When visiting downtown St. Louis, it’s hard not to notice the decline of formerly iconic buildings of the gateway city’s skyline. However, the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, along with several private developers, have made significant progress in restoring the area to its original glory. According to Fox 2 News, one project currently underway focuses on creating new housing, retail and public spaces on the 4.2 acre lot currently housing the now closed Millennium Hotel. A significant portion of this project, including the majority of the civic aspects, will be overseen by Mike LaMartina, KHS class of 2000 and current president of Ballpark Village.
“The Millennium Hotel has been closed for over a decade,” LaMartina said. “It’s currently owned by a company in Singapore, who intended to let it just continue to decay.”
This redevelopment is being financed by the Cordish Companies, which is also responsible for the building of Ballpark Village. This new site is another in a long series of community fixtures across the country created by this real estate developer.
“Even though this project will be privately financed, it’s definitely going to require a public/private partnership,” LaMartina said. “We have and will continue to work in collaboration with the city and the state.”
Plans for this redevelopment were originally submitted to the Gateway Arch Park Foundation at the end of 2024 and approved in early 2025. Even with many of the eventual plans laid out, LaMartina said the construction will still be a long process.
“If everything goes as planned, we anticipate the site being ready for development in early 2027,” LaMartina said. “And the project will probably be finished sometime around 2030.”
LaMartina said one cause of the lengthy procedure is the difficulty that will come with the demolition of the Millennium Hotel building. The 11-story hotel resides in a busy downtown area which will limit the demolition methods used.
“The building will have to come down piece by piece, not with an implosion or wrecking ball due to its proximity to other buildings,” LaMartina said. “It’ll definitely be a process, and we anticipate it taking around 500 days to clear the whole site.”
According to LaMartina, despite the long road ahead, the end result of the project is definitely anticipated to be worth it. One benefit being offered by the redevelopment is the connection it will provide to the whole downtown area.
“Right now, Busch Stadium and the Arch have a gap between them, but through this project we will be able to holistically connect the two through a critical downtown area,” LaMartina said. “It’ll make everything more walkable and accessible for both tourists and those who live there.”
LaMartina said he hopes that this development will become another in a series of significant improvements to downtown St. Louis. This project will offer new retail, public spaces and other real estate.
“Downtown can’t survive with small pockets of great things,” LaMartina said.“It takes big opportunities like this one to really make a difference.”
