The Bogen Lofts

The Bogen Lofts at 1209 Washington Avenue occupies a large early twentieth-century warehouse building at the northwest corner of Washington Avenue and North 12th Street in downtown St. Louis. Historic sources identify it as the Lesser-Goldman Building, later the Ferguson-McKinney building, and attribute its design to the St. Louis