With Meredith Home sale in Belleville, renovation of historic building will now start
The former Hotel Belleville and Meredith Home, one of the dominant buildings on Belleville Public Square that once faced demolition, has been sold for $600,000 by the city to the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority and a St. Louis company to make way for senior housing on the upper floors and retail or restaurant space on the first floor.
This $14.2 million renovation of the historic building was first announced in 2016 and has faced financing delays, but developers said Friday construction crews could begin interior demolition work as soon as next week.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Mike Lundy, the executive director of the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority, also known as SWIDA, which is working on the project with St. Louis-based Bywater Development Group.
The project was originally valued at $12 million.
Lundy said construction is expected to be finished in summer of 2021.
The hulking, brick building opened as Hotel Belleville in 1931, and then the Belleville Diocese operated it as the Meredith Home for senior citizens from 1962 to 2010, when the city bought the building for $487,500 from the diocese.
“It’s been a part of our city landscape and the Public Square for a long time,” Mayor Mark Eckert said.
Eckert said he is excited “to see this type of reinvestment of up to $14 million on the Public Square and then bring people living back downtown that can interact with our businesses when they all get back open and take advantage of our shops and restaurants … It’s going to serve a great purpose for many years to come.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased about the closing of the financing and commencement of rehabilitation of Lofts on the Square,” said Jim Nations, chairman of the board of SWIDA in a news release statement. “Our team has worked hard to finalize a difficult financing, but we would not be here today but for the amazing and patient support of Mayor Eckert, the City Council, city development staff — and the Belleville community which has worked diligently to save this important historic landmark.”
The project is expected to create 150 construction jobs , Eckert said.
Residents of the Lofts on the Square must be at least 55 and earn less than 60 percent of the area’s median income, according to the news release. The development could bring up to 60 downtown residents in the six-story building.
Project highlights
▪ The Illinois Housing Development Authority approved $7.5 million in federal low-income housing tax credits for the project in 2018. The agency said developers convert the credits into equity by selling them to investors who utilize the credits to offset tax liability. In 2017, the state housing board rejected the Lofts on the Square’s initial request for tax credits. At that time, there were 58 requests for tax credits but only 20 projects received them.
▪ Last year, the project received state historic tax credits worth $2.1 million. The vacant building known for its art-deco style previously was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
▪ The City Council has agreed to spend up to $426,000 over a 10-year period for rental vouchers for 12 units in the Lofts on the Square. In exchange for this commitment, the developers agreed to pay the city $600,000 for the building instead of $500,000. If the Lofts on the Square opens as planned, the six-story building would return to the property tax rolls and could yield $30,000 annually in property tax revenue. Also, a development agreement calls for SWIDA and Bywater to seek federal rent vouchers so the city could stop paying for vouchers.
▪ The city has agreed to let Lofts on the Square residents park in a city lot off South First Street and part of the Meredith Home structure will be removed to create a handful of parking spots. Lundy said he has not yet spoken to the company that bought the News-Democrat’s former parking lot at the corner of High and Washington streets.
▪ The city bought the building in 2010 for $487,500 from the Belleville Diocese, which had operated the Meredith Memorial Home for retirees since 1962. Since it purchased the brick building, the city has spent over $120,000 fixing the roof.
▪ The city had decided to tear down the building, and Belleville attorney Bruce Cook donated $500,000 to pay for the demolition and replace it with a park in honor of his late daughter. But the city later put a moratorium on the demolition and returned Cook’s donation.
▪ In 2014, the Meredith Home/Hotel Belleville building was named one of the 10 most-endangered places in the state by the preservation group Landmarks Illinois.
▪ Hotel Belleville opened in 1931 with a dinner reception for 1,000 guests. Larry Betz, president of the Belleville Historical Society, has said the building was the “crown jewel of Belleville as far as commercial buildings go.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 5:30 PM.
