ST. LOUIS — A shoe-factory-turned-hotel in downtown St. Louis is up for sale, just more than two years after opening.
The Last Hotel at 1501 Washington Ave., the converted former International Shoe Co. building, opened in July 2019 after a $60 million redevelopment. The 142-room hotel, in a building dating to 1909, is now being offered for sale, with property tours taken by appointment Feb. 16 and Feb. 17. A call for offers is being held in early March, to be submitted in the form of a letter of intent. No asking price was given.
Milwaukee-based Fe Equus Development developed the property, but sold its stake to a group including Michael Qualizza of Chicago-based Urban Development Group.
Qualizza said that the market favors such a move.
He said that in St. Louis, average daily rates for luxury and upscale properties are strong. Qualizza also estimated that in order to develop a similar property today, it would cost 40% to 50% more than the $60 million put into The Last Hotel three years ago due to increased costs for building materials.
“We don’t really want to do it, but it’s the right opportunity given the market dynamics,” Qualizza said. “The market for this type of hotel is very hot right now.”
The attempted sale comes as litigation involving the property is pending.
U.S. Bank, which financed the redevelopment, filed a federal lawsuit in January 2021 against Qualizza and Neil Freeman, plus developer Tim Dixon, claiming that the defendants didn’t pay back a $12 million construction loan that came due in December 2020. The defendants have countered, in part, that the bank delayed various aspects of the project's financing, increasing the developers' costs by millions of dollars.
Qualizza said the attempted sale isn’t related to the lawsuit but will result in a “better outcome for the hotel.”
Read the full story on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
