The redevelopment of the historic building in the heart of Downtown St. Louis, that's been 19 years in the making, is finally entering the homestretch.
When the 13-story Jefferson Arms (originally: The Hotel Jefferson) opened in 1904, guests were welcomed to a property that was on-par with some of the best hotels in the country. The location in the heart of booming Downtown St. Louis and a short trolley ride to Union Station to transfer to special trains that brought people to the fairgrounds at Forest Park made the hotel a destination. Over the years, the hotel welcomed celebrities and dignitaries from around the world. The Grand Ballroom played host to numerous big events including two National Democratic Party meetings and events that brought St. Louis's social elite together. In many aspects, the Jefferson Arms was Downtown St. Louis’s Chase Park Plaza and predated it by nearly 20 years. It’s rooted in the history of St. Louis and reflects an era when grand hotels were a way to showcase a City’s wealth.
The Jefferson was expanded in 1928 with a 12-story addition between the 1904 portion (along Tucker) and the Shell Building. At its peak, the Jefferson hotel featured over 900 hotel rooms. The decline from glitz and glamor to closure was a slow process. Beginning in 1950, the property became a Hilton hotel, which then became a Sheraton in 1955. The 70s saw the hotel close in-favor of an old folks home, which itself closed in 2006.
Since the building’s closure, redevelopment plans have come and gone. Prior to the 2009 recession, the defunct Pyramid Companies intended to redevelop the property into condos. One of the many such endeavors that Pyramid was pursuing in Downtown up until 2009. In 2011, the McGowan Brothers, once an influential team that oversaw the redevelopment of several buildings in Downtown, intended to redevelop the building into affordable apartments and office space. After that plan fell through, no word on the property was heard until early 2016.
In 2016, Alterra Worldwide, a firm based in Dallas Texas, announced that they acquired the property and intended to redevelop the Jefferson Arms into a hotel, apartments, and retail space in a $135 Million project. The 500,000sf building’s future seemed to be secured as an anchor for further development efforts to grow off of. Shortly after the project's announcement, Alterra announced that an AC Hotel flag would fly over the hotel component of the project. The team went before the City’s TIF Commission to receive approval for a $20 Million incentive package to get the project underway.
By now, it was 2017 and the pre-construction portions of the project were proceeding at a steady rate. As the necessary approvals advanced, concerns were raised over contractors and laborers, delays began to stack up, and a TIF extension was discussed and approved. It wasn’t until 2022 that the project was cleared for PACE financing from the Clean Energy Development Board and securing all necessary financing for the project to advance. As a result, iniital work commenced on the property with years worth of trash and crumbling plaster being removed from the property. However, there was one positive result of the delays: Downtown West has changed around the Jefferson Arms (as detailed at this post's end), and that’s likely to the benefit of the building itself.
Residents of, and visitors to, Downtown have seen construction workers going in and out of the building on a regular basis since early 2023, carefully restoring the building into the 225 hotel rooms, 235 apartments, and retail space. As one of the largest vacant buildings to be redeveloped in Downtown, I took particular interest in this one. The only other building of similar scale that has been redeveloped is the Butler Brothers Building (now “The Victor”). The Jefferson Arms holds its place as an icon of grandeur and glamor. It gives us a window into the past but also shows what the future of Downtown St. Louis looks like (the beautiful old buildings roaring back to life in ways that would shock our predecessors).
On February 12th 2025, I was given the opportunity to tour the massive building as portions of the $135 Million project near completion and the summer 2025 opening date nears. The tour was given by Sofia Sarimsakci, an architect with Alterra Worldwide who also provided a quote that exudes optimism:
“Alterra is so grateful to the City of St. Louis for the opportunity to revitalize the spirit of the Jefferson Arms building. We believe in the future of St. Louis, and are confident that our building will have a transforming effect on the Downtown landscape. We cannot wait to welcome the community into the Jefferson Arms building once again” - Sofia Sarimsakci
With that said, let's dive in and see what Alterra's team has been up to and what everyone can expect later this summer.
