urbanSTL

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page is asking the County Council to appropriate $1.25 million for real estate broker services, in a bid to move county offices.
The county has said that the repair or replacement of its Lawrence K. Roos County Government Building at 41 S. Central Ave. in Clayton must happen due to a city ordinance requiring fire suppression sprinklers installation by 2028.

Page said in a letter to the County Council March 22 that the county's Department of Transportation and Public Works in 2023 identified deadlines for dealing with the issue, but that they had passed, "forcing our staff to pivot and find a short-term solution." He said the county would need to obtain a five-year lease for space to house administrative functions currently in the Lawrence K. Roos building. A Page spokesperson said broker services are within the scope of service contract with current county engineering consultant WSP, and that the firm would pick a subcontractor for the work.
"The deadline for renovating or moving out of the Roos building is moving ever closer, putting St. Louis County in jeopardy of violating fire safety codes of the City of Clayton," Page wrote. "No action is not an option."
The council is to consider the request Tuesday evening, but Council Chair Shalonda Webb has said she wont move forward on a lease unless Page releases pandemic relief aid for nonprofits, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported. Page has said his office can't administer those funds unless the council reverses budget cuts it made last year, it said. Webb told the newspaper Monday she's open to using Rams settlement money to pay the nonprofits.
The county has said repairing the building could cost $88 million to $276 million, with replacement running $560 million to $612 million. Most options for paying for the project would have to be approved by taxpayers, like a bond issue paid for by a property tax of an additional $3 to $8 per month.

St. Louis County officials have delayed key decisions about renovating or vacating their government headquarters for so long they can no longer take a plan to voters this year, said County Executive Sam Page.
Even if Page and the County Council could agree on a plan — and they appear nowhere close — there’s not enough time for the county to mount a campaign before the November election, he said.
“That window really passed last month,” Page said Tuesday following a contentious exchange at the weekly council meeting. “We might have been able to sprint and get something done if the council had taken a position tonight, but I don’t think they’re ready to make a decision or to really even talk about it.”

“We’ll be waiting awhile.”
County elected officials have been debating for years how to meet a 2028 deadline to either install fire sprinklers at their downtown Clayton building as required by city code or move. But talks have fallen apart yet again over the past few months. Meanwhile, more than 650 county employees and thousands of visitors use the 54-year-old Lawrence K. Roos building that public works staffers say is crumbling, laden with asbestos and unsafe: Only the street level of the 10-story high-rise has fire sprinklers.

Page wanted to hire a consultant to “educate” voters on a tax increase that would pay for whatever option the county chose. But the deadline for getting a question on the November ballot is Aug. 27, and there’s not enough time for a campaign now, Page said.

Experts aren’t so sure.
Gregg Keller, a St. Louis County-based conservative political operative, said there’s still plenty of time to launch a campaign. Selling a tax increase when people are still feeling the pain of inflation would be tough, he said, but if the campaign started a few months before the Nov. 5 election, it could work.

NHampton wrote:Once again, I really do not understand why a new building is expected to cost over half a billion dollars.  The only unique aspects to county offices seem to be that there is unusually high "retail" traffic, a council chambers/theater is needed, and both of those impose additional security needs.   Put the offices you are legally required to have in Clayton in Class A space there to impress (I'm sure the potential Caleres campus space developers would love to have some office space locked in for 30 years?) and move the rest out in the hinterlands of STLCO.  Ed Jones was trying to unload an entire building at 270/Manchester for months and gave up.  Across the highway, Centene gave up a lease on an entire building; now Mercy is moving in. 40/Olive, Sunset Hills, Maryland Heights all have vacant or new developments. UMSL South campus is rebuilding and has its own Metrolink stop. It's a horrible market for office space, strike while the iron is hot.
The real solution, of course, is a merger of city and county offices, really opening up cost-saving options.

JaneJacobsGhost wrote: ↑

Jun 19, 2025

When is Clayton going to do something about the giant eye sore at 41 S Central?

Zone.Out wrote: ↑

Jun 20, 2025

That isn't a Clayton building. It is a St. Louis County building with St. Louis County offices. There was no vote among Clayton residents specific to the funding of this site. Funding mechanisms have been proposed at the administrative level, but none have made their way through the electoral or legislative process. The county has till January 2028 to make necessary renovations. Estimates predict the fire safety renovations required to meet the 2028 deadline approximate $175 million. Total necessary renovations could exceed $300-500 million. A new building could exceed $500 million.