4050 Lindell Blvd

airforceguy1 · PostMay 16, 2023#12023-05-16T20:55+00:00

If this has already been posted please delete....
I could see a major mixed-use development being built here.

4.5-acre Central West site is for sale; broker mentions residential uses

A 4.5-acre property in the Central West End currently used by a nonprofit is being offered for sale, in what could be a prime redevelopment opportunity in a St. Louis neighborhood that has seen significant investment.
The site at 4050 Lindell Blvd. is owned by the American Red Cross, which houses a blood bank at the property that previously served as its regional headquarters. Its headquarters are now in Creve Coeur.

The city site is made up of 17 parcels and includes a six-story, 151,000-square-foot office building and parking garage of about the same size, two surface parking lots and a single-family house, according to a brochure from the broker, commercial real estate firm JLL. Some of the parcels are along Lindell, and some are on West Pine Boulevard.
No asking price was given.
So far, the property has garnered interest from some office users, but mostly residential developers, said the broker for the listing, David Biales of commercial real estate firm JLL.

“It’s just difficult to come across almost four-and-a-half acres in the heart of the Central West End,” Biales said. “It could either be a (office) user, or really a completely redevelopment, and we’re getting a lot of interest from residential developers on that.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2023/05/16/central-west-end-site-sale-redevelopment-red-cross.html

dweebe · PostMay 16, 2023#22023-05-16T21:30+00:00

As I understand it the main building was purpose built for the Red Cross at full hospital standards with utility backups, storage and unique layouts. While it might look so from the outside, it's not a normal office building in any way.

symphonicpoet · PostMay 17, 2023#32023-05-17T06:30+00:00

^I've been disappointed about the move for some time now. I used to donate there, but I've been forced to drive a lot further out. The facility had some serious flooding problems that may not have been fully addressed, since they were already planning to move out. They did pull all the baseboards and run fans into the walls, but I never saw any electrical work. It's a great building in a lot of ways, but there are some real issues. The parking garage is in the middle of serious stabilization. Half of it was propped up with floor jacks and scaffolding when last I was there in late summer of 2022. It may have been "hospital" grade when it was built, but that was forty years ago now. Things have changed, and there was a lot of wear and tear. It'd probably take something akin to a gut rehab to get it back to serious medical office standards throughout the building. Would love to see that, but I doubt it'd be an economically efficient. And you're right about the unique layout. It's got big elevators and double doors through what I've seen. A lot more electrical than your usual building. I haven't been everywhere. Just the first two floors. But it definitely feels like 80s medical.

STL1223 · PostMay 17, 2023#42023-05-17T19:41+00:00

My opinion would be to level this whole building and replace with one or more towers (office or residential) that compliment the surrounding building heights while still expanding the skyline upward. Id like to see some 14 - 30+ story towers sprinkled throughout the CWE on some of these sites, even taller when it makes sense.

RockChalkSTL · PostMay 17, 2023#52023-05-17T19:57+00:00

I totally agree. I'd like to see the Central West End with more height diversity throughout the neighborhood. It'd be neat to see some towers rising away from Kingshighway, where most of them are.

symphonicpoet · PostMay 18, 2023#62023-05-18T03:39+00:00

I could get behind that. The existing building is interesting, but it's not sacred. Not especially historic (yet). The water damage has got to be a serious problem. (They had a river flowing into the lobby more or less. In the storm that crippled Metrolink.) And I'm not sure how you could reuse it for something else anyway. I may be a bit sentimental about this one, but . . . let it go. It's probably beyond salvage.

framer · PostMay 18, 2023#72023-05-18T13:09+00:00

https://property.jll.com/listings/ameri ... vd-midtown

TheWayoftheArch_V2.0 · PostMay 19, 2023#82023-05-19T19:31+00:00

^^are you sentimental because you donated blood there? This building is unremarkable and a tough rehab. Thinking clean the slate, regardless of purpose.

symphonicpoet · PostMay 20, 2023#92023-05-20T15:23+00:00

^Yes. Odd as that may seem. I'm a platelet guy so I go in and watch a movie every couple of weeks. And the lobby is actually kind of nice and the interior, though worn, is comfortable enough. That said, I agree with you. Sentiment aside, clean slate is the only way to go.

framer · PostMay 20, 2023#102023-05-20T19:05+00:00

IIRC, that building was designed by HOK. Not one of their better efforts, but I do like the massing. Let's wait and see the replacement before we celebrate it's demise.

EssTeeEll · PostMay 20, 2023#112023-05-20T20:02+00:00

I'm sure there's also a high probability the house is toast with any demo, too. But not really concerned with the main building and parking garage.

symphonicpoet · PostMay 21, 2023#122023-05-21T05:39+00:00

^^I'm not celebrating. But I do think it'd be a hard building to reuse under the best of times and, as mentioned before, there's probably a lot of invisible water damage. I really don't think they ever completely repaired it after the river ran through the lobby during the big rain that flooded so much of the Central West End last Spring. I like it. I'll stand by that. The lobby is really remarkably comfortable. It's a building that works well for what it was meant to do. It flows well and has good bones. It's got good chi, as it were. I love the sunken courtyard and the stair in the lobby. The interior spaces are cheerful and feel inviting. Even the basement has decent natural light. It's a good building. But it's been run hard and put away literally wet. And it's a draft horse on a show circuit.

quincunx · PostFeb 14, 2025#132025-02-14T20:00+00:00

Grove Resident reported

Local developers Sansone & Steadfast City have Lindell Red Cross property under contract & plan to renovate it into 109 apts + 166 new construction units on surface lot facing West Pine

pattimagee · PostFeb 14, 2025#142025-02-14T21:22+00:00

From the post:

"Local developers Sansone & Steadfast City have Lindell Red Cross property under contract & plan to renovate it into 109 apts + 166 new construction units on surface lot facing West Pine (via CWE SESBD Dec. 2024 minutes)

https://bsky.app/profile/smb-grove.bsky ... 2v7ybaw324

Correction…this was from the November minutes (contained in the December meeting packet)"

symphonicpoet · PostFeb 16, 2025#152025-02-16T06:26+00:00

If they renovate it I will be thrilled. It's such a strange building I never would have expected that, but I quite like it and I have fond memories of the place, so I sincerely hope that comes to pass. It's got a great lobby and good bones. It's really quite a lovely little building. Call it the heartland apartments or some such. Lean into the medical history.