<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The owner of downtown St. Louis&rsquo; former AT&amp;T tower wants to reimagine the vacant property not as a -story office building but a &ldquo;vertical city&rdquo; that could be home to hundreds of residents, office workers and hotel guests.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Marketing materials posted online by Colliers commercial real estate firm show New York-based SomeraRoad . is pursuing a mixed-use redevelopment of the historic building, at Chestnut Street, about six blocks northwest of Busch Stadium. It is rebranding the property as &ldquo;The Beacon on Chestnut&rdquo; and touts it as an &ldquo;amenity-rich vertical city.&rdquo;</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The brochure shows a spa, rooftop pool, garden and restaurant, over penthouse and regular apartments, about floors &mdash; , square feet &mdash; of office space, and a -room boutique hotel that would occupy four floors. Tenants could move into the office space by January for a lease rate of $ per square foot, materials show.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The brochure follows a series of moves SomeraRoad has made to lessen the financial burden of ownership and redevelopment of the . million-square-foot building after the real estate developer bought the downtown tower in April for $. million.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The property will likely require millions of dollars in order to be adapted for a new use in a struggling central business district and a market that is tepid on office space unless it is new or heavily renovated.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">But marketing materials don&rsquo;t guarantee a redevelopment is moving forward. City records show SomeraRoad has not yet applied for building permits, which would indicate some activity at the property. And Colliers has marketed other redevelopment plans by the former owner that never got off the ground.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">Ian Ross, founder and principal of SomeraRoad, declined to comment on the plans. Colliers&rsquo; Tony Kennedy, who is marketing the property along with Rocky Stenger, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">AT&amp;T&rsquo;s predecessor, Southwestern Bell Co., built the tower as its headquarters in the late s.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">The former AT&amp;T tower has been vacant since September , when its namesake relocated , employees to nearby buildings. That same year, U.S. Bank sued the owner and foreclosed on the building. The building had been in receivership &mdash; bondholders held about $ million in debt on the building &mdash; until SomeraRoad bought it this year.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">In September, the National Register of Historic Places granted the -year-old property historic status, giving SomeraRoad the ability to apply for historic tax credits to help in the redevelopment. The city of St. Louis also agreed to lower the appraised value from on $. million to $. million, the amount the property last appraised for in August , which would reduce its property tax levy.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">SomeraRoad is known for being creative with its real estate holdings. The company partnered with the city of Hazelwood to offer grants for entrepreneurs that could use the money for startup capital and rent at Village Square, an office and retail property at the Lindbergh Boulevard and Interstate in Hazelwood.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #777777; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #ffffff;">SomeraRoad invested around $ million into that Hazelwood center, bringing the occupancy up from % to % in three years.</p>