ST. LOUIS — City officials could use eminent domain to take over downtown St. Louis’ long vacant Millennium Hotel in a move that would clear the way for redevelopment.
An agenda for a Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority meeting Tuesday includes a resolution that would approve the blighting and use of eminent domain for the former hotel, which has been closed for 10 years.
No prospective developer is attached to the project, the document shows, though the resolution calls for 20 years of tax abatement. The property is owned by Singapore-based real estate conglomerate City Developments Limited. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
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A spokeswoman with St. Louis Development Corp., which oversees LCRA, said further details would be provided at Tuesday’s meeting. She declined to comment further.
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Alderwoman Cara Spencer, who represents downtown, said she’s pressured SLDC to take action against the owner since she was elected last year.
“Eminent domain is a tool that government entities have at their disposal to rectify situations like this for the greater good,†she said. “I feel strongly that we shouldn’t allow an out-of-town, out-of-country investor to let it languish.â€
The hotel, at 200 South Fourth Street, occupies prime real estate along the riverfront and is about 2 blocks east of Busch Stadium.
At 28 stories and 780 rooms, Millennium Hotel was once the largest in St. Louis and was noted for its rotating restaurant on the top floor. It opened in 1969 as Stouffer’s Riverfront and later carried the Clarion and Regal Riverfront names.
In 2013, the hotel closed around 600 rooms for renovation. It’s unclear whether a renovation ever took place — the property shuttered just a year later.
John Warren of commercial real estate firm said a mixed-use development is best use for the site: An office development likely doesn’t make financial sense at this time.
“The most demand as of today is apartments,†Warren said.
Developer Steve Smith said on Friday that when the hotel closed in 2014, Millennium’s owner hired Smith’s company, what’s now known as , to evaluate the property’s potential for redevelopment.
His team created a plan to convert the tower into apartments and keep the south end a hotel. The ballroom could have been transformed into parking. And they had considered trying to list the hotel in the National Register of Historic Places in order to qualify for historic tax credits.
Smith said the property had some mold issues and needed some environmental cleanup, but nothing that would have been cost prohibitive at the time. Today, the economics of the project have obviously changed, he said.
The owner, he recalled, thought the site would only increase in value once the renovations of the Gateway Arch grounds wrapped up. Ultimately, though, the owner never moved forward with any plans.
“It’s the front door of our region. It’s on every postcard of the Arch,†Smith said. “It’s a terrific site. We need it to get redeveloped.â€