the required repairs “will not result in fixing and protecting the structures (and) constitute an illegal taking by the city.�

Lux’s attorney, Ira Berkowitz, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That lawsuit is pending.

Lux had put other properties up for sale earlier this fall around the time federal authorities subpoenaed a city agency for records related to Lux’s leaders, brothers Vic Alston and Sid Chakraverty.