ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Preservation Board on Monday approved nominating the state’s largest office building, the former AT&T tower in downtown St. Louis, to the National Register of Historic Places, a crucial step toward helping the vacant structure's new owner procure federal tax credits for its redevelopment.
At the request of the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office, the board gave its approval to recommend the nomination of the 46-story building, at 909 Chestnut St., without discussion during a meeting held virtually Monday afternoon.
The building's nomination now goes to the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in Jefferson City on July 15 and then later to the National Park Service for review and approval, said Rachel Consolloy, a preservationist with Kansas City-based Rosin Preservation LLC, the firm leading the effort. Consolloy said the process to seek historic status for AT&T tower began in April and that she expects the building to be listed on the National Register by late September.
The building, also known as One Bell Center, was built in 1985 and designed by St. Louis-based architectural firm HOK. Buildings less than 50 years old typically aren’t considered for the National Register, but a younger property could be listed if it is “of exceptional importance,” according to the guidelines.
Consolloy, however, said her firm has succeeded in obtaining historic status for several buildings under 50 years old, including two recent examples in Kansas City: the Flashcube Building, also designed by HOK, and Kemper Arena.
The tower has been vacant since sole tenant AT&T moved its employees in 2017. Gaining historic status would allow the building’s new owner, New York developer SomeraRoad, to apply for state and federal historic tax credits as a tool to fund the costly redevelopment of the massive 1.4 million-square-foot building, which the firm bought from bondholders April 25 for $4.05 million, a fraction of the building’s previous 2006 sale price of $204.5 million.
Before SomeraRoad purchased the tower, a series of other buyers had walked away from contracts to buy it. Developers who looked into buying the building told the Business Journal last year that the building was a challenge to redevelop because of its massive size and lack of parking, which would make the cost of overhauling the building much higher than the low initial price tag.
Other vacant buildings in downtown St. Louis that are targeted for redevelopment are already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Butler Brothers building, the Railway Exchange and Jefferson Arms.
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