Developers still 'committed' to building 30-story Central West End apartment tower, but it's on hold for now - St. Louis Business Journal
"We’re committed to getting this thing done, and it’s taking longer than we’d hoped, but that’s the way it goes." The developers of a $145 million apartment tower in St. Louis are still pursuing the project, despite a lengthy delay in construction and a challenging capital environment. The 30-story residential tower, named Albion West End, is a project of St.Louis-based Koplar Properties and Chicago-based Albion Residential. The project, which has city approval for tax incentives for 293 market-rate apartments, 1,500 square feet of retail space and 340 parking spaces, is in a holding pattern due to interest rates and the capital environment being exacerbated by higher construction costs. The developers are working with the city’s economic development agency, St. L. Louis Development Corp., to extend the allowed timeline if necessary. The deadline for construction to start within three years of bill approval is March 2023 and finish within seven years of that approval.
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The developers of a $145 million apartment tower at a prominent intersection in the Central West End are still pursuing the project despite a lengthy delay in the start of construction, while navigating a challenging capital environment.
The developers of a $145 million apartment tower at a prominent intersection in the Central West End are still pursuing the project despite a lengthy delay in the start of construction, while navigating a challenging capital environment.
The 30-story residential tower proposed for the vacant parking lot across from Forest Park at 4974 Lindell Blvd., a project of St. Louis-based Koplar Properties and Chicago-based apartment development firm Albion Residential, is in a holding pattern due to interest rates and the capital environment, said Sam Koplar, president of Koplar Properties. The firm owns the property where the project would be built at the corner of Kingshighway and Lindell boulevards, on one of the last open lots overlooking Forest Park.
The modern, mostly glass skyscraper project, to be called Albion West End, has city approval for tax incentives for 293 market-rate apartments, 1,500 square feet of retail space and 340 parking spaces.
“We’re committed to getting this thing done, and it’s taking longer than we’d hoped, but that’s the way it goes,” Koplar said. “We’re going to see it through. It’s just what I don’t know is when. That’s what we’re working on right now.”
Developers across St. Louis have said that the complicated capital environment created by higher interest rates and higher construction costs has delayed or ended their projects, and some of them have had to get creative with financing in order to make deals happen. The difficulty in getting huge projects to the finish line most recently was seen in St. Louis-based apartment developer Midas Hospitality’s decision to drop its proposed $119 million hotel tower in downtown Clayton.
Even as the development team behind the Albion West End navigates a challenging environment for massive new projects, Koplar said that the developers are a step ahead of other projects because Koplar Properties owns the land it wants to develop outright, with no financing necessary to secure the real estate.
Incentives finalized for the project, granting it 10 years of property tax abatement based on 75% of the assessed value of incremental improvements, will be extended beyond the initial timeline due to the delay, Koplar said. The Albion West End team is working with the city’s economic development agency, St. Louis Development Corp., to extend the allowed timeline if necessary, Koplar said. The bill language requires construction to start within three years of bill approval, which occured in March 2023, and finish within seven years of that approval. The bill language says that the city urban renewal board, the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, may alter the schedule while following city policy on time extensions.
A spokeswoman for SLDC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The developers haven't publicly identified lenders who could finance the project.
Michael Browning, 9th Ward St. Louis alderman, who represents the area, said the project is so important to his district that he reaches out to the developers for an update every month.
“What I hear from them is that they’re fully committed to it. They’re committed to finding a way to make it happen. It’s a very challenging capital environment right now, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to happen. It just means it’s a when, and not an if,” Browning said.
As the project wound its way through the city incentives and approval process in 2022 and 2023, Koplar said that the development team wanted to build the best apartment building possible in order to create a keystone project at the site of a surface parking lot that’s been in the Koplar family for generations. The family developed the Chase Park Plaza hotel across the street, and Koplar Properties redeveloped the Maryland Plaza area of the Central West End by rehabbing retail and office space.
While waiting for the capital environment to line up for the tower, the developers are “seeing what they can do to make the project more feasible,” exploring alternative materials that could be less expensive without losing quality on the project, Browning said.
The development team is eyeing “every square inch” of the building to find possible changes that wouldn’t be visible to the eye or impact quality, but could be less expensive, Koplar said.
“What that site calls for is something iconic, and so I appreciate them taking the time to make sure it happens the way they proposed it,” Browning said.