ST. LOUIS — Oliver Properties started with the eight-story Merchandise Mart apartment building at 10th Street and Washington Avenue, upgrading the city landmark’s mechanics and amenities.
The local real estate investment firm now envisions taking on more of downtown St. Louis.
“I see incredible strength along Wash Ave,” said founder Alex Oliver. “It’s going to take some work, but there’s huge potential.”
Downtown has the highest office vacancy of any area in the St. Louis region at 28.6%, according to research from commercial real estate firm CBRE. The Wall Street Journal called it a “real estate nightmare” that is stuck in its own “doom loop.” High-profile incidents of crime and lawlessness have warded off some business and foot traffic.
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But then there are companies like Oliver Properties that still see value and have managed to persuade their investors as well.
“There was caution for sure,” Oliver said. “But we don’t need the downtown market to light on fire for this to work.”
His company owns five properties in downtown and Downtown West. Merchandise Mart, at 1000 Washington, is the easternmost building that Oliver Properties owns.
The company invested about $7 million into that building, which features a restaurant on the ground floor and amenities like a coffee lounge, spa and rooftop patio. Oliver said his firm uses a mix of bank loans and investor money to acquire and fund projects.
His investment thesis is simple, he said: Fix deferred maintenance. Add or upgrade amenities. Hire strong building management. Keep the property locked and secure. Trouble comes most often when management is lacking and owners are out-of-towners, he said.
Oliver Properties invested $7 million to upgrade the historic Merchandise Mart building. The real estate investment firm is seeking to grow its downtown St. Louis holdings.
Oliver followed a similar model when he first started real estate investing more than 15 years ago.
A native of northern Illinois, he and his wife moved to St. Louis for his engineering job around 2007. He focused on acquiring, rehabbing and managing south St. Louis four-family flats and eight-unit buildings.
By 2014, his hobby became his full-time focus. He bought historic apartment buildings that hadn’t been updated in 10 to 20 years, and brought on investment partners in 2017, he said.
Oliver and his wife lived at One Cardinal Way, the luxury apartment tower adjacent to Busch Stadium. They were downtown during the period in 2023 when law and order enforcement seemed absent, he said, when random windows of office towers were being shot out and unchecked parties were common.
They noticed a change, though, after a teenager was seriously injured by a speeding car, a case that ultimately led to the resignation of then-St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner.
When Gabe Gore took over from Gardner, Oliver felt the ship slowly righting, he said.
“I think I’m seeing that this is no longer falling off the edge of a cliff,” Oliver said.
And he saw opportunity in his own neighborhood to do something similar to what he did in South City.
“I talked to my team, like, ‘Look, I think our niche is pretty emblematic of what exists downtown,'” he recalled.
It helped that others saw downtown’s potential, too, he said: The new apartment building at 10th and Spruce Street. The expansion of America’s Center convention complex. The redevelopment of Jefferson Arms, near Washington and Tucker Boulevard. The Downtown North innovation district.
Last month, Oliver Properties closed on its acquisition of Ventana Lofts at 1635 Washington. More deals, he said, are in the pipeline.
But he said more investment is needed from businesses to fill office and retail vacancies. Downtown’s success won’t hinge on it becoming a purely residential neighborhood.
“How are we making sure there’s jobs and demand, and this is a place where people want to eat?” Oliver said. “We can add all the supply we want, but if people don’t want to be here, then they’re not going to be occupied.”
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Police Chief Robert Tracy speak about Greater St. Louis, Inc.’s Downtown Public Safety Ambassadors program which will augment existing police patrols in the area. Video by Laurie Skrivan, Post-Dispatch
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