Developer Bets $350M on St. Louis Tower Revival

The 44-story tower at 909 Chestnut Street was originally known as One Bell Center and served as the headquarters for Southwestern Bell. Completed in 1986, it was designed by renowned architect Gyo Obata of the St. Louis-based firm HOK. The building has been vacant since 2017, when its primary tenant, AT&T, consolidated its offices. The Goldman Group, a Boston-based real estate firm, specializes in adaptive reuse projects, often acquiring underutilized historic properties and redeveloping them. Their strategy focuses on identifying buildings with "untapped potential" that can be acquired significantly below replacement cost. The firm manages its projects in-house, from acquisition and construction to long-term operations. The downtown St. Louis real estate market presents a mixed picture. While the median home sale price was up 6.4% year-over-year in January 2026 to $166,250, the market is not considered very competitive, with homes taking a median of 131 days to sell. Some data from late 2025 indicated a year-over-year decline in median sale prices for the downtown neighborhood. This project is part of a larger trend of urban renewal in St. Louis and other Midwest cities. St. Louis has multiple redevelopment plans in motion, including the $1.2 billion Gateway South project aimed at revitalizing 100 acres of the riverfront and the St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corporation overseeing a 400-acre area. These efforts mirror transformations in other post-industrial cities that are leveraging affordable real estate to attract new investment and residents. The tower's previous sale in 2006 was for nearly $205 million to a real estate investment trust. AT&T then leased back the space before eventually vacating. The dramatic drop in the building's sale price reflects broader challenges in the U.S. commercial property sector, particularly for large office buildings in the wake of shifting work patterns. For the redevelopment, the building's historic status is a key financial lever. Though not yet 50 years old, its architectural significance and the fact that it has been minimally updated since its construction in 1985 helped it qualify for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, making the project eligible for historic tax credits. The planned conversion into a mixed-use development with residential apartments and retail space is a common strategy for revitalizing vacant downtown office towers. This approach aims to create a more vibrant, 18-hour downtown by increasing the residential population and providing amenities that serve both residents and the wider community.