ºüÀêÊÓƵ

ST. LOUIS — The company aiming to redevelop downtown’s long-vacant AT&T tower said it is still pursuing its plans, though it no longer has the property under contract to buy.

Advantes Group said in a statement Friday that it continues to work on “overcoming many obstacles and challenges.�

The company had the building, at 909 Chestnut Street, under contract to buy from SomeraRoad Inc. and had a $300 million plan to turn the property into apartments and a hotel. But sources with direct knowledge of the situation told the Post-Dispatch last week that the deal was off.

But late Friday, ºüÀêÊÓƵ-based Advantes — which declined comment before the Post-Dispatch story last week — said it was still pursuing the development.

“Advantes Group remains committed to developing the AT&T Tower and has not abandoned plans,� co-owner Gretchen Minges said in a statement.

She did not respond to requests for further comment.

The skyscraper was built in 1986 for Southwestern Bell Co. at a time when downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ had more business and corporations wanted palatial headquarters.

In 2006, the company, by then AT&T, sold the tower to a real estate investment trust for $205 million and leased it back for its ºüÀêÊÓƵ workers.

But by 2017, with its headquarters in Texas and far fewer employees in downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ, AT&T had begun to move employees to other nearby buildings, emptying the downtown tower. That same year, U.S. Bank sued the owner and foreclosed on the property.

The building languished in receivership for years, until SomeraRoad bought it last year for just $4.1 million. Bondholders at the time held about $107 million in debt on the building.

SomeraRoad approached Advantes about taking on a redevelopment. The company succeeded in getting the building on the National Register of Historic Places, a designation that allowed Advantes to access about $80 million in state and federal tax credits.