Lux Living seeks to overturn denial to demo Kingshighway and Highway 40 buildings

ST. LOUIS — Local apartment developer Lux Living is petitioning to have a city board overturn a decision that has kept the company from moving forward with a new project on South Kingshighway Boulevard near Highway 40 (Interstate 64).

Lux Living wants the St. Louis Preservation Board to reverse a decision by the Cultural Resources Office, which staffs the board, to stop the developer from razing a row of long-vacant buildings along South Kingshighway Boulevard, just south of Forest Park. The demolition would clear the way for Lux Living to build a mixed-use apartment development, according to a board agenda.

Lux Living is slated to go before the St. Louis Preservation Board on Dec. 5. Lux owner Victor Alston did not respond to a request for comment. The Preservation Board weighs in on demolition requests for property located in preservation review districts.

The project has already faced hurdles prior to CRO’s decision: The Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood Association this summer declined to endorse the proposal after a former Lux employee shared allegations that the company had talked about going around the city’s building division to take down the properties. Lux has denied those allegations.

The company is one of the most prolific developers in the St. Louis region, but it also has faced controversy over tenant complaints of property mismanagement and efforts to stall a competing development.

And it has often been at odds with the CRO and Preservation Board. Both groups have denied multiple attempts by Lux to demolish other buildings for new apartment developments — even after the Cultural Resources Office admitted to having “overlooked” a report from Lux detailing the property’s structural problems in one such case.

The neighborhood’s alderman, Tina Pihl, has also been a vocal opponent to Lux Living.

The seven buildings on South Kingshighway have been vacant for years. An affiliate of Drury Hotels owned the properties before selling them to Lux Living. Drury in 2008 proposed a $100 million project for two 16-story hotel towers at the site. But the plans never materialized after the Great Recession hit.