1222 Allen Request For Proposal
A Corner of Soulard Ready for What Comes Next
The building at 1222 Allen Avenue occupies the corner of South 13th Street and Allen Avenue in Soulard, one of the oldest urban neighborhoods in the Midwest and a federally designated historic district since 1972. This location is ready to define it’s next 125 years.
Historic Significance
Built in 1898 as St. Paul Frieden's Evangelical Church, City of St. Louis the structure served the German immigrant community that shaped Soulard's early character. The congregation had split from St. Paul's Evangelical Church at 9th and Soulard and relocated to 13th and Allen in 1886, before merging with Jesus Evangelical Church at 12th and Victor in 1913. St. Louis County Library
St. Lucas Slovak Lutheran Church took over the building in 1914. The Gravois Avenue Church of God, an Apostolic Pentecostal congregation, moved in around 1960. Builtstlouis Over the following decades, the building housed several more congregations — including a Church of God with long roots in the surrounding community, where at least one former member reports attending for 40 years.
The 2023 Fire
On the night of June 6, 2023, a two-alarm fire broke out at 1222 Allen Avenue. St. Louis Fire Department Captain Garon Mosby described heavy smoke and fire coming from the steeple when crews arrived at the three-story building. The building has been closed ever since and has continued to deteriorate.
In 2025, The Soulard Restoration Group filed suit against the owner to apply legal pressure to force action on the property.
The Opportunity
Soulard draws consistent foot traffic year-round. The neighborhood hosts one of the largest Mardi Gras celebrations in the country, with a steady stream of visitors, residents, and investors that few comparable St. Louis neighborhoods can match. The 13th and Allen corner is visible, central, and in a district that has turned around harder situations than this one.
The building's 125-year run across denominations and communities says something about the corner it sits on. The fire ended that chapter. What comes next is the question this RFP is asking.
Qualified developers are invited to respond to the Request for Proposals for adaptive reuse or redevelopment of 1222 Allen Avenue. [Link to RFP / submission details.]
