Completed: March 2006
Units: 131 Apartments
Gross Square Feet: 117,000
Original Completion Date: 1900
Cupples Station Loft Apartments is built upon ground teeming with rich history. Following the founding of Saint Louis in 1764 one hundred acres including Cupples were deeded to a grist mill owner near 8th and Spruce Streets. In 1767 the mill and land were deeded to Pierre Laclede founder of St. Louis who operated the mill until his death in 1779.
After his death the land upon which Cupples Station is built was owned by Auguste Chouteau who built a dam for a nearby creek creating a pond extending from 8th and Spruce Streets west to 21stStreet and Chouteau Ave.
Until 1840 the lake was a favorite recreational area when it became polluted and was ultimately closed in 1852 and drained. The dry lake bed was a perfect location for the railroad era and the vision of Robert Brooks a partner in Samuel Cupples Woodenware Co. was realized during the 1880s.
The ground and area were further developed between 1894-1917 and numerous warehouses were built which transformed the mercantile trade in St. Louis.
Today there remain eight of the original Cupples Warehouse buildings. The first three to be renovated are now part of the Westin Hotel; located two blocks east of Cupples Station Lofts. HRI Properties opened Cupples Stations Lofts an “affordable living” property in March 2006.
In 2007 Conrad Properties completed their renovation of Cupples Warehouse #1, which is now the home of Rodgers and Townsend Advertising and J Bucks an upscale restaurant and sports bar.
Three of the remaining Cupples Warehouse buildings are now owned by another developer, expecting to complete Cupples Warehouse # 8 in the late Spring of 2008.
