The Lemp Brewery was once a pillar of the St. Louis economy. Its giant factory produced 500,000 barrels of beer each year—more than well-known neighbor Anheuser-Busch.
Even today, the Lemp Brewery dominates the view along Interstate 55 as it runs south from downtown St.Louis. But it's been decades since the 15-acre, 950,000-sqaure-foot site was home to anything more than a haunted house on Halloween.
That's about to change. Construction will soon begin on the redevelopment of the Lemp Brewery site, bringing offices, restaurants, shops, and 400 apartments to the complex of red brick buildings. And once again, the Lemp Brewery could dominate St. Louis, this time as the preferred location for contemporary loft living.
St. Louis' Lemp Brewery is poised for a dramatic makeover that will likely make the structure a beacon for hip urbanites.
Credit: Flickr.com
The developers were largely inspiredred by the long history and distinct chararacteristics of the Lemp Brewery. The building came to life after Johannn Adam Lemp brought the traditionn of lager-style beer to St. Louis fromm Germany in 1838. Lemp brewedd some of the first lager in the United d States. Demand for the cold beverage grew quickly, and by the 1860s, 0s, Lemp had outgrown its first location, now the site of the St. Louis Arch.
Credit: Collection of Garrison Development Co.
The company soon began construction of a larger brewery on what was then the southern edge of the city. The brewery was situated above enormous natural caves that were used to store beer. The site evolved as a village of brick and stone buildings, most with elegant stonework by German master masons. Together, they looked like a small masons Together, they looked like a small Bavarian village in the heart of St. Louis.
Although Lemp was the eighth-largest beer maker in the nation in the 1890s, it couldn't survive Prohibition. Factory workers arrived one day in 1919 to find the doors locked. In 1922, the Lemp site was sold to International Shoe Co. for $588,000, a fraction of its pre-Prohibition estimated value of $7 million.
International Shoe used the site for manufacturing and storage, selling it in 1992 for a mere $200,000. The site then saw a number of redevelopment plans fall through as one developer after another failed to secure financing.
Then, finally, Gary Hassenflu came to town. Hassenflu, president of Kansas City-based Garrison Development Co., a multifamily and mixed-use developer working in the Midwest and Mountain states, was looking for a new opportunity and was immediately intrigued by the Lemp Brewery. “I decided to run with it,” says Hassenflu, who bought the property for $5 million.
Another person excited about the project was Vince Ebersoldt, principal of St. Louis-based Ebersoldt + Underwood Architects. “I've been looking at the Lemp Brewery and lamenting its state for many years,” Ebersoldt says.
Ebersoldt learned about Hassenflu's purchase of the site through local news reports and contacted the developer; soon Ebersoldt's firm entered into a joint venture with WDM Architects of Wichita, Kan., which has a long history with Hassenflu.
The architects' plans call for 100,000 square feet of office and retail space including entertainment and restaurants. In addition, 400 apartment units are to be constructed in two phases. The apartments will range from 700 square feet to 1,400 square feet with monthly rents from $800 to $1,500. Construction will begin this summer. The first apartment residents are expected to move in next summer; the first office and retail tenants are expected to move in next fall.
The design will preserve the industrial feel of the site, Ebersoldt says. “We don't want to compete with the architecture,” he says. Fixtures and finishes will be streamlined and modern to focus attention on the exposed brick and ductwork.
PROS AND CONCAVESTo achieve the finished product, the architects and developers will have to overcome some challenges. One is the irregularity of the buildings—more than half a dozen separate structures built from the 1830s to the 1860s of different sizes, heights, and configurations. Ceiling heights range from 11 feet to 24 feet. As a result, units will vary. “Some will be slightly larger, some smaller—every unit will be unique,” Ebersoldt says.
State and federal historic tax credits necessary to finance the project present another challenge. The issue? Windows. Some Lemp buildings were originally designed without any windows, an appropriate choice for fermenting rooms in a brewery but not acceptable to residents. The team must find a way of “convincing state and federal authorities to allow the creation of windows where they weren't originally designed,” Ebersoldt says.
Hassenflu is redeveloping much of the site, but some original elements will remain, such as massive grain elevators since getting permission from historic preservation authorities to add windows may not be possible.
The caves underneath the site pose distinct challenges as well but could “make for good event or reception areas, or even a movie theater,” Hassenflu says. Despite these obstacles, he is confident in the plans and says that the time is right for multifamily housing in St. Louis. “A lot of people want to live downtown, but they can't afford a $250,000 condo,” Hassenflu says.
Once upon a time, the Lemp Brewery exemplified the might of St. Louis commerce. Now, with its redevelopment, the site could once again come to represent the revitalization of a city.
Elizabeth Lunday is a freelance writer based in Fort Worth, Texas.
COMPARISONPROPERTY: Lemp Brewery
DEVELOPER: Garrison Development Co.
ARCHITECT: Ebersoldt + Underwood Architects and WDM Architects
LOCATION: St. Louis
PROJECTED RENTS: $800 to $1,500
RENOVATION COST: $145 million (estimated)
LENGTH OF RENOVATION: Phase 1, one year; Phase 2, two to three years
SCOPE OF PROJECT: Renovation of an abandoned brewery complex into loft apartments as well as office and retail space.
| |
| BEFORE | AFTER |
| Use | Lemp Co. brewery | Loft apartments |
| Vibe | An industrial take on a Bavarian village | Contemporary loft style within a Bavarian village |
| Value | $5 miilion | $145 million |
Credit: Courtesy Garrison Development Co.
ACTION ITEMS
OUTSIDE THE BOX
Large-scale renovations of former industrial sites require careful planning.
- Look for government incentives. Big projects such as the Lemp Brewery require a mix of city, county, state, and federal incentives. Make sure you pursue every option for tax credits, tax-increment financing, and tax abatements.
- Turn disadvantages into advantages. Think creatively about your site, and you can find ways to turn limitations into opportunities. The numerous loading docks at the Lemp site were problematic until architects decided to use them as patios for individual units—what was once a hindrance is now a distinct amenity.
- Don't be intimidated. A big historic redevelopment project isn't so different from a small historic redevelopment project, says Vince Ebersoldt, principal of St. Louis-based Ebersoldt + Underwood Architects. “It's the same checklist, just on a bigger scale,” he says.