After nearly a year, the Gateway Arch Park Foundation has officially closed on the Millennium Hotel in downtown St. Louis.
The 4.2-acre site has been vacant since 2014, and in September 2024, the foundation announced its contract to purchase the property.
In partnership with the foundation, real estate developer the Cordish Cos. plans to build a 1.3 million-square-foot site that combines residential, office, commercial and cultural spaces in the hotel’s place. The project will cost about $670 million.
Mike LaMartina, president of Ballpark Village and spokesman for Cordish, said the project will increase accessibility and job opportunities.
“This development represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine downtown’s urban core and skyline and will serve as a catalyst for further revitalization,” LaMartina said Wednesday during a press conference at the One Cardinal Way office in downtown St. Louis.
The foundation said the next step is to work on a public-private agreement required for the development to go forward. Construction has not started.
“Today truly is a day of hope for downtown and for St. Louis,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said. “The redevelopment of this site has been a long time coming, and I’m proud to have played a small but vital role as alderperson pushing for the first conversations to eminent domain the site.
"This is a win for the future of downtown, in public space, and in reconnecting our city to the river that made it.”
Ryan McClure, executive director of the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, said several steps must be taken before the hotel can be torn down.
“Right now we are just waiting approval on our remediation plan for the site, so there’s a lot of asbestos, there’s a lot of mold, there’s a lot of toxic things that need to come out of that building before it would be demolished,” McClure said. “So we’re waiting on approval from the State of Missouri on that and also for Brownfield tax credits.”
He said that once demolition does begin, it will take one to two years to clear the hotel site.
“We need a lot of approvals before we get to that point,” McClure said.
This announcement comes after the recent completion of the CityArchRiver project to revitalize the Gateway Arch National Park. The $380 million project was completed in May with the reopening of the historic Old Courthouse. The Gateway Arch Park Foundation says it generated more than $500 million regionally last year.
