The Last Hotel closed in March 2025; Singh Investment Group bought it for $14 million

Originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. By Nathan Rubbelke. March 7, 2025. Reprinted by KSDK: Downtown St. Louis hotel closes suddenly. Paywalled original: bizjournals.com.

The Last Hotel STL at 1501 Washington Avenue — not 800 Washington, which is Marriott St. Louis Grand — closed suddenly on Thursday, March 6, 2025, with staff laid off, Nathan Rubbelke reported for the St. Louis Business Journal (KSDK reprint, March 7, 2025). Majority owner Michael Qualizza blamed a legal dispute from a failed sale with partner/co-manager Neil Freeman (Cook County, Illinois court; receiver Robert Habeeb / Maverick Hotels later withdrew).

The 142-room hotel occupied the converted former International Shoe Co. building. It opened in July 2019 after a $60 million redevelopment. Fe Equus Development developed it, later sold a stake to a group including Qualizza (Urban Development Group). It was independent, with no brand affiliation at close.

A year later, the shuttered hotel changed hands. City records cited in an SLBJ reprint put the sale on March 11, 2026: 1501 Washington St Louis LLC sold the property to entities tied to Augusta, Georgia-based Singh Investment Group (SIG) for $14 million. SIG’s portfolio: a dozen hotels in Georgia and the Carolinas. The hotel had been listed in June 2025 at $16.5 million and appraised at $16.97 million, per city records. See the KSDK reprint, Singh Investment Group buys shuttered Downtown West hotel (St. Louis Business Journal, reprinted; byline not shown on the sale pages fetched), and the Springfield Business Journal recap of March 17, 2026.

Springfield Business Journal, recapping SLBJ rather than reporting independently, wrote: “The hotel is reportedly set to reopen as Hyatt Centric by this summer.” That is attributed as a recap, not a confirmed opening.

Trade coverage in Hotel Management (unsigned on the fetched page) said HREC Investment Advisors arranged an $11.75 million acquisition loan for the 142-room former Last Hotel, from a national debt fund, “used to facilitate the property’s reopening and subsequent conversion to a Hyatt Centric hotel.” That piece also dates the building to 1909, converted in 2019 from the International Shoe Co., with a rooftop lounge and pool, a ground-floor restaurant, and over 6,500 square feet of event space.

An official “now open” date was not confirmed on hyatt.com as of August 26, 2026.

For the neighborhood listing — 1501 Washington Avenue, the closure and sale record, and a path to whatever official booking page is live — see Hyatt Centric Downtown. That listing does not claim the hotel is open.