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.

Main entrance of the former Last Hotel STL, the old International Shoe Co. building at 1501 Washington Avenue

Photo Credit: HREC (via Hotel Management)

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.