ST. LOUIS — The developer that purchased the Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge on Lindell Boulevard now plans to demolish the building and erect in its place a $20 million, seven-story structure with 78 apartments.
Clayton-based Collegiate Development Group first proposed a $5 million rehab of the fraternal organization’s lodge at 3765 Lindell Boulevard. It closed on the purchase, which city documents said totaled about $900,000, in October.
The new project would have three times the number of apartment units as originally planned.
Collegiate Development is seeking city approval for a decade of property tax abatement on 90% of the value of improvements.
The Odd Fellows were looking for a one-level building so it’s easier for older members to get around.
Collegiate isn’t the only developer working on a plan to rehab a building owned by a fraternal organization. Developer Brian Hayden is planning apartments in the huge Masonic Temple down the street from the Odd Fellows lodge. And 15 years ago, Amy and Amrit Gill managed to restore the old Moolah Temple built for the Shriners fraternal organization as a movie theater, bowling alley and apartments.
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The Odd Fellows project is the second one that Collegiate Development Group is proposing in the city. The company plans to move its headquarters to Midtown as part of an $8.2 million rehab of the Nash Building, a 1920s auto dealership on 3000 Locust Street. The company is adding 22 apartments to that building and plans to occupy the ground floor. The city allocated $5 million in federal new markets tax credits for the project and approved a 10-year tax abatement on 90% of the improvements.
Collegiate Development said it has $500 million worth of projects in development across the country, mainly geared toward students in college towns, including one in Columbia, Missouri.