Cost estimates spur developers to halt demolition

The developers planning to renovate the Marquette Hotel for state office spaces and private retail and restaurant space, have changed their minds on a nearby building and have decided not to demolish it.

Instead, the building, currently owned by Southeast Missouri State University, will be renovated and turned into more office space.

The final plans for the Marquette area project have been submitted to the city and will be reviewed tonight by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission. A public hearing has also been set for the 7 p.m. meeting at the city council chambers at city hall.

The commission and the council have both approved the preliminary plans for the project, but the final plans include one major change: the renovation, not the demolition, of a building at 211 Fountain St., just behind the H&H Building on Broadway.

The building is currently used as a printing and duplicating center as well as a mail receiving facility for the university.

The Fountain Street building is under contract to be purchased by the developers, Prost Builders of Jefferson City, Mo., said Thomas M. Meyer, a real estate agent involved in the Marquette dealings. The building has a basement and two levels above ground and will be named the Marquette Centre. It won't be ready for renovation until spring when the university moves the printing operation out of the building and into the on-campus Parker Pool building. The pool facility is being discontinued because of financial constraints at the university.

Astronomical costs

Originally the Fountain Street building was going to be torn down for a parking lot, but the developer found that the demolition costs were going to be astronomical.

"When we went and did our review, it turned out that the way the building is constructed with the need to support automobiles, it was just built with a lot of reinforced concrete and steel," said Fred Lafser, a development consultant hired by Prost. "Back in the day when this building was built, they tended to overcompensate and double the concrete and steel. There is a lot of cost associated with demolishing this building and it made us think about what we could afford."

The development of this building will be in conjunction with the Marquette Hotel's renovation. All told, the developers will pump $8 million into the project.

Lafser and Meyer said the developers are hoping someone will commit to leasing the top floor of the hotel and the roof for a restaurant.

Lafser said the roof was a garden at one point.

Meyer said he has been showing the skyline to potential clients.

"There is a great view of the river and the downtown area and there is a spectacular view of the bridge," Meyer said.

In other areas of the building, Meyer said there has been "genuine interest" in leasing space, though everything is very preliminary at this point, he said.

bmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127