Before Costco and Amazon, the Butler Brothers warehouse distribution building was constructed in 1906 as the modern wholesaler of its day. Sited just two blocks north of St. Louis Union Station, which at the time was one of the busiest rail hubs in the United States, the astounding 735,000 GSF building encompasses an entire city block in west downtown St Louis. The site’s history is even richer still, as it was the location of the 1st world chess championship in 1883. Before our transformation of this keystone building, St. Louis’ Butler Brothers Building stood vacant for the better part of two decades.

The newly reimagined building, now named The Victor, has been redeveloped with nearly 400 apartment units, in-building parking, retail, coworking, and residential amenities that include an expanded interior courtyard where once was located a loading dock, and a rooftop with pool and walking track in place of simple TPO membrane.

The building is reorganized along a dominant east-west axial spine, connecting 17th street through the building to a new lobby, courtyard, and connecting through the historic lobby to the west out to 18th street one story below. Amenity spaces and units are orientated around this new axial connection, reactivating the building from the inside out.The new courtyard – the jewel of the development – features a tiered deck with accessible ramps. Those tiers lead down to an intimate courtyard with moveable furnishings and bench seating nestled between two large ovoid planted mounds. Shade-loving trees and native plantings give the courtyard an almost forest-like feel.