Last week the city ordered the owner of a historic property in Carondelet to stop work on the building. That order from the city, sent to a physician whose real estate holdings throughout town have come under increased scrutiny, noted that “all work including demolition” requires permits.
The property in question is the Zeiss house, constructed in the 1850s. The Landmarks Association of St. Louis says it is a rare example of early stone construction in the city. It was given National Register of Historic Places status in 1980.
Get a fresh take on the day’s top news
Subscribe to the St. Louis Daily newsletter for a smart, succinct guide to local news from award-winning journalists Sarah Fenske and Ryan Krull.
The property suffered a fire in recent years. Now, Andrew Weil of the Landmarks Association says he’s worried that the interior of the Zeiss house is being intentionally demolished despite its listing on the register.
Weil says that the building’s internal framing has been ripped out, as has the thick plaster that helps to support the stone walls that make the Zeiss house unique. The south-facing wall is now bowing, cracking, and threatening to fall on the house next door.
Those are claims supported by the house’s next-door neighbor, Janice Hodo, who says that she’s heard people making a racket at the property at night and the following morning noticed signs of disassembly. A few months ago, the floor and the roof disappeared. Recently, someone seemed to be at it again.
“A few days ago somebody got up there, and there was a big piece of plywood left up there. They got it unnailed, and it’s just kind of laying up there. The first time we have a big storm, it’s going to go blowing,” she said. She called the Zeiss house a “special building” and added that whoever has been coming at night wants it “to go bad quick.”
The Landmarks Association outlined its concerns about the property on their Facebook page on Wednesday, writing, “It seems clear that the intent is to further destabilize these important historic buildings so that they can be demolished outside of the City’s Preservation Ordinance.”
The next day, the city issued a stop work order at the property.
That was in part due the association also reaching out to Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer, whose Ward 1 includes the Zeiss house. She contacted the Building Division, which issued the stop work order. She stresses that it’s not yet clear if an illegal demolition is happening. The damage caused by the fire makes it difficult to quickly ascertain. She’s asked the Building Division to investigate.
“I get real frustrated when I hear something like this is happening, but I’m also like, Wait, figure out if it is,” she says.
Schweitzer adds, “The buildings are owned by a notorious property owner in the city of St Louis who has a well reported history of violating the city standards. So when that is reported, obviously it’s a huge concern immediately, which is why we are trying to get to the bottom of what is happening.” The stop work order is tantamount to a warning that the building is being watched.
The property’s owner is an LLC associated with pain management physician Dr. Gurpreet Padda, who at one point had invested in numerous properties around the city, as well as owned several restaurants.
Just last week, as SLM reported, another historic property owned by an LLC affiliated with Padda, the Slovak Church in Soulard, was the subject of a lawsuit filed by a Soulard neighborhood group seeking to wrest control of the church from its owner. The church was purchased in 2010 and suffered a fire in 2023. The suit claims it’s not only become an eyesore but is also “injurious to the public health, safety, security, and welfare of the neighboring residents and businesses.”
Neither Padda nor his attorney have not responded to multiple messages seeking comment.
Another LLC associated with Padda owns a church in the Central West End. Three years after Padda’s LLC purchased it, it too suffered a fire.
This year, the city instituted a new ordinance seeking to stop land owners from demolishing a building without a permit, subjecting anyone who violates the ordinance to a fine of either $30,000 or half the value of the building torn down.
However, those familiar with the new law say that they aren’t sure if that fine has yet been levied on anyone.
Henry Zeiss, the original builder of the house in Carondelet, was a prominent mason, and the house remained in his family up until the 1980s, according to a 2014 SLM profile by Chris Naffziger. The Zeiss house has since fallen on tough times. Fire damaged much of the interior, but left the stone walls intact.
The property currently has a for sale sign listed with a phone number for interested buyers. The person who picked up that number said that he was handling the phone calls for someone else and had gotten “one or two” inquiries.
