I hope they remove the 1950's cladding that was added to the exterior to "update" the building:
Pyramid Construction adds another chapter to Mercantile Library's tale
By Martin Van Der Werf
The Mercantile Library has been charting the booms and busts of St. Louis business since 1846. But since the library moved out in 1997, the building that once housed it has seen mostly busts.
Now, Pyramid Construction Co., which is rehabbing several other downtown buildings, has the complex at Broadway and Locust streets under contract.
Pyramid officials did not return calls seeking comment.
The structure once was seven buildings. All the interior walls have been knocked out, creating one building totaling 270,000 square feet.
Pyramid has been one of the leading redevelopers of old warehouse buildings into loft apartments. But the Mercantile and its adjoining structure, known as the Boatmen's Trust building, have not drawn a lot of interest, real estate experts said.
"If it was a no-brainer to do lofts, I think someone would have snapped it up by now," said Andrew Sheir, leasing director for Jones Lang Lasalle, which brokered the deal. The selling price was not disclosed.
The building could accommodate a variety of uses, including retail, offices, housing or a hotel, Sheir said.
The Mercantile Library is the oldest circulating library still in existence west of the Mississippi River. It is known for its collections recounting the history of St. Louis. When the library relocated to the University of Missouri at St. Louis, the school took control of the building.
NationsBank bought it for $1.2 million in 1998. The building later was acquired by American Milling L.P., a barge business that was investing in downtown real estate.
A California partnership, Fowler Flanagan Technology, next bought the building and stripped the interior to create a "telecom hotel," suites of offices for emerging Internet-based companies. But the idea barely got off the ground before the Internet economy imploded.
The building fell into foreclosure and into the hands of a partnership controlled by Lehman Brothers, the New York financial firm that held the mortgage. That partnership sold the building to Pyramid.
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Pyramid Construction adds another chapter to Mercantile Library's tale
By Martin Van Der Werf
The Mercantile Library has been charting the booms and busts of St. Louis business since 1846. But since the library moved out in 1997, the building that once housed it has seen mostly busts.
Now, Pyramid Construction Co., which is rehabbing several other downtown buildings, has the complex at Broadway and Locust streets under contract.
Pyramid officials did not return calls seeking comment.
The structure once was seven buildings. All the interior walls have been knocked out, creating one building totaling 270,000 square feet.
Pyramid has been one of the leading redevelopers of old warehouse buildings into loft apartments. But the Mercantile and its adjoining structure, known as the Boatmen's Trust building, have not drawn a lot of interest, real estate experts said.
"If it was a no-brainer to do lofts, I think someone would have snapped it up by now," said Andrew Sheir, leasing director for Jones Lang Lasalle, which brokered the deal. The selling price was not disclosed.
The building could accommodate a variety of uses, including retail, offices, housing or a hotel, Sheir said.
The Mercantile Library is the oldest circulating library still in existence west of the Mississippi River. It is known for its collections recounting the history of St. Louis. When the library relocated to the University of Missouri at St. Louis, the school took control of the building.
NationsBank bought it for $1.2 million in 1998. The building later was acquired by American Milling L.P., a barge business that was investing in downtown real estate.
A California partnership, Fowler Flanagan Technology, next bought the building and stripped the interior to create a "telecom hotel," suites of offices for emerging Internet-based companies. But the idea barely got off the ground before the Internet economy imploded.
The building fell into foreclosure and into the hands of a partnership controlled by Lehman Brothers, the New York financial firm that held the mortgage. That partnership sold the building to Pyramid.
