A former St. Paul convent may have seen its last music lesson, but a Northfield-based developer still hopes to make the building’s history sing.
Rebound Hospitality plans to convert the Exchange Building at 26 Exchange St. E. into a boutique hotel with approximately 72 rooms. The building dates to 1910 and originally was built to house St. Agatha’s Conservatory of Music and Art and the associated convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Although St. Agatha’s closed its conservatory in 1962, the building was later used by the St. Paul Conservatory of Music and additional office tenants.
Rebound specializes in the restoration and reuse of historic properties, including hotel properties in Northfield; Decorah, Iowa; and Des Moines. The company purchased the Exchange Building in October for $3.675 million, and the project is moving into the financing stage as the company receives a $394,000 loan through the St. Paul Port Authority for the project.
Rebound Chief Operating Officer Todd Byhre said plans call for extensive restoration work, especially to the front exterior of the building, and for incorporating the building’s historic terrazzo floors and chapel space in public areas for hotel guests.
“What really draws us to it is it’s a beautiful building with some incredible spaces inside,” Byhre said. “But it’s also in a wonderful location for both leisure and business guests, with access to the light rail and really everything downtown has to offer.”
Byhre noted the interior already is arranged well for guest rooms. “It sort of screams to be a hotel as its highest and best use at this point.”
Construction could begin as soon as late summer.
“We’re waiting on the National Parks Service and [State Historic Preservation Office] on the historic tax credit review,” Byhre said, adding that process will hopefully conclude in the next 30 days. “Once we’re through that process, we will move on to construction and the opening of the hotel.”
In addition to the Historic Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit from the state, the developer has turned to the Port Authority for the $394,000 loan through the Trillion BTU program to install energy-efficiency upgrades, including a complete overhaul of the building’s HVAC systems. That request was approved at a May 15 meeting of the Port Authority’s credit committee. Rebound also plans to install sprinklers and other safety and code features currently lacking in the building.
Byhre declined to share the estimated cost of the project, although he said it would be “much more than the cost of the building.”
“But that’s also what’s going to make the character of the hotel, so it’s well worth it,” he said.
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