ST. LOUIS — Many of the remaining old brick structures along the riverfront, just a few blocks north of the Martin Luther King Bridge, are boarded up and covered with graffiti.
Given that they’ve been that way for years, it would be easy to conclude that not much is happening in this corner of the city — not much, that is, since a brief flurry of interest in 2015, when the city and state thought a stadium would keep the Rams from leaving.
The most recent development proposed here is considerably less ambitious: an “intentional†homeless encampment — a collection of “tiny homes†for the unhoused — at the southwest corner of First and Cass streets. Not quite downtown but close enough to access services at the St. Patrick Center on North Tucker Boulevard, was the thinking by leadership at the homeless service provider, which last month won a $905,000 city contract to set up such an encampment.
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But when Greg Jordan heard about those plans, he worried it would be another step backward for the area. Quietly, Jordan has been investing here, painstakingly turning a three-story, turn-of-the-20th-century brick warehouse on North Broadway into a bar and hotel.
“If they’re looking for something conventional, this isn’t for them,†Jordan said of potential guests since the hotel opened about two years ago.
The 59-year-old real estate broker and rehabber likes to call it the “City Museum of living space,†a repurposed warehouse clad with recycled artifacts from historic buildings around St. Louis. Bed frames are constructed from horse stable doors, walls from repurposed steel plates and bunk bed ladders from recycled shelving units.
“I have a theory that less drywall is better,†Jordan said, noting he’s tried to recycle material from both his building and others around St. Louis, much of it obtained from other historic building artifact collectors. “When people know you have something like this going on, they come to you.â€
The hotel, known as , began accepting guests about three years ago. Its large, suite-style rooms cater to large groups: wedding parties, bands and their crews, traveling sports teams and conventions.
Jordan figures he’s put more than $1 million of his own money into the rehab. It’s not exactly a business model, or a neighborhood, bankers were lining up behind.
“It’s a little unconventional, so they were having trouble getting their heads around it,†Jordan said.
About a year ago, he opened a bar — The Broadway Boat Bar — to the public on the ground floor. Because there is little walk-in traffic, he’s relied on live music and other events on the weekends to spread word of the bar’s existence since a soft opening about two years ago.
Jordan bought the building 11 years ago after moving back to his hometown from the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean in order to be closer to family. He thought he’d be a pioneer, make a difference in redeveloping his native St. Louis after growing up in the suburbs.
“I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it,†he said on a recent tour. “I like to bring old buildings back to life.â€
Business, even with the soft opening and COVID-19, has been good, he said. International tourists riding Route 66 come through town and like to stay at the hotel for its off-the-beaten-path quirkiness. Graffiti aside, Jordan said the area is safe. He’s never had any issues.
“They’re left with a good impression of the city,†Jordan said. “It’s nice to be able to do my part to help.â€
He has been kicking the tires on other buildings in the area, considering plans for rehabs. His hotel and bar are already next to a well-known establishment, Shady Jack’s biker bar, considered an institution among the motorcycle crowd and even some downtown workers. Jordan thought there might be a little momentum for the area. Then he heard about the homeless encampment idea.
“I’m looking at other potential developments in the area,†Jordan said. If a homeless encampment goes in down the block, “I wouldn’t do it.â€
‘Massive potential’
City officials have already hit pause on the homeless encampment. St. Patrick Center is in negotiations with the area’s alderman, James Page, about a location. Those talks are ongoing, Page said Friday.
He has spoken to Jordan and knows about his concern for the area. Page, too, would like to see St. Louis better utilize its waterfront, as other cities have done.
“I think it has massive potential,†Page said of the north riverfront. “We have an untapped resource on our riverfront.â€
The St. Louis Development Corp., the city’s development arm, is also taking a fresh look at the north riverfront area. On Tuesday, it approved a $30,000 contract with Development Strategies to update a 2015 study of the 109-acre area. The study could lead to a redevelopment area that allows tax abatement for developers. The region’s business group, Greater St. Louis Inc., is also involved with the new look at the area.
“It definitely is getting a significant focus and attention from SLDC staff,†said Rob Orr, SLDC’s deputy executive director.
SLDC Director Neal Richardson said the north riverfront is one of the “front doors†that needs to be better taken care of.
“We’re continuing to get interest from developers around that area of the north riverfront,†Richardson said in an interview. “As a city, we have to be more proactive to meet those needs and demands. So we’re putting together an opportunity to put together a strong plan to attract investment and industry to the area of the riverfront.â€
Jordan’s glad to hear the city and other leaders are taking some interest in the area. He knows the city’s homeless population needs a place to go. He just thinks that putting them in one of the only areas where the Mississippi Riverfront could be better connected with the city isn’t the land’s best use.
“It’s prime downtown riverfront property,†Jordan said, “that’s underutilized and underdeveloped.â€
