LandWhite Developers to Receive $4M TIF to Redevelop the Chemical Building
The Board of Aldermen is expected to pass a board bill to provide $4 million in tax increment financing to redevelop the Chemical Building in downtown St. Louis.
By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor
The Board of Aldermen is expected to pass a board bill to provide $4 million in tax increment financing to redevelop the Chemical Building in downtown St. Louis. 
The St. Louis Business Journal reports Alderwoman Phyllis Young, who is sponsoring the bill, said LandWhite Developers LLC intends to spend $33 million to transform the Chemical Building and create 120 apartments and 7,000 square feet of street-level retail space. Lancaster Ventures Ltd., an affiliate of LandWhite Developers, is expected to pay off the TIF in 17 years or by 2030, according to Young.
Currently the building, located at 721 Olive Street, has only one tenant, Kessler Mroz Jewelry Inc., on the ground floor. Built in 1896 the building was designed by Henry Ives Cobb with a later addition in 1902 which was designed by Mauran, Russel & Garden. The 17-story building was acquired by LandWhite Developers in September 2012 for $3.9 million after the building was marketed by Cushman & Wakefield/Gateway Commercial. The company purchased the building from Centrue Bank, which in March 2011 foreclosed on the property. Centrue purchased the property with a sole bid of $3.36 million.
Polsinelli senior partner, William Kuehling, represented LandWhite in the deal. He said, for the same source, the project is also eligible to receive $1.2 million in federal historic tax credits, around $1.2 million in Federal Brownfields Tax credits and $6.2 million in state historic tax credits.
The contractor on the project is Paric Corp., and Roseman & Associates will be the architect.
Photo Courtesy of: Steven Martin via Flickr./em
