ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

ST. LOUIS — The company remaking downtown’s Millennium Hotel may build a bridge across Interstate 44 to better connect to the Gateway Arch grounds.

The Cordish Cos. on Tuesday shared more details about its $670 million mixed-use plan for the 4-acre site just off the riverfront.

The company is eyeing an extension of Clark Avenue to the Arch grounds with a bridge or highway cover, similar to what was built during the Arch grounds renovation several years ago.

Cordish also wants more retail, plus a facelift at the parking garage on Fourth Street and Broadway that sits between the hotel and Busch Stadium.

Cordish doesn’t own the garage but company officials said during a city development meeting on Tuesday that they would work with the owner on such changes. Officials said they were excited about the project.

“It will be a game changer, and that’s why we wanted to be a part of it,� said Zed Smith, Cordish’s chief operating officer.

Last week, Cordish announced plans to demolish the Millennium, which has been vacant for over a decade, to make way for luxury housing, offices, an amphitheater, food hall and other amenities.

The Gateway Arch Park Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of the national park grounds, picked the company in conjunction with city officials, the region’s business lobby and independent experts. The foundation has the site, at 200 South Fourth Street, under contract to buy.

Documents shared during the meeting, of the city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, provide several new details on Cordish’s plan:

• A 41-story apartment with 585 market-rate units.
• 283,000 square feet of offices.
• 28,000 square feet of retail.
• 33,000 square feet of outdoor space.
• 1,000-stall parking garage.
• 8,000-square-foot food hall and winter garden that would be enclosed with glass so visitors don’t miss out on views of the Arch. 

“This has the potential to be a catalyst for revitalizing the urban core,� Smith said. 

Cordish did not share project funding details nor a timeline for construction.

LCRA board members approved Cordish as the site’s redeveloper. New board member Lindsey Evans, a senior project manager for design firm PGAV, which worked with Cordish on the Millennium plan, recused herself from the vote. 

Millennium Hotel opened in 1969 as Stouffer’s Riverfront. At 760 rooms, it was once the region’s largest hotel. Its owner, City Developments Limited, shuttered the building in 2014 and later blamed the pandemic for not reopening. 

Editor's note: A production error removed the last portion of the article's text. It has been restored.