
The mostly empty former AT&T Tower, seen here on Sunday, July 24, 2022, is the site of a $300 million redvelopment plan that would bring apartments, retail space, offices and a boutique hotel to downtown St. Louis.
A St. Louis development board has endorsed tax incentives for a $300 million plan to redevelop downtown St. Louis’ long-vacant former AT&T building.
The board of commissioners for the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday agreed to recommend that St. Louis-based Advantes Development Group receive 15 years of tax abatement worth up to $27 million for its project that calls for apartments, retail, office and a hotel. The Board of Alderman will have final say on the incentives.
The project is slated to add $13 million in new revenue to city coffers and $2.4 million to St. Louis Public Schools over a 10-year period, according to an analysis from St. Louis Development Corp., which staffs the LCRA.
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Advantes could ask the city for more incentives, likely a special taxing district, in the future, said Doug Rasmussen, CEO of Steadfast City, which is a consultant on the project.
Advantes is currently working with the owner, New York-based SomeraRoad Inc. But Advantes is expected to buy the tower by January 2024, said Rasmussen.
“Ultimately it will be an Advantes project,” he said.
Advantes wants to redevelop the 46-story building into “The Beacon on Chestnut,” a “vertical city” featuring a spa, rooftop pool, garden and restaurant, more than 300 penthouse and regular apartments, about 10 floors — or roughly 300,000 square feet — of office space, and a 150-room boutique hotel that would occupy four floors, according to marketing materials. Tenants could move into the office space by January 2026 for a lease rate of $20 per square foot, according to the brochure.
The LCRA agenda said rents for the apartments would be around $2,270. The project could create more than 1,100 new jobs among the office, hotel and retail tenants.
Since SomeraRoad bought the building earlier this year, it has sought to reduce costs associated with the building and its redevelopment. The city of St. Louis agreed to lower the appraised value from $14.1 million to $9.2 million, the amount the property last appraised for in August 2021, which would reduce its property tax.
And in September, the National Register of Historic Places granted the 36-year-old property historic status, giving developers the ability to apply for historic tax credits to help in the redevelopment.
Brian Minges, president of Advantes, said in a statement that the 15 years of tax abatement from the city “is essential for redevelopment success.”
His company has previously redeveloped former St. Louis Public Schools buildings into apartments and recently has turned its attention to redeveloping buildings in Laclede’s Landing, a historic neighborhood just north of the Gateway Arch.
The LCRA board on Tuesday also recommended that Advantes’ latest Landing project, turning the Old Judge Building into 33 apartments, receive 10 years of tax abatement.
Also on Tuesday:
The LCRA endorsed 15 years of tax abatement for nonprofit Doorways to build more housing to serve those with HIV/AIDs and endorsed 25 years of tax abatement for Fleur De Lis Development to redevelop the shuttered Simmons School in north St. Louis as apartments.
The board also agreed to have LCRA apply for state incentives on behalf of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and its $100 million expansion of Powell Hall.