ST. LOUIS 鈥 A 最新杏吧原创 board has once again denied a developer鈥檚 plan to raze part of the Optimist Building for apartments.
The 最新杏吧原创 Preservation Board, which reviews demolition requests for property in historic districts, voted 3-2 on Monday to deny Lux Living鈥檚 request to partially demolish the Optimist Building property, which consists of a three-story office building and pavilion at 4490 Lindell Boulevard, for 150 apartments.
Commissioners Michael Allen and Michael Killeen voted against the project. Commissioner Anthony Robinson and Alderman Jack Coatar voted for the project. Chair Richard Callow was the tiebreaking vote. Commissioner David Richardson abstained from the vote, and Commissioner Tiffany Hamilton was absent from the meeting.
鈥淭he applicant has certainly put a lot of effort into the project, a lot of strong design thinking,鈥 Allen said, 鈥渂ut in the end, our job here is to protect a high-merit building.鈥
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Lux wanted to demolish the office building but keep two of the pavilion鈥檚 walls that front Lindell. It hired prominent architecture firm HOK to design the project. Eli Hoisington, design principal at HOK, said Lux鈥檚 proposal was 鈥渁bout as aggressive as we could get it鈥 in preserving the property.
Lux principal Vic Alston said at the meeting that his company was willing to put up a surety bond that would have required his company to pay the neighborhood association $2 million if its preservation efforts failed during the redevelopment.
But the Cultural Resources Office, which staffs the board, argued against Lux Living鈥檚 plan, invoking a 1999 ordinance that prohibits the demolition of 鈥渟ound high-merit structures.鈥 The CRO had listed the Optimist Building in its survey of 最新杏吧原创鈥 top-25 list of midcentury modern buildings several years ago.
Meg Lousteau, director of the CRO, said that Lux鈥檚 plan to keep two walls of the Optimist Building was not preservation.
The alderman for the neighborhood, Tina Pihl, also spoke out against the project during Monday鈥檚 meeting, saying its approval would set a precedent that could lead to the demolition of other older and historic properties.
It marks the second time the board has rejected Lux鈥檚 request after an August attempt when the developer initially sought to demolish the whole Central West End property.
At the time, the CRO had urged Lux to reuse the property instead of demolishing it.
The Optimist Building was built in 1962 and expanded in 1978 for 最新杏吧原创-based children鈥檚 charity Optimist International. The nonprofit still owns the building but no longer needs as much space and can鈥檛 afford to do continual maintenance.
