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State to exit downtown St. Louis by selling two office buildings
State to exit downtown St. Louis by selling two office buildings
JEFFERSON CITY — Top state officials voted Tuesday to sell two downtown St. Louis office buildings and move many of the 600 workers to a facility in Chesterfield.
Members of the Missouri Board of Public Buildings, which includes Gov. Mike Parson, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Attorney General Andrew Bailey, voted unanimously to pursue the sale of the historic Wainwright Office Building at 7th and Chestnut streets and the Mill Creek Office Building at 220 S. Jefferson Ave.
The reason for the pending moves was described as financial. There was no mention of crime in the downtown area playing a role in the decision.
The process, which could take a year, will allow for the state to consolidate unused or under-used office space affecting employees in at least 12 state agencies, including the Department of Corrections, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Labor.
Proceeds from the sale of the two buildings will be used to purchase the facility in Chesterfield, said Brian Yansen, director of facilities management for the governor’s Office of Administration.
Cost estimates for the sale and possible purchase were not disclosed.
Office of Administration Commissioner Ken Zellers said the state believes it would cost $23 million to maintain and repair the Wainwright, which the state bought 50 years ago during former Gov. Christopher “Kit” Bond’s administration.
The Mill Creek building, which sits on 4.25 acres near the intersection of Jefferson and Market Street, was built in 1975. A buyer has expressed interest in purchasing the facility, Yansen said.
Not all workers affected by the sales will move out of downtown, said OA spokesman Chris Moreland. Employees in the Missouri Department of Corrections probation and parole division will stay in the city’s core, as will some Department of Social Services workers, he said.
“There are so many moving parts,” Zellers said. “We want to do what makes sense.”
The Wainwright Building, designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, was built in the 1890s and is among the world's first skyscrapers.
The 10-story Wainwright building is considered the forerunner of the first skyscrapers in St. Louis when the structure designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler opened in 1892. It is a designated historic landmark.
In 1974, Bond helped pave the way for its purchase as a way to boost downtown St. Louis. At the time, Democratic leaders in the Legislature wanted to buy a building in midtown near St. Louis University to help that part of the city.
In 2019, Parson rejected a request by some state workers to move out of the downtown area because of concerns about crime.
A spokesman said at the time the move was not a priority, but the possibility of an exodus of workers set off alarm bells for downtown boosters and elected officials who represent the area.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant reduction in foot traffic in the area, crime has been a recurring theme in the exodus of workers from downtown. Last weekend, a shooting marked the ninth homicide already this year in the Downtown and Downtown West neighborhoods, according to city police crime records. There were only six all of last year, and in 2022, there were nine total.
In addition to the symbolism of Parson moving workers out of the heart of the state’s economic engine, the move also could cost the city by reducing the amount it receives from its 1 percent earnings tax on people who work in the city.
City officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
