Mayor Jones Issues Statement After SLDC and GSL Deliver Report on Railway Exchange Building and Millennium Hotel

Today, Greater St. Louis, Inc. and the St. Louis Development Corporation submitted a report to Mayor Jones answering her call to develop a “plan for bold action” to deal with major vacant properties in Downtown St. Louis.

“Today, the St. Louis Development Corporation and Greater St. Louis, Inc. showed that our public-private partnership is already delivering results for Downtown St. Louis. I'm grateful to everyone who helped answer my call for bold action," said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones. "My administration and our partners remain focused on transformational action to revitalize Downtown, and you are seeing the results of those efforts with every new small business that opens and every large gathering that takes place. I invite everyone in the region to come Downtown and enjoy the safe, vibrant, and beautiful hub of the St. Louis region.”

Context

• In May of 2024, Mayor Jones called on Greater St. Louis, Inc. and the St. Louis Development Corporation to deliver a bold plan of action to address the Railway Exchange and Millennium Hotel buildings at a press conference in Downtown St. Louis along with Chief Robert Tracy and Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore
• In July of 2024, the City of St. Louis announced that it had hired a private security firm to secure the Railway Exchange Building, and that the St. Louis Development Corporation sent a letter to Hudson Holdings, the owners of the Railway Exchange, to notify them of the City’s intent to acquire the property through the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA), a development board staffed by SLDC, and that the City would submit an offer letter to the owners to purchase the property.