Largest office building in St. Louis has sold for $3.5 million, but in 2006, it sold for $205 million

For a century, the Railway Exchange Building served as the bustling heart of downtown St. Louis. Locals filled its sprawling, ornate 21-story structure daily, whether for work, shopping at the department store on the lower floors, or dining on the famous French onion soup at its restaurant.

Today, the building stands vacant, its windows boarded up. A fire last year, believed to be caused by copper thieves, left its mark. Police and firefighters conduct occasional raids to search for missing individuals or evict squatters. Tragically, a search dog died during one raid last year after falling through an open window.

The building is a focal point in a neighborhood marked by deserted sidewalks strewn with broken glass and remnants of copper pipes left by scavengers. Signs advise visitors to "park in well-lit areas." Nearby, the city's largest office building, the 44-story AT&T Tower, now stands empty after recently selling for around $3.5 million.

As offices remain unoccupied, shops and restaurants shutter, and abandoned buildings create voids that drain vitality from the surrounding streets. The sight of boarded-up buildings and empty sidewalks further deters people from commuting downtown.

This cycle has accelerated in recent years, particularly as the pandemic forced office closures. St. Louis's central business district experienced the sharpest decline in foot traffic of 66 major North American cities between the start of the pandemic and last summer, according to the University of Toronto's School of Cities. While foot traffic has improved somewhat in the past 12 months, the recovery lags behind that of many Midwestern cities.

The impact is most acutely felt in cities far from the coasts. Six of the 10 U.S. office districts with the most significant drop in foot traffic between 2019 and mid-2023 are located in the Midwest, according to the University of Toronto.

Reversing this downward spiral is challenging once decay sets in. To revitalize local businesses, the city aims to incentivize developers to convert empty office buildings into hundreds of apartments. However, these projects are costly, particularly with low rents in St. Louis and the challenge of high interest rates.

When developers cannot viably convert offices into residential units, they often opt to wait for funding or a buyer, highlighting the pitfalls of relying solely on private developers to revive an office district.

The Wall Street Journal's account provides detailed insight into the progression of St. Louis's urban decay.

New York City is grappling with a similar decline, though less advanced. The city is focusing on converting office buildings into apartments, a strategy that comes with its own set of challenges, including the size and configuration of windows and the addition of bathrooms. While Lower Manhattan has seen some success in converting offices to residential spaces over the past two decades, many of these buildings had offices with water views, increasing the appeal of residential conversions.