ST. LOUIS—US Bank has just closed on several tax-credit financing packages of more than $77 million with Dominium, a Minnesota-based development and management company, to develop the historic Arcade Building in downtown St. Louis into a mixed-use space for university classes and 80 market rate and 202 affordable apartments.
The renovation of the 18-floor, 500,000-square-foot building at 800 Olive St. will help complete the revival of the neighborhood around the city's Old Post Office building, which was also transformed into apartments. Dominium plans to remake the Arcade into mostly affordable housing to help meet the needs of artists, and will offer one- to three-bedroom apartments as well as over 13,000-square-feet of artist studio space.
Dominium has already completed similar projects, although on a somewhat smaller scale, for the Leather Trades and Metropolitan Artist Lofts buildings in St. Louis and Schmidt Artist Lofts in the Twin Cities.
“This is the third artist loft project in St. Louis that we have partnered on with USBCDC, and, without a doubt, no other investor in the US would have made such a complex deal happen except them,” said Jeff Huggett, vice president and project partner for Dominium, in a prepared statement. GlobeSt.com will present an update with more detailed information from Huggett tomorrow. “Cities with flourishing artist communities attract other artists and new residents seeking a vibrant cultural environment. Our experience has proven that artist lofts are economic development drivers."
Furthermore, Webster University will lease the Arcade's first two floors and a 55,000-square-feet mezzanine for classes, a 170-seat auditorium, community kitchen and an art gallery. This expands the Webster's downtown campus from 33,000-square-feet to 85,000-square-feet, including its presence in the Old Post Office.
Dominium officials say that Webster will move in as early as December 2015. The developers will complete construction on the remaining space by January 2016. US Bank invested $77 million raised through its investments in federal New Markets Tax Credits, federal and state historic tax credits and federal low-income housing tax credits.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
