That mural-covered warehouse alongside Highway 40 in downtown St. Louis is generating so much interest that developer Donald Breckenridge now plans to spend $40 million on the project, rather than $20 million. He also is doubling the number of condominiums and increasing the size and price of some of them.
And after getting proposals from seven hotel companies to operate a 300-room, all-suites hotel in the building, he’s narrowed the field to three–Hilton, Sheraton, or Crown Plaza.
“The response to this building has been better than anything we’ve ever done,” Breckenridge said.
“And we’ve been very surprised by the interest of people wanting to move back to the city. We’re finding that they are looking for other than loft apartments . . . They want really nice condos,” he said.
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In March, Breckenridge had estimated he would spend about $20 million to buy and renovate the vacant, 13-story Edison Brothers warehouse at Highway 40 and 14th Street. His plan then included:
– 43 condominiums, with an estimated sale price of $150,000 to $180,000.
– 520 indoor parking spaces.
– A hotel with suites averaging 750 square feet, more than double the size of a typical hotel room.
– A restaurant and lounge on the first floor, plus a health club.
– A glass addition atop the building with a restaurant, lounge, banquet facility and meeting rooms.
The building is the one with the eye-catching mural, painted in 1984, that features King Louis IX and some make-believe architectural features. Breckenridge, insurance executive Dale Turvey, and some other associates are buying the 1920s building from Allright Parking Co., which bought it during Edison’s bankruptcy proceedings and later proposed razing it.
Breckenridge said most of the potential condo buyers so far are young couples without children or older couples. And most live in St. Louis County.
Many also wanted the larger, more expensive units, he said. So under the new plan, the building will have about 80 condos, with 1,500 to 3,500 square feet of space and price tags ranging from $150,000 to $350,000.
“People seems to love the location, and the amenities that will go with the condos,” he said, “room service, maid service if they want it, secure, indoor parking … practically everything we will be offering at the hotel.
“We’ve been showing plans to 18 people already, and we haven’t even advertised,” he said.
Breckenridge plans to select a hotel operator in the coming weeks, and will continue putting together financing.