In a concerning turn of events for St. Louis' downtown area, a vacant office building recently sold at a nearly 98% discount from its 2006 sales price, raising alarms about the city's struggling central business district. The former One AT&T Center, a 44-story tower and the third-tallest building in St. Louis, sold for $205 million in 2006 but was recently acquired by the Goldman Group, a real estate investment firm, for just $3.6 million, according to CoStar News.

This sharp decline in value reflects the difficulties faced by St. Louis' downtown, which experts say are more severe than in larger cities like San Francisco. The challenges plaguing the city and other Midwestern hubs have been exacerbated by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commercial real estate brokerage JLL reported that during the first quarter of 2024, total office vacancy in St. Louis reached a record-high of 22.3%. The AT&T tower has been sitting empty since 2017, and another downtown building, the Railway Exchange Building, stands abandoned after previously housing a thriving local department store.

The state of St. Louis' downtown area paints a bleak picture, with numerous boarded-up buildings contributing to a ghost town-like atmosphere, as highlighted by The Wall Street Journal. This situation has been further aggravated by the closure of local businesses, including restaurants and shops, due to a lack of foot traffic resulting from the rise in remote work.

Economists have referred to this cyclic decline as the "urban doom loop," where a diminishing population leads to worsening conditions, causing more people to leave, and further worsening the situation. St. Louis finds itself at the bottom of the list when it comes to downtown foot traffic, according to a study by University of Toronto researchers, ranking last among the 66 cities analyzed.

The underlying problem faced by Midwestern cities like St. Louis is the lack of attractions in their downtown areas that would draw people in, including commuters, tourists, and residents. According to experts, these cities lack the fundamental amenities required to attract new residents, making it crucial for them to invest in downtown amenities such as playgrounds, libraries, boutiques, and cafes.

Coastal cities like San Francisco and New York have been taking proactive steps to address similar challenges, investing in office space upgrades to create attractive environments that employees would prefer to work in. Meanwhile, St. Louis and other Midwestern cities have been grappling with sluggish downtowns even before the pandemic hit.

As Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, points out, the pandemic has accelerated existing trends rather than causing entirely new problems. Therefore, it becomes imperative for Midwestern cities, including St. Louis, to prioritize the addition of appealing downtown amenities to reverse the exodus of residents and revitalize their struggling downtown areas.

Unless serious changes are made, these midsize cities in the heartland of the country may quietly slide into oblivion, facing significant ramifications such as declines in revenue, curtailing of municipal services, and a diminishing quality of life for their residents.

While the sale of the One AT&T Center at a major discount serves as a stark reminder of St. Louis' downtown challenges, it also presents an opportunity for the city to reinvent and rejuvenate its urban core, making it an attractive destination for people to live, work, and visit once again.