BUSINESS MEMO: HISTORIC BUILDINGS

Developer Charles Drury's plan to convert three downtown St. Louis buildings into a luxury hotel have moved a step further, with two of the buildings now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The International Fur Exchange, completed in 1920, and the 1959 Thomas Jefferson Building were placed on the National Register in April. Drury is awaiting word on the American Zinc Building, finished.

The listing of the three structures on the National Register would make the $25 million project, at Fourth and Walnut, eligible for the historic preservation tax credits at the state and federal levels.

The 351-room hotel is expected to open next spring.

The three buildings were in the process of being demolished to make way for a parking lot when Drury bought them last year from Sibag Corp. of New York.