21c Museum Hotels Announces Intent to Manage the Restored Historic YMCA Building in Downtown St. Louis
Louisville, KY (March 13, 2019) – 21c Museum Hotels, the award-winning boutique hotel and restaurant group, has been selected to serve as the brand and management company of the restored YMCA building located at 1528 Locust Street in downtown St. Louis. 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis, expected to open in late 2022, will be a combination boutique hotel, contemporary art museum and independently branded, chef-driven restaurant.
21c Museum Hotel was founded by preservationists and contemporary art collectors Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson. Motivated by changes happening in and around their hometown of Louisville, they assumed an active role in the preservation and revitalization of the city’s downtown. With the belief that art can be a vital part of daily life and a spark to ignite new energy and ideas, they created 21c Museum Hotels in Louisville in 2006.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this important project and we look forward to working with the City and the State to make this challenging urban revitalization initiative a reality,” said Craig Greenberg, President and CEO. “21c St. Louis will support the continued revitalization of downtown St. Louis and will be a center for culture, community, genuine hospitality and artistic expression.”
Upon completion, 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis will be the company’s eleventh property, with approximately 200 guest rooms and suites. Building on the founders’ mission to bring contemporary art to the public through innovative exhibitions and programming that integrates art into daily life, 21c St. Louis will feature exhibition, meeting and event space showcasing rotating curated exhibitions, interactive site-specific art installations and a roster of cultural programming based on collaborations with local and national arts organizations. Welcoming local residents and visitors alike, the museum will be open free of charge to the public, 365 days a year. The property will also feature a unique, chef-driven food and beverage concept and rooftop venue.
The 10-story YMCA building was constructed in 1926 in the Renaissance Revival style, with some Gothic elements, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Floors one through three were previously operated by the YMCA and floors four through ten were most recently operated as apartments. The building includes two basements that contain a pool and locker rooms.
This spring, 21c Museum Hotels joins Accor’s MGallery collection of boutique hotels, marking the introduction of the MGallery brand into the North American market. Each MGallery property has its own unique design and story to tell, from Hotel Molitor Paris – MGallery and INK Hotel Amsterdam – MGallery to Hotel Muse Bangkok Langsuan – MGallery and Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney – MGallery.
About 21c Museum Hotels
21c Museum Hotels, an award-winning hospitality company based in Louisville, Kentucky, is pushing the boundaries of both the museum and hotel worlds to create a new kind of travel experience. The company was founded as a single property by contemporary art collectors and preservationists Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, whose mission was to share innovative contemporary art with the public and participate in the revitalization of downtown Louisville. The couple opened the first 21c in 2006 along downtown’s West Main Street, rehabilitating a series of 19th century warehouses to create a union of genuine hospitality, thoughtful design and culinary creativity — all anchored by a contemporary art museum. Today, 21c operates eight museum hotels in Louisville, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; Bentonville, Arkansas; Durham, North Carolina; Lexington, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee, Oklahoma City; Oklahoma; and Kansas City, Missouri. 21c projects are also under development in Chicago, Illinois; and Des Moines, Iowa. The company is equally focused on creating unique, chef-driven restaurants that are as much a part of the community as each hotel. The 21c restaurant portfolio includes; Proof on Main, Metropole, The Hive, Counting House, Lockbox, Mary Eddy’s Kitchen x Lounge, Gray and Dudley, The Savoy, and Garage Bar.
About Accor
21c Museum Hotels and the MGallery Hotel Collection are part of Accor, a world-leading augmented hospitality group offering unique and meaningful experiences in 4,800 hotels, resorts, and residences across 100 countries. With an unrivalled portfolio of brands from luxury to economy, Accor has been providing hospitality savoir-faire for more than 50 years. Beyond accommodations, Accor enables new ways to live, work, and play with food & beverage, nightlife, wellbeing, and coworking brands. To drive business performance, Accor’s portfolio of business accelerators amplify hospitality distribution, operations, and experience. Guests have access to one of the world’s most attractive hotel loyalty programs—Accor is deeply committed to sustainable value creation, and plays an active role in giving back to planet and community. Planet 21 – Acting Here endeavors to act for positive hospitality, while Accor Solidarity, the endowment fund, empowers disadvantaged groups through professional training and access to employment.
