Traveling on Chouteau or South Grand, you can’t help but notice the massive amount of work underway on the former Steelcote Building in the largely uninhabited, post-industrial section of the Midtown Neighborhood.
2010 photos of the long-vacant Steelcote building pre-taggers:
I returned to this area in 2017 for a thorough document of this former industrial, railway-heavy part of town; by then trespassers had bombed this building with amateur tagging.
NextSTL published a fantastic story in January, 2018 outlining the history of Steelcote and included some even better news, the Steelcote building was purchased for renovation into 32 lofts:
“Hellmuth & Hellmuth’s historic Steelcote Manufacturing Company Paint Factory at 801 Edwin Avenue will become 32 market rate rental lofts, bringing new vitality to a neglected corner of St. Louis. Pier Property Group (PPG) has the property under contract and applied last week for a permit to rezone the property. The $8 million plan by Trivers Associates calls for a rooftop courtyard with 360° views of the city. Ceilings are 10 to 12 feet in height. Some units will be two levels and will include private rooftop decks.”
I’m glad to see companies focused on historical renovations,like PPG, active in St. Louis. They are the ones behind the Woodward Lofts in Forest Park Southeast, another favorite project of ours.
So when I saw the signs of construction, I knew I had to get some photos to document this most important time for this building.
The next set of photos will be when it is complete and occupied once again.
Some renderings of the finished product from the PPG website:
The good news continues as the building just south of the main Steelcote building, the former Columbia Oil Company Building, will be renovated and billed as Steelcote Crossing:
“Historic rehabilitation of the Columbia Oil Company Building located at 7 Steelcote Square in St. Louis. The 17,000 square foot building accommodates 15 micro loft units and ground floor microbrewery or distillery space. Steelcote Crossing’s amenities include: oversized floor-to-ceiling window bays, polished concrete floors, stone countertops, unobstructed views of downtown St. Louis and immediate access to Saint Louis University.”
Here’s the current state of the building coupled with a rendering from the PPG website:
These renderings are optimistic with folks crossing the street at Edwin and Papin. Actually, Edwin Street is closed at Papin, fenced off for a loading dock and parking lot. Maybe there is hope for Edwin Street to become activated once again to Chouteau with these two buildings becoming a reality. At some point, Edwin Street was renamed Steelcote Square.
Cheers to historic renovation and people living in areas on and off the beaten path. May Midtown continue to become a place with mixed uses and better connections to the other parts of the city.
