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ST. LOUIS — Clayton developer Green Street ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has sold a controlling stake in the Armory, the high-profile central corridor property that it has long worked to redevelop as office space.

According to real estate records, Envisage Properties LLC, headed by developer Curtis R. Fisher of Mankato, Minnesota, this month purchased a 52% interest in the historic property.

Green Street four years ago pitched an $83 million redevelopment plan for the Armory, a midtown landmark along Highway 40 (Interstate 64) and a historic structure built for the Missouri National Guard in the 1930s by the New Deal-era Public Works Administration.

The city signed off on $8.9 million in tax increment finance subsidies for the project and has lent it $730,000 through a low-interest Brownfields fund. But Green Street’s plan to fill in much of the Armory’s large atrium as part of a rehab into 170,000 square feet of “next generation� office space disqualified it from obtaining federal and Missouri Historic Tax Credits, which it hoped to use to finance some $11 million of the project.

Some work on the exterior of the Armory has been visible, but interior renovation never began. Now the coronavirus pandemic has injected uncertainty into the future market for office space as many firms adapt to remote workforces.

One investor in the project sued Green Street in May, alleging Green Street had reneged on an agreement to buy out its $2.3 million stake in the project. The investor, James Moyle, of Tennessee, and his company, Lazlo MM Investments, said it had found a buyer but that Green Street CEO Phil Hulse had stated “they had no interest whatsoever in parting with the underlying project at any price.�

It wasn’t immediately clear what impact the deal could have on that litigation; lawyers haven’t filed anything in the suit since last month.

A Green Street spokeswoman said the transaction brings a new investor into the Armory project and that Green Street is still leading the development.Ìý

Fisher said in an interview that he was "confident this project will succeed" and "excited to be a part of it." He said Green Street's record in the area plus the recent activity in the Central Corridor and nearby projects such as City Foundry made him bullish on the Armory's prospects.

Meanwhile, Green Street . The design firm worked on several infill hotel projects here and high-rise apartments such as Two Twelve Clayton, in addition to various suburban office parks and beverage distribution facilities around the country.

Green Street has also remained active on other projects, recently pitching $80 million worth of residential projects near the Grove.

Updated Oct. 21Ìýwith comments from Green Street's new Armory partner.Ìý