Main Lobby
Just as it did in 1904, the main lobby of the Jefferson Arms will welcome hotel guests and building visitors in a grand fashion. The space is reminiscent of the Congress Hotel in Chicago or the Peabody in Memphis with a mezzanine overlooking the first floor, a grand staircase off of the lobby space, and the elevator bank perfectly in view. When the AC Hotel opens this summer, this space will be home to the guest check in, a lobby bar, and seating areas for hotel guests and visitors to the hotel. The lobby will also be the place where visitors coming for events in the hotel’s two ballrooms will be introduced (or reintroduced) to the building.
When the building reopens, visitors will find restored terrazzo flooring and original iron work throughout the lobby. You'll be able to enter through the main entrance in the center of the building on Tucker or through a secondary entry hall off of Locust Street.
Ballrooms
On the mezzanine level, two ballrooms with beautiful plaster work and iron work will once again play host to parties and other special events. There are two ballroom sizes. One is a single-story space facing Locust Street and will likely be used for smaller meetings and dinner events. The second ballroom, the "Grand Ballroom", is far larger and will play host to a wide range of events. Featuring a mezzanine of its own, crown molding, and a stage, this ballroom will be among the grandest for a hotel in the entire City. In fact, the Jefferson is home to two of only four remaining historic ballrooms left in a hotel in Downtown St. Louis (the other are the original ballrooms in the Marriott Grand/Statler Hotel on Washington).
While I was unable to fully observe the Grand Ballroom as scaffolding held up platforms for tradesmen to work on repairing the detailed plaster work on the ceiling, it was obvious that the space will be an incredibly special place again. Even as construction workers work their magic, you can still sense the energy of past events in this room.
For events in both spaces, hosts will be able to have dinner catered from one of the building’s kitchens. While one kitchen will cook food in a normal way, the other kitchen will specialize in cooking food the Kosher way. Having these two options give event hosts the ability to cater directly to their guests and not necessarily need to seek an outside caterer for their events. Dinner parties, weddings, largescale meetings, and other events are made easier from the inclusion of the two kitchens and the two ballroom sizes.
The AC Hotel Jefferson
The 225-room AC Hotel Jefferson follows the brand standards as defined by Marriott, but is in a fairly different setting than other AC Hotels. Where most other AC Hotels are new-builds or located in refreshed hotel properties, this one will be located in a building that’s rooted in history. The rooms are a cozy size and natural light fills the space. The room I got to preview was a two-queen room facing south towards the Park Pacific Building and it was getting its finishing touches.
Outside of the hotel rooms, the hallways are slowly coming together. Work remains to be done on the drywall and paint components, as well as flooring, but that's simple work compared to the long list of tasks that brought the building up to this point. In the summer, the AC Hotel Jefferson will welcome guests back who will use the hotel to explore St. Louis (maybe even for the first time), attend events at the Convention Center, Enterprise Center, Stifel Theater, Energizer Park, Busch Stadium, or be in town to visit friends and family. The hotel’s central location means guests can hypothetically walk or bike to every point of interest in Downtown or walk a few blocks to a MetroLink stop, connecting them to other areas of interest.
The AC Hotel Jefferson will be a “big city” feeling hotel, equipped with all the amenities a traveler comes to expect in a modern hotel but with the charm of being in a historic building. This will also be the AC's fourth branded hotel in the St. Louis area (other locations are located in the Central West End, Clayton, and Chesterfield).
The Jefferson Arms Residences
More residents in Downtown St. Louis is always a good thing, which is why the inclusion of 235 apartments in this building is exceptional. The apartment component of this project will be named the “Jefferson Arms Residences”. Each apartment will have abundant natural light thanks to the large windows that look over Downtown. Accessed from a lobby on Tucker, or through a smaller, secondary lobby on St. Charles, residents will have access to their own secured access to elevators, a mail room and other amenities residents have come to expect in modern living spaces.
