The future of the Alverne?
The long-vacant Alverne at the SE corner of 11th & Locust had a fire on Monday:
“Firefighters battled a three-alarm fire at an old downtown hotel building Monday evening.
Heavy black smoke billowed from the 15-story, building at the corner of 11th and Locust streets. Several streets in the area of the fire were shut down for hoses and equipment.” (KMOV)
Reports indicate the fire started in the basement and spread to the first floor. From the exterior you can’t really tell except for the plywood over the doors and windows and the new fire smell.
My question is what does the future hold for this building? During the height of the loft boom this building was not rehabbed. But first a bit of history:
“Originally home to a progressive social club, then the Desoto Hotel after 1933. It was then home to a convent for many years, then a seniors residence. The building has lost virtually every bit of its original ornament; however, with the coming of the convent, it gained a stylized 1960s street level facade.” (Source: Built St. Louis)
Reasons for not being rehabbed are numerous:.
“The small windows on the building’s north and west elevations most likely negatively affect its conduciveness for use as an office building, but the building would work well as apartments or a hotel. It has two ballrooms, including one on the top floor that features some amazing views of the city. Its ground floor is ideal for retail or a restaurant.” (source: Downtown St. Louis Business)
I’ve heard greedy owners and a small floor plate as well. But if we look at an aerial image:
We see the Alverne (right) appears to have larger floors than the Louderman (left). The Louderman has both lofts and offices (lower floors). Perhaps the location of the stairs and elevator shaft make arranging residential spaces difficult? I hope someone can find a way to reuse the building. It is better as a vacant building than as a vacant lot.
– Steve Patterson
It sounds like someone was holding out to get as much money as possible during the boom. Looking at the Assessor's database, it says it's owned by Alverne Assoc. LLC. That doesn't help much. Hopefully pretty soon that law will go into effect requiring a real human being to be listed, not an LLC.
Chris is probably right – the current owners probably have overly optomistic expectations on value, but it really doesn't matter if it's a person or an LLC. Somebody or something owns it, and as long as they maintain it, they have every right not to redevelop it.
As for physical constraints, the small windows are obviously an issue, but so is the proximity of other buildings to the east and the south – few or no views aren't attractive to either office or residential users, especially with the wealth of other options currently available.
There's no accountability when it's just a LLC listed. I'm working with the City right now to shut down a crack dealer on my block, and we couldn't find the freaking owner to tell him what his tenants were doing. Slumlords hide behind those LLC's with the P.O. Box. Likewise, the fire was probably an accident started by someone living in the Alverne; shouldn't the owners be held responsible for not securing their building? Whoever they really are?
Yes. Many cities require that commercial properties have a registered agent, a real person the city can contact if there are problems.
LLC's are required to have a registered agent who has an actual, physical address.
While the LLC's official address may be a post office box, its registered agent must have a real address.
And here you go:
https://www.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/soskb/Cor…
I use to work at this place. That place was a dump then and it looks like it still is. The sisters that ran the place were the meanest people I ever knew. I couldn't believe that people of God actually act like they did. Some of the residence were nice, but some of them you couldn't serve their food without them jumping down your throat. The one thing I learned from working down there was that I didn't want to do that kind of job I did for the rest of my life. So I left, went to school, got an education and a good job.
Took a walk down to the Alverne myself to see what (if any) exterior damage there was. Not much really besides, like you said, Steve, the boards and the smell.
Right now, I'm more concerned with the two properties at 10th and Locust that could be razed to make room for the lobby/driveway of the Roberts Brothers' new hotel. I know plans stalled for quite awhile, but the plan picture is still up on a window and the center building appears to have been almost entirely gutted. It worries me.
That corner building (white, two/three stories) should be preserved and reinvested — maybe as an English style pub? — but I fear the wheels are in motion for its removal.
The buildings at 10th have already been approved for demolition. The only reason they are still standing is the economy.
I thought that the English Tudor look of the one building was a facade placed years later? I thought I heard it here. But maybe not. I say that as you mentioned English style pub, probably pointing to the styling that it now demonstrates.
If I remember that was going to be the driveway to the proposed hotel. And Steve was against needing a driveway for it. Again recollections of my memory, I did not look it up. Either way I was not fond of that building in any way, but I understand others being so, because it was different in many ways, not just the design of the facade.
While I am am not a big fan of the Roberts Bros. fit and finish in the loft they did, I do like the new tower they are nearing completion on. It is not groundbreaking in design but I like the way the way it fits in with PO square or whatever we are calling it now. The mix of old (PO) and new high rise construction seems refreshing.
I agree, Kevin. Those buildings should be preserved. If the Roberts Brothers need to open another hotel, why not purchase and renovate the Alverne and retain the three endangered buildings on Locust?
The building with the half timber facade is actually a very old building that possibly predates the Civil War. If you look closely, there are cast iron elements still poking out of the first floor, particularly in front where you can see a column. It is a pity that it can't be saved as one of the last remnants of Antebellum St. Louis. The half timber is a reskinning from several decades ago. I would imagine the original brick facade is underneath.
Alverne Association LLC is tied to one Samuel B. Berger, who was a member of clarinet development along with Pete Rothschild, R. Michael Allen and Richard W. Darragh.
Clarinet should be remembered for their stewardship of the Switzer building.
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With SLU law school moving in a couple blocks away, I bet this turns into student apartments very soon.
With SLU law school moving in a couple blocks away, I bet this turns into student apartments very soon.