Garcia Properties is buying the vacant Grandview Arcade building at 3600 South Grand Boulevard with plans for apartments and office space.
"There’s not many of these buildings left," said Berto Garcia, a Garcia Properties owner, referring to the structure's terrazzo flooring, marble staircase and intricate ironwork.
Built in 1925, the building was meant to serve as a grand entrance to the Melba Theater, which was directly behind it. The theater was torn down in 1964 after a fire, and apartments now stand behind the Grandview Arcade.
The Lawrence Group purchased the building in 2006 along with the South Side National Bank building across the street. It rehabbed the bank tower as condos, offices and retail space, but plans to put apartments and retail into the Grandview Arcade never materialized.
Garcia Properties now hopes to bring the building back to life with 12 to 15 apartments on the second and third stories. On the ground floor, the company envisions offices and "work-live" space, where artists can both live and showcase their wares at street level, Garcia said.
The 30,000 square-foot building, which Garcia estimates has been vacant for 30 years, was likely saved by a new roof in the last couple of decades.
In recent years, Garcia Properties has completed the rehab of the historic historic Brahm-Mitchellette Motor Car Co. building at 3537 South Kingshighway and the historic Gratiot School building on Hampton Avenue.
Berto Garcia said his company is active in the Tower Grove area and he sees those neighborhoods' strength pushing into Gravois Park and Dutchtown.
“That Grand and Gravois corridor, it’s just a logical next step,” he said.
He estimates the project will run $4 million to $5 million and hopes to start construction in the fourth quarter of this year, with space available for rent by summer of 2019.
The building is within a historic district, so the company plans to use historic tax credits and utilize an existing redevelopment area on site to trigger property tax abatement from the city.