ST. LOUIS 鈥 The owner of the Optimist Building in the Central West End said on Wednesday that a developer is taking another shot at redeveloping the site of the historic building.
The proposal from apartment developer Lux Living seemed all but dead last month when the city鈥檚 Preservation Board, which oversees demolition requests and redevelopment plans of property in historic districts, denied the St. Louis firm鈥檚 plan to raze the property to make way for 150 apartments.
But Optimist International chief Benny Ellerbe said Wednesday that his nonprofit has agreed to extend Lux鈥檚 purchase agreement so the company can find an architecture firm to create 鈥渕ore acceptable鈥 design plans to present to the board.
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Lux Living鈥檚 Vic Alston did not respond on Wednesday to requests for comment. He has said it wasn鈥檛 financially feasible for his firm to keep the building and that razing the midcentury-modern structure was the only way to make his plan work.
But Ellerbe said in an email that 鈥渨e are nowhere near a closing/final sale.鈥 Optimist International鈥檚 commercial real estate broker, John Warren of Cushman & Wakefield, said Lux will keep the building or redesign it into new plans.
Optimist International, a more than 100-year-old children鈥檚 charity, put its longtime headquarters on the market in 2020, citing costly maintenance and a smaller staff.
Project puts the Preservation Board at the center of the city鈥檚 battle between preservationists and developers.