ST. LOUIS — Developer Neighborhood Properties LLC plans to redevelop Jesuit Hall, the massive building at 3601 Lindell Blvd. near Saint Louis University, plus build an apartment tower next door.
Planned are 132 to 169 apartments in the current building, which was built in 1923 and currently houses about 80 priests who work on the university's campus or who have retired. It would be rebranded as "The Melbourne," named after a hotel that occupied the building until the 1950s, officials said. The priests would, after 18 months, leave the structure, currently owned by the Jesuit Community Corp., a real estate entity affiliated with the Catholic order.
Neighborhood Properties' Fernando Cepeda, along with Adolphus Pruitt, head of the St. Louis City NAACP, testified in support of the project Wednesday before the Board of Aldermen's Housing, Urban Development and Zoning committee, which recommended authorizing a 95% tax abatement for 10 years. The full board gets final say. Pruitt said he's participating in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the NAACP.
Documents presented Wednesday say Clayton-based Neighborhood Properties would purchase the property for $6.7 million, with total project costs, including acquisition, of $80 million. That includes a second phase: a 14-story, 187-unit apartment tower on the adjacent parking lot, and two parking garages with about 300 spaces, the developers said during the hearing.
Pruitt said once completed, the project would cater to college students or university employees, with rents for one-bedroom units averaging $1,400 a month. Most units will have one bedroom, he said.
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