The Masonic temple where Harry S. Truman once presided as grand master is now one of the most unique apartment buildings St. Louis has seen in decades—or maybe ever. The B on Lindell plans to offer 144 apartments even while preserving its limestone exterior, which includes a pillared temple soaring 14 stories above Lindell Boulevard. The space is so unusual, property manager Trey Quinn says those 144 units include 120 different floor plans.
The project is the work of Brandonview LLC, a company helmed by Saint Louis University graduate Brian Hayden. The company flies under the radar locally (unusually, Hayden seeks neither tax incentives nor publicity, and declined to be interviewed). But Brandonview has now completed seven boutique apartment buildings in St. Louis, including Gallery 720 (previously the Laclede Gas Building) and Gallery Villas, which rehabbed the old Mercantile Library to include suburban-style garages.
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The B on Lindell offers a variation on that idea; after gutting the interior, Brandonview built a parking garage in the center, creating a building-within-a-building design that will eventually allow parking spots right in front of many units. Quinn says the company was told there are only two other buildings like it in the world: Gallery Villas, and one in Madrid.
In the coming year, construction workers will be focused on finishing the higher floors. When the Masons sold Brandonview the Neo-Classical building (reportedly a $6 million purchase), they were eager to preserve the temple, which sits on the top floors and is modeled on the Ark of the Covenant. Quinn says studio apartments will be created around it, but the temple will remain intact and made available for events.
Even as construction continues, the B quietly began leasing apartments earlier this year and is now doing a brisk business renting to SLU students and young professionals, who enjoy a fitness center overlooking the Masons’ lobby fresco and shared spaces for socializing. (The lobby is the one room the developers didn’t change; it looks just as it did when it welcomed lodges from around the state.)
As Quinn gives a tour of the first five floors, which are largely complete, she’s justifiably proud: “It’s really challenging taking this old building and making a new use out of it.” Seeing the recessed balconies cut out of the four-foot-thick exterior, and jetted tubs and cherrywood cabinets inside the grand old building, hits her point home.
Why It Matters: SLU students have struggled to find quality housing near campus in part due to the well-documented problems at the neighboring Coronado. The B on Lindell fills that need even while it restores a 95-year-old landmark.
Brandonview has declined to share the overall cost of the project, but it’s clear that it presents a sizable investment in Midtown, even as it brings new life to a long-vacant building.
What’s Next: Brandonview hopes to have all construction completed by the summer of 2025, Quinn says. Until then, it’s offering significant discounts on rent.
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