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Pinnacle Begins Work on Lofts at the Hupp

Posted on 08/04/2020

Pinnacle Contracting has been selected as the general contractor for The Lofts at the Hupp. The project is a three-story, 70-unit historic rehab in an historically significant building at 1815 Locust in the Downtown West area of St. Louis.

The project will include interior and exterior parking, solar panels on the roof, a clubroom, and a fitness center. Additional design elements include new sealed concrete floors, exposed painted concrete ceilings, exposed exterior masonry walls, and large historic replica aluminum windows that allow for ample natural light. Ebersoldt + Associates is the architect on the project.

Construction has recently begun on the 115,317-square-foot project, and is slated to be complete next summer.

Matt Masiel,  founder of Screaming Eagle Development, LLC, developed a knowledge of and affinity for historic St. Louis buildings on the real estate finance side of the business. Seeing his clients succeed, he became fascinated by the process.

Masiel holds a civil engineering degree from Vanderbilt and was deployed as an engineer with the 101st Airborne (“Screaming Eagles”) in Iraq. After leaving the Army he earned an MBA and then worked in banking. Masiel believed that, with a little education, he could leverage his background in banking to structure similar deals for himself and use his engineering background  to oversee property rehab. In June of 2016, Masiel founded Screaming Eagle Development.

After an extensive search, the building at 1815 Locust captured Masiel’s interest in 2018, because  its history and the possibilities it offered were a match with his vision for St. Louis real estate.

From University to Cars, to Tires

In 1884, Washington University purchased a parcel of land at Locust and 19th Streets from the Unitarian pastor William Greenleaf Eliot for $1. Soon after, the University built a one-story brick school on the site. When later making plans to unify its campus, Washington University demolished the school building.

The board then commissioned architect Preston J. Bradshaw to design a new mercantile building as an investment. Bradshaw had already designed a small-scale building near the site on Locust, which was quickly becoming known as “Automobile Row,” and would go on to develop The Coronado Hotel, another St. Louis landmark.

The building at 1815 Locust Street was purchased by George Weber, Sr., of The Weber Implement and Automobile Company, which sold farm implements, buggies, wagons, and a variety of early automobiles—most notably the short-lived Hupmobile (made by the Hupp Motor Company). George Weber’s company became the St. Louis area’s preeminent Chevrolet dealership. That history earned it a spot on the National Registry of Historic places as “The Weber Implement and Automobile Company Building.”

Weber sold the building in 1993 to tire wholesaler Tire Mart. Screaming Eagle Development put a $3.2 million contract on the building in early 2018, acquiring it with a loan from Midwest Regional Bank.

Screaming Eagle used government-based financing program HUD 221(d)(4), which allows investors to take out a low-cost fixed-rate loan to convert spaces for moderately-priced multi-family rentals. The estimated $21.5 renovation won  City of St. Louis’ Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority’s approval for two five-year tax abatements.

The project is slated to receive a five-year tax abatement based on 90 percent of the assessed value of incremental improvements followed by another five-year tax abatement that’s based on 70 percent of the assessed value of incremental improvements. The property was appraised at $1.1 million, by the City at the time of its acquisition.

Founded in 1998, Pinnacle Contracting, Inc. offers  general contracting and design/build for owners and developers in historic renovations, medical, build-to-suits, logistics, office finish, and multi-family projects.

 

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