ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Boeing has sold its 286-acre corporate retreat near Florissant to a Catholic graduate school and multimedia producer for $19 million.
The Augustine Institute, currently based near Denver, closed the deal Monday for the Boeing Leadership Center to build what it calls a national center for evangelization. The new campus for the graduate school of theology will open in fall 2024. Other operations will move to ºüÀêÊÓƵ County over the next few years, according to a press release.
The new location will “transform the work of the Augustine Institute by allowing us to take our curriculum and resources beyond a digital interface, which already reaches millions around the world, into a national center for Catholic conferences, retreats, evangelization, and fellowship,†Tim Gray, president of the institute, said in a statement.
The institute will work closely with the Archdiocese of ºüÀêÊÓƵ on events and outreach to local Catholics, leaders said.
People are also reading…
“I believe that the Augustine Institute will transform this property into the premier center for the new evangelization in the United States,†said ºüÀêÊÓƵ Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, in a statement. “By leveraging ºüÀêÊÓƵ’ central location, the Augustine Institute can foster a new era of collaboration with Catholic organizations nationwide and invite more people to encounter Jesus Christ and his Church.â€
Evangelization is a stated goal of the “All Things New†reorganization of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ archdiocese. Last year, Rozanski announced the closure of 35 out of 178 parishes and the merger of 15 others. Three Catholic grade schools will close at the end of the year.
The Boeing Leadership Center includes the Vouziers mansion, a French country chateau built for Joseph Desloge in 1926. McDonnell Douglas Corp. bought the estate and surrounding woods in 1996 for $7 million. The property overlooking the Missouri River is appraised at $28.8 million, according to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County assessor.
Under Boeing, the property at 16805 New Halls Ferry Road became a corporate retreat and conference center. The company added an eight-story, 98,000-square-foot event center with 84 guest rooms and multiple offices among other upgrades.
Boeing shut down the property soon after the start of the pandemic in 2020 and laid off 81 Aramark employees who worked in hospitality at the center. The property was listed for sale earlier this year. A representative for Boeing did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
The Augustine Institute operates a 500-student graduate school of theology and , a streaming service for religious content. It also publishes Catholic school curriculum. One of the organization’s goals in relocating to ºüÀêÊÓƵ County is reportedly to increase enrollment in the graduate school and offer student housing.