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S.G. Adams Building

Built: 1890
Architect: Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge
Status: vacant until 2004; renovated into lofts and ground-level retail

Built as the original Southwestern Bell Telephone building, it has since housed a stationary business. The architects were the successor firm to the influential H.H. Richardson, whose stylistic influence is evident throughout much of 1890s architecture.

In October of 2004 City Grocers opened in the base, the first full-service grocery story in downtown. City Grocers closed in 2010, unable to compete with the nearby Schnucks' boutique grocer that opened in the garage that replaced the Century Building.

The exterior has been cleaned and repaired; later alterations at the base have been removed. The upper floors are now renovated as the Bell Lofts.

Locator Map


As originally built - from Commercial and Architectural St. Louis.


The building in 2010.


Ten years prior, the S.G. Adams Building was filthy and decrepit. In this August 2000 view, Insty-Prints on the ground floor is the building's only visible occupant. Midcentury slipcovering conceals the street level stonework.


May 2003: renovation! The slipcover is gone, the stone has been cleaned, and the windows are being replaced.


February 2005: the exterior work is done, and City Grocers has recently opened on the ground floor. The upper level loft conversions are still underway.


May 2004: the interior of the ground floor space, early in the renovation.


May 2004: the first loft unit completed, as a demo space.





Pre-2004 images. The building's forceful ornament makes a handsome contrast with the more delicately trimmed buildings nearby, especially the cream-white Syndicate Trust.

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Post-2006 images.