McGowan closes on Heer's building

The St. Louis developer closed on the building this afternoon at St. Louis Title Co. in his hometown, and Mary Lilly Smith, the city’s economic development director, said McGowan’s $3 million wire transfer had cleared.

“It went off without a hitch,” McGowan said in a phone interview. “The city no longer has the Heer’s building.”

McGowan was originally scheduled to close the transaction no later than Oct. 27, but paperwork delays and a last-minute title company change delayed the closing. City officials said efforts to wrangle up invoices for environmental remediation work done by previous developer Vaughn Prost on the former department store caused the delay.

McGowan said Chouteau Properties Inc. was the entity that purchased Heer’s and that a deed would be recorded in Greene County.

McGowan recently formed Blue Urban LLC and hired 15 employees from McGowan|Walsh, a company he formed with partner Nat Walsh three years ago. McGowan and Walsh have officially ended their partnership.

McGowan said Blue Urban will oversee the Heer’s redevelopment project, which will renovate the eight-story Heer’s building as either a boutique hotel or a block of condos above a Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood Restaurant. He told Springfield Business Journal today that he still prefers the hotel plan.

“The gut says don’t do the boutique hotel, but fortunately my heart says do it,” he said.

McGowan said he hopes to submit a finalized list of requested incentives to the city in the coming weeks after missing a Nov. 1 deadline. Construction would likely begin in the second quarter of 2008, he said.

McGowan also said he’s “looking at three sizeable properties downtown” for future renovation projects, but he declined to provide details.[[In-content Ad]]