Desiring a more urban experience, we left the suburbs for Lafayette Square in 2013. The area appealed to us as a distinctive and historic slice of St. Louis. A lovely park, small commercial area and extensive architectural preservation made us want to be part of the neighborhood. It holds both city and national historic district status, and a strong commitment from its residents toward preserving its Victorian look and feel.
Compromising the past
People visiting Lafayette Square for the first time wander the neighborhood in a sort of reverie, wondering about the times, architects, materials and restoration involved in the century-old brick beauties there.
In conjunction with the City of St. Louis Plan Commission, architectural standards for both new construction and exterior remodeling took effect decades ago. Adherence to them has ensured that a uniquely preserved part of Gilded Age St. Louis has remained intact.
A large lot on the southern edge of the historic district sat idle for years. Its redevelopment began around 2019. Neighborhood meetings were arranged to promote the developer’s vision for a new apartment complex. It would have 120 or so units, and blend into the neighborhood, creating attractive infill and opportunity for residential growth.
As the plans developed, historic codes were challenged and overruled, in the interest of moving the project forward. 2200 Lasalle opened in 2023.
What resulted is more an expression of blasé sameness than any compelling or complimentary architectural statement. Its ‘five over one’ design, with a wood frame superstructure atop a concrete podium, is designed to be more economical to construct than a traditional steel and concrete building.
Not that the economy of construction keeps rents affordable. It faces Chouteau Avenue, a fairly nondescript truck route south of downtown. A rooftop pool, underground garage, pet park and fitness center are features intended to attract young professionals. In May of 2025, Apartments.com cited a city-wide average of $1,300 per month rent for a two bedroom unit. A similar space on the second floor of Lafayette Square’s new apartments currently rents for over $2,200 per month. As of July 14, 2025, 2200 LaSalle was approximately 85% rented.
The ubiquity of a contemporary form
The five over one style, also known as Fast-Casual Architecture, took hold around 2010. It has since multiplied around St. Louis like Bradford pear trees. Examples now line Forest Park Avenue, and serve as apartments, hotels, retirement communities and even offices like St. Louis’s otherwise stylistically aware Cortex.
In a recent essay, Cory Lefkowitz opined on the juxtaposition of Fast-Casual Architecture on areas of former distinction:
it’s downright shameful that we deprive ourselves of living in interesting, meaningful, and wonderful places, given the thousands of precedents for inspiration… Instead, we’ve copied and pasted to our society from the most anodyne, the most boring, and the most bleh.
The look has become a contemporary architectural cliche, unbroken walls for streetscape, and a numbing redundancy that makes one city’s residential stock indistinguishable from that of another. Even Kirkwood in St. Louis County has embraced the look. It increases city residency, but diminishes the same charm that attracted residents in the first place.
It’s great to have housing, and we need more of it. But we hire large architectural firms to design and build blocks of dull rectilinear boxes, placing them in areas of projected hot demand. It lessens the wonder and attractiveness of nearby areas of genuine interest while adding only rentable space.
Summary
I’ve written a lot about the old German House building at the corner of Jefferson and Lafayette Avenues. Despite a strong architectural and historical significance and prime location, it sits unloved, on sale for a song. Because it’s not easy, and because it’s expensive to do, it resists rehab interest, while McUrbanism prospers. The heritage of the neighborhood would only be enhanced by bringing it back. It would be further credit to a fantastic neighborhood in its fifty year restoration. Perhaps we’re missing something in our priorities.
Resources
Why Everywhere Looks The Same; Cory Lefkowitz; https://marker.medium.com/why-everywhere-looks-the-same-248940f12c4
The Age Of Average; Alex Murrell; https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average?ref=thebrowser.com&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
St. Louis two bedroom apartment cost average from Apartments.com at https://www.apartments.com/rent-market-trends/saint-louis-mo/
2200 Lasalle at Lafayette Square; marketing piece at https://www.2200lasalle.com
The German House in Lafayette Square is available for sale through CBRE at https://www.cbre.com/properties/properties-for-lease/flexindustrial/details/US-SMPL-85559/2345-lafayette-avenue-st-louis-mo-63104
The most recent historic codes for Lafayette Square (December, 2018) are available at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/city-laws/upload/legislative//Ordinances/BOAPdf/70926.pdf
For more on the story of German House, you can check my archive to the right for September, 2020. Here’s the first in the series from this blog: https://lafayettesquarearchives.com/1928-1942-german-house-the-earliest-years/