The sale of downtown St. Louis’ historic Union Station is set to go through in mid-October. The sale was first reported Wednesday by the St. Louis Business Journal.
The facility’s new owners, St. Louis-based Lodging Hospitality Management, are hoping to succeed where a host of other developers have failed.
Union station opened to the public back in 1894. The station underwent a $140 million renovation in 1985 and was reopened as a “festival marketplace”, i.e., a retail shopping center. Since that time the property has been through a slew of owners.
LHM is buying the property, including the 539-room Marriott Hotel, for $20 million. LHM Chairman Bob O’Loughlin says the company’s track record with St. Louis hotels has been profitable over the years.
“We are locally owned, where a lot of the previous owners where out of town, institutional owners,” says O’Loughlin, “I think with the synergy of all of the hotels that we own, that the hotels will be successful.”
LHM manages 18 hotels in the St. Louis metro area, including the Hilton at the Ballpark, adjacent to Busch Stadium, and the Moonrise Hotel on the Delmar Loop.
The Marriot Hotel in Union station will be renamed the St. Louis Union Station Hotel and will be operated by Doubletree.
O’Loughlin says the company plans to invest an additional $50 million in the property, including the addition of a 50,000 square foot convention center and exhibition hall, as well as a soon-to-be announced, high-profile retail tenant.
The St. Louis Development Corporation has also contributed $5 million in New Market Tax Credits.
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