Downtown has several buildings that are architectural gems and sit empty. The Chemical Building and the Railway Exchange are two of the most prominent examples. This massive, one block building that formerly had Famous-Barr and then Macy's in the first floor has been empty and deteriorating quickly. The 1914 classic is a true beauty, but due to it's size with ~1.2M square feet of space, development numbers have been reported in the range of $310M. Wow.
So when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported back in February, 2017 that new owners are making a proposal, I was hopeful:
“With new owners and a plan to adapt the century-old office building, the giant Railway Exchange Building in the middle of downtown may be empty for only a couple more years.
The new owners of the Railway Exchange, built in 1914, plan to fill about half of the 1.2 million-square-foot building with apartments and build out the rest with a combination of office space, common areas and ground-floor retail.
Joining Hudson Holdings, which purchased the 21-story building at the end of January, is Amos Harris, the local developer involved with the MX District (Mercantile Exchange), the Laurel apartments and the National Blues Museum just to the north on Washington Avenue.”
The news got better in November, 2017 when KMOX reported that the Downtown STL Inc. president has been in talks with Target as a potential tenant and then in December, the Business Journal reported that Square is being courted as a possible tenant as well. All good news if you are the cup half full type.
This building has to find a way back. It is too important and too big to lose.
