Marquette buildings back on market again

A historic former hotel in downtown Cape Girardeau is back on the market after a January foreclosure auction.

The Marquette Tower building at 338 Broadway, built as the Marquette Hotel in 1928 and later converted into offices and retail space, and the adjacent Marquette Centre at 221 N. Fountain St. are listed for sale by Realty Executives of Cape County. Amy Jones is the listing agent.

The $2,390,000 list price for the property includes both buildings and parking lots, and is the lowest price requested for the property during the past few years it has been on the market.

Great Southern Bank of Springfield, Missouri, is the owner of the buildings after the bank claimed them during a public foreclosure auction in January. Both are vacant.

"My brokers and I are excited and honored to have the opportunity to market buildings with so much potential and historic significance," Jones wrote in an email.

The buildings, she wrote, encompass almost two acres of "prime real estate" in downtown, which holds about 85,000 square feet with the buildings combined and 180 parking spaces.

"The size and location offer a wide variety of uses to possible investors such as hotel, condominiums, apartments, office space, restaurant, retail -- or any combination," Jones wrote.

City government officials have said they want to see vacancies addressed in large downtown buildings, including the seven-story Marquette Tower. Downtown revitalization organization representatives also have expressed hope recent openings of new businesses and the filling of other office space downtown, such as the former federal building across the street, will breathe new life into the Marquette properties.

In 2014, state agencies occupying offices in the Marquette Tower moved to the west side of Cape Girardeau, leaving one of downtown's largest buildings empty. G&S Holdings already had both Marquette buildings on the market at the time the agencies left, asking $3.5 million for the nearly 60,000-square-foot Marquette Tower and $549,000 for the 25,000-square-foot Marquette Centre.

A company representative said at the time that options for the building would be considered, including whether turning it back into a hotel was feasible.

The foreclosure went forward after G&S Holdings stopped making payments on the loan to the bank.

The bank was the sole bidder in the auction. In most foreclosure sales, the note holder on a loan submits a bid, often matching the outstanding amount, which was the case with the Marquette properties. The bank's bid was just over $2 million.

G&S Holdings bought the properties from Great Southern Bank in 2009, borrowing $3,272,500 from the bank for the mortgage, according to Southeast Missourian archives.

In December, a lawsuit was filed against the bank by G&S Holdings in part as an effort to halt the foreclosure sale, but it was unsuccessful. The suit, according to online court records, remains open. The Springfield, Missouri, attorney hired to represent G&S Holdings, Thomas Millington, did not respond to an email sent Thursday inquiring about court proceedings, including an amended petition filed on behalf of G&S Holdings. Court records also show the bank requested dismissal of the suit in April.

The original suit asked for cancellation of the real-estate contract on the properties between the company and the bank.

A representative of G&S Holdings told the Southeast Missourian at the time of the January foreclosure sale that hard times had come for the company with tenants leaving the Marquette Tower.

Great Southern acquired the properties from Prost Builders, a Jefferson City, Missouri, company, in a 2008 foreclosure sale. Prost Builders saved the Marquette Tower from being torn down in 2002 after it fell into disrepair from sitting vacant for more than 20 years, and finished renovations of both buildings in 2004.

For several years after renovations were completed, the Marquette Tower was as much as 80 percent occupied by offices, had a restaurant and bar on the bottom floor and was viewed as a prime example of downtown revitalization and redevelopment.

Several prospective buyers were in contact with the former listing agent when the properties went to auction in January.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

338 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO