The long-vacant Millennium Hotel in downtown St. Louis will be torn down to make way for a new development by the same folks who developed Ballpark Village near Busch Stadium, home to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.
The Gateway Arch Park Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the nearby national park, chose The Cordish Cos. from three bidders for the site.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported
Officials described the $670 million proposal from The Cordish Cos. as a “preliminary plan” but final elements are likely to include “upscale” housing, top office space, public spaces, an amphitheater, a food hall, event space, a potential home for the Gateway Arch National Park’s archives, pedestrian-friendly spaces and art installations.
A St. Louis development board in September gave initial approval for 20 years of tax abatement. The project will go before the city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority for review on Tuesday.
“This redevelopment plan will transform the St. Louis skyline,” Neal Richardson, the head of St. Louis Development Corp., which oversees the LCRA, said in a statement. “Working with Gateway Arch Park Foundation and The Cordish Cos. on this project will provide the rejuvenation St. Louis desperately needs to transition into a world-class city.”
The foundation bought the troubled property last fall, which had been vacant since 2024.
The hotel, standing between the Gateway Arch and Busch Stadium on Fourth Street, was built in 1969.
For years, the hotel — with its distinctive cylindrical main building — was a focal point for tourists and Cardinals fans. It sits only a couple of blocks from the Route 66 alignment of downtown St. Louis.
The main tower is 28 stories and once featured a restaurant on the top floor, called Top of the Riverfront.
A second, 11-story tower was built years later. In all, the hotel contained more than 700 rooms.
The Millennium originally was known as Stouffer’s Riverfront Inn and later the Regal Riverfront Hotel before being acquired by Millennium Hotels and Resorts in 1999. It was also known as The Clarion Hotel.
Tiernan Design designed the hotel, and it was built by William B. Tabler Architects.
(Image of the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis by Warren LeMay via Flickr)