All the residences will be Studio-2-Bedroom apartments with rents starting at $1600 per month for a studio, $1800 per month for a one-bedroom, and $2200 per month for a two-bedroom. I got to take a look at a one-bedroom apartment at the southeast corner of the 12th floor of the building. The kitchen has some wood cabinetry, a good change to see from the standard apartment finishes we’ve seen recently. The bathroom is surrounded by a gray marble and is connected to the bedroom, which also has a walk-in closet. In-unit laundry is included as well.
Some other apartments face the central atrium of the building, but get a good deal of natural light (even on a cloudy winter day). Units that face west have a neat view of the buildings on Washington Avenue and the City Museum, which make for a dense city feel. Some units on the 12th floor have their windows partialy obstructed by the decorative arches that adorn the top of the building, but they do not effect natural light. Those arches actually help make those units feel special.
Retail Space
The Jefferson Arms will feature a ton of retail space with all spaces set to be occupied when the building opens. Each business will bring something new or reimagined to Downtown and offer everyone a variety of services and flavors. The flavors the food businesses will bring come from the Balkans while the service businesses pull from quintessential service business types catering to customers who need a specialized service not presently found elsewhere in Downtown. Each one of these businesses are having their interiors designed by Turkish interior design firm NAIF.
Beginning on Locust Street, lining Tucker, and then turning onto St. Charles Street, all sides of the Jefferson Arms will be activated with either the restaurants, services, the main hotel lobby, the secondary hotel entry hall, the main residential lobby, or the secondary residential lobby. As a visitor to the Jefferson Arms’s retail tenants, you’ll walk on well-landscaped sidewalks that are paved with brick. It's not hard to imagine that one day, the 8-lane wide Tucker Boulevard will be reoimagined into something more friendly to pedestrians. When that happens, you can expect outdoor seating to be a big winner on the sidewalks here.
Right now though, much work remains to be done. Each retail space is currently framed with no drywall being installed yet. The floors still need to be repaired. Windows have yet to be installed. Even some old wallpaper exists. With the upper floors entering their final touch up phases, it’s reasonable to assume the workers there will move to the first floor to finish the project off.
Businesses that’ll call the Jefferson Arms home include:
Salonika Restaurant: A Turkish-Greek-Jewish mashup at the corner of St. Charles and Tucker. This beautiful space will include restored terrazzo flooring, crown molding, and plaster surrounding the arches of windows. With high ceilings, a full bar, and an interior design that'll embrace the historic details and natural light, there will be no downtown restaurant experience quite like this. The name “Salonika” is another name for the Greek city of Thessaloniki.
Taco Turko: A Mexican-Turkish fusion taco shop. This will be located in a smaller space on St. Charles Street next to the Salonika Restaurant and a secondary lobby entrance for the residences. A food truck will also be included with this concept, bringing Taco Turko to Food Truck Fridays and other special events all over St. Louis.
Nico’s Bakery: This will be a compact bakery shop located immediately south of the main hotel entrance on Tucker. Guests will be able to find Balkan-style breads and pastries ranging from sweet to savory along with Turkish teas and coffee. The space will be able to hold around 20 seated patrons and will prominently feature a lighter color scheme, wood ceilings, and tile floors. It’ll feel bright and welcoming, the perfect choice for a bakery.
Corner Vinyl Cafe: At the corner of Tucker and Locust will be a coffee shop by day/vinyl bar by night. This space will embrace large windows to bring in natural light and give guests plenty of room to work, meet with each other, or just have a cup of coffee, tea, and in-house pastries and sandwiches during the day. At night, guests can return and have a glass of wine, a beer, and/or snack on simple bar foods (like deviled eggs, crudo, and more) while taking in music played on old vinyl.
Jefferson and Sons Tailor: One business not presently found in Downtown St. Louis is a tailor shop. This business pulls from classic men's tailor shops with its interior design. Dark wood, hardwood floors, and darker colors will create an experience unlike any other, but also remind visitors that this space is inside of a building from 1904. Jefferson and Sons will change this and will be located in a retail space on the Locust Street side of the building.
Women's Clothing: Immediately next door to Jeffeson and Sons will be a women’s tailor and a shop that’ll sell vintage inspired clothing for women. It’ll be connected to Jefferson and Sons and the interior design will follow the same design details.
Gentleman’s Cut Barber Shop: Enjoy a cocktail and get your haircut in a space that looks straight out of the early 1900s. Dark woods, tile floors, old-fashioned wooden mirrors, and darker colors will make the experience feel unlike any other barber shop in town. While other barbers exist in Downtown, one like this is new and offers a refined experience.
Clandestino’s Speakeasy: Hidden between the hotel lobby and the tailor shops will be Clandestino’s. The dark red with marble-accented speakeasy bar is set to serve premium cocktails with room for a small performing stage (think jazz nights). The interior design breaks with a lot of modern speakeasies. The vibe is set to feel more like an exclusive club than a standard bar, which is what I personally want in a speakeasy. Clandestino’s will be available for private events once it's opened and will be accessed in a way that makes it feel like you're stepping back in time (but I won't tell you how to get into it).
While interior designs are not yet finalized for Salonika, Taco Turko, or Corner Vinyl Cafe, we do have renderings for Clandestinos, Nico’s Bakery, Jefferson and Sons, and Gentleman’s Cut Barber Shop. I included my personal favorites of the renderings of those four in the gallery below. Click on each image to see a larger image and description of what you're looking at. All renderings were produced by NAIF Design for Alterra Worldwide.
Wrap Up
When the Jefferson Arms Building reopens later this summer, it’ll begin a new chapter in the building’s storied history and usher in a new era for Downtown West. The inclusion of all those new businesses, 225 hotel rooms, and 235 apartments in a building that takes up nearly an entire block and was vacant for many years is a massive win. The preservation of key architectural details, like the plaster ceilings or terrazzo flooring, will make the interior spaces visually spectacular. As Downtown St. Louis sees the number of beautiful, old, and vacant buildings dwindle, we won’t have many more opportunities to see buildings such as this reborn.
The only other building that retained so much of its historic features after a massive redevelopment is the Arcade Building. In my opinion, the finished product at the Jefferson Arms will rival the lobby spaces at the Arcade, but will exceed the Arcade in street-level activation. This was a once in a generation opportunity to leave a positive impact on Downtown and Alterra Worldwide seems on track to achieve a goal they set out on a decade ago.
It’s never easy work, but it’s certainly rewarding work. I salute Alerra Worldwide, their team, and the laborers for delivering this project. It’s a monumental undertaking, but one whose benefits will be felt for decades to come.
Additional Photos
The gallery below features additional photos from my tour including views from a few apartments on the 12th floor. Click on a picture to see a caption explaining what it is.
Downtown West Transformed
As I hinted at earlier in this post, Downtown West was transformed around the Jefferson Arms as delays dragged on. Such projects to be announced, completed, and proposed since 2017 include:
The neighboring Shell Building was redeveloped into a dual-brand Hilton Hotel (Tru and Home2).
The old YMCA Building a few blocks west was redeveloped into a 21C Hotel.
The Butler Brothers Building was redeveloped into a 384-unit apartment building (now known as, "The Victor").
The MacDonald and Hupp Buildings on 18th between Locust and Washington were redeveloped into 126 lofts.
The Last Hotel opened on Washington Avenue.
The Monogram Building was redeveloped into 168 apartments near 18th and Washington.
Following the failure of the MLS2STL vote in 2017, St. Louis City SC was announced, the team was awarded by the MLS, a stadium (Energizer Park) was built replacing the 22nd Street interchange, and two full seasons have been played.
AHM Group announced a massive mixed-use development focusing on the 2200 blocks of Locust and Washington along with a 29-story mass-timber hybrid high-rise (which could be the tallest of its kind in the United States).
King Realty proposed a 7-story, 184-unit infill multi-family development on the block-sized surface parking lot at 1801 Washington.
Oliver Properties began picking up buildings on Washington Avenue and has been investing considerable amounts of money into them to bring the lofts up-to-date and bring new retail and restaurant tenants to Downtown (including a Food Hall).
