Tax Credit Program Highlight: Busch-Kirby Building

History

Built in 1913 for beer baron Adolphus Busch, the Busch Building was proposed as a complementary retail and office building for the neighboring Adolphus Hotel. The Kirby Investment Company acquired the building in 1919. St. Louis firm Barnett, Hayes, and Barnett designed the towering late-Gothic skyscraper with fine terracotta detailing, and Gothic pinnacles and spires highlighting the top; the building has since been regarded as the most perfect expression of late-Gothic architecture in skyscraper form. Following additions in 1925 and 1930 reflected the building’s Gothic style as well as the Art-Deco style. The Busch building notably housed the A. Harris and Co. Department Store, later the Sanger-Harris Department Store, from 1913 through 1965, when the store moved to a new location.

Rehabilitation Project

The Busch-Kirby Building underwent a major rehabilitation in the late 1990s using the federal tax credit program, and is currently in use for loft apartments. The building remained in use throughout this project, which focused on updating and rehabilitating a series of individual apartment units throughout the building as tenants moved out. In each of these apartment units, new kitchens and bathrooms were installed, and many units that previously were configured as semi-open loft spaces were reconfigured to create separate bedroom spaces to meet tenant demand. Future phases are to include further apartment refinishing, as well as structural work and improvement to the common spaces.