Midtown's 14-story Jesuit Hall at the Northwest corner of Grand and Lindell has a redevelopment plan.
Neighborhood Properties, the firm behind the renovation of the "Cabanne Castle" and another building at 5815 Cates, along with Pruitt and Associates, is planning a redevelopment of the Jesuit Hall building (3601 Lindell) in Midtown-Grand Center. Plans call for the 14-story building (and penthouse level) to be redeveloped into 169 apartments with the breakdown planned to be 39 Studios and 130 One-Bedrooms. The penthouse level will include some amenities including a bar and lounge area, cowering area, party room, small pool, and a rooftop deck. Additionally, first floor retail space is planned. Upon completion, the building will take on the name "The Melbourne", which is an ode to the original name of the structure as it opened as the Melbourne Hotel in 1921 until the hotel's closure in the 1970s.
The apartments will be geared towards young professionals and students, which makes sense as the building sits across Lindell from St. Louis University and sits in the heart of the booming Central Corridor. The University's Jesuits presently live in the building but will move to a building that's presently under construction on Laclede Avenue come the Fall of 2022. At that time, the redevelopment of the building could begin.
Beyond just the redevelopment of Jesuit Hall is a second phase to this project, the construction of a 14-story (plus penthouse level), 195-unit apartment building on the Southwest corner of Grand and Olive. The new building's unit make up will be 78 Studios, 52 One-Bedrooms, and 65 Two-Bedrooms. Retail space will also be included on the first floor. Select apartments would also have access to private terraces. The new building will also include a sky deck with a pool, bar/lounge, and a coworking space for residents. Both the original Melbourne building and the new construction will be connected via skybridge on the buildings's 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th floors.
In total, both buildings will bring 364 apartments and 20,000sf of first floor retail space to Midtown and create a bridge linking the heart of the Grand Center Arts District to the St. Louis University Campus. Regarding a parking component, a specific set up has not yet been determined. A site plan from December shows parking being in two, 4-story garages (one fronting Lindell and the other as the first 4 floors of the new building at Olive and Grand) and totaling 322 spaces, but according to Fernando Cepeda of Neighborhood Properties, they're still working on defining a parking plan for this project.
In January, 19th Ward Alderwoman Marlene Davis filed Board Bill #217, which would blight the property and issue 10 years of a tax abatement worth 95%. The project also made its way to the Planning Commission in February, so the project has been going through the necessary City approvals process. Phase 1 of the Melbourne complex should begin in the Fall of 2022. "Phase 2" could begin concurrently at that time or wait until 2024 at the latest. A firm decision has not yet been made. The total cost of the development is presently estimated at $80 Million.
St. Louis-based Gray Architects is serving as the architect on this project. No contractor has been selected yet. The gallery below includes the site plan from December in addition to the South elevation and a rooftop floor plan. The gallery is then followed by drone photos showing the building and site in its current condition.