ST. LOUIS — St. Louis developers who have eyed overhauling the vacant AT&T tower downtown say their experiences might help explain why so many buyers have walked away from deals to purchase the largest office building in Missouri.
Since lone tenant AT&T left in 2017, four buyers in the last three years have walked away from contracts to acquire the 1.4 million-square-foot, 44-story office building at 909 Chestnut St., without any public reasons given.
Two St. Louis developers who have looked into buying the building, Larry Chapman of Seneca Commercial Real Estate and Paul Larson of Larson Capital Management, in recent years explored plans that envisioned converting portions of it to a hotel and multi-family housing, as well as significantly expanding parking — one of the building's biggest limitations.
Chapman and Larson said they, and likely other bidders, were drawn to the property by several factors. For one, its price — it was put up for auction earlier this year at a starting bid of $2.85 million — as well as its flexible design and “good bones." But while their plans looked good on paper, the developers said they later came to discover that the structure's sheer size and lack of basic amenities make the overall cost of redevelopment much higher than the low price tag might suggest.
Adding to the uncertainty is the largely stagnant population growth in St. Louis, with just 1% growth in the region over the last decade, and the approach to development incentives taken by new Mayor Tishaura Jones, who has signaled that developers should not assume they will receive incentives in the city’s central corridors without any concessions.
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