St. Louis real estate firm Oliver Properties is investing $7 million in renovations at a 213-unit downtown apartment building after acquiring the property in late 2023.
The improvements at the newly named Six Cord apartments, 1000 Washington Ave., have included renovated apartments and new and upgraded community spaces for tenants. Oliver Properties’ project comes as the firm has made other investments downtown, putting a focus on the neighborhood after having operated apartment complexes elsewhere in the city.
Oliver, led by owner Alex Oliver, in November 2023 purchased 1000 Washington Ave. for $18.8 million from Milwaukee-based Mandel Group. Mandel had owned the building since 2016. The building, in addition to its 200-plus apartments, includes commercial tenants Stanley’s Cigar Lounge and Sen Thai Asian Bistro. The building is the former Merchandise Mart, built in 1881 as part of downtown’s garment district. The new name, Six Cord, is a nod to the building’s garment district past as it refers to a type of thread.
Oliver describes his firm, Oliver Properties, as a redeveloper focused on taking ownership of properties to make investments and improve operations rather than completing ground-up real estate development projects.
“Almost always we’re taking an existing structure, and in most cases, we’re taking existing apartments and just changing the amenities, changing the configuration and doing some strategic capital improvements,” he said.
The Six Cord apartments fit into that strategy, with Oliver saying “there was a clear path we saw to add value.” He was attracted to the property because of its location on Washington Avenue and the commercial businesses nearby.
“There’s a ton of walkability in this immediate vicinity and that’s a big thing we look at for attracting residents,” he said.
The $7 million in renovations include a “complete refresh” about the apartments there. The units have gotten new appliances, lighting, refaced cabinets and upgraded bathrooms. The renovation of apartments is more than 60% completed, Oliver said.
Renovations at the Six Cord apartments have included redoing the bathrooms inside units.
Oliver Properties
There’s also been new tenant amenities and community space, including a game room, coffee lounge and bike racks. Oliver said improvements have also been made to the facility’s lobby, mailroom, gym, rooftop deck and spa, including the addition of a cold plunge. The upgrades, Oliver contends, have provided an apartment building that offers “modern Class A living at a class B price point.” Rents for one-bedroom units at the building average $1,186, with two-bedroom apartments being rented out for $1,579 on average, per data from Oliver Properties.
The coffee lounge inside the apartment building's lobby.
Oliver Properties
Occupancy at the Six Cord apartments is around 65%, according to Oliver. That figure is similar when his firm took over the building due to tenant turnover, he said. Under its new management with the renovations, the property has signed more than 40 leases in the past three months. New tenants include residents from major regional employers, including the U.S. Air Force, SSM Health, Boeing and Anheuser-Busch.
Monthly rent for downtown apartments averaged $1,399 in the second quarter, down from $1,406 in the year-ago period, according to the Cushman report. The downtown submarket had a 15% vacancy rate, according to the report, compared with an 11.6% vacancy rate in the year-ago period. The downtown area has added hundreds of new units in recent years, including the conversion of the former Butler Brothers warehouse in Downtown West into 400-plus apartments; the 78-unit Ballpark Heights at 300 S. Broadway; and 148-unit 11th and Spruce apartments.
Oliver Properties has used financing from Clayton-based Midwest Regional Bank for the acquisition and renovation of the Six Cord apartments. Funding also includes private investor partners whom Oliver declined to name. Downtown-based architecture firm Arcturis has helped in rebranding the property and designing its community spaces.
Oliver is an engineer by degree and a transplant to St. Louis. He started buying real estate in 2007, saying he got hooked on it as he came to enjoy the engineering and project management aspects of the field. While a side gig for about five years, real estate investment has been Oliver’s full-time career for more than a decade now. His firm began with owning small multifamily properties in south St. Louis. Oliver said the firm in recent years has found success in buying larger properties and improving them with new amenities for tenants. It’s taken on a similar project with the Station House apartments at 1019 N. Skinker Parkway.
Oliver said his firm is in a growth mode, having sold a lot of its portfolio in recent years, with plans to invest in new properties. It’s pursuing other deals downtown, including a proposed redevelopment at 1128 Washington Ave. to turn that vacant building, which once housed sports bar Bobby’s Place, into 52 corporate housing units. The firm announced earlier this month it acquired 65 units at the Ventana Lofts at 1635 Washington Ave. in Downtown West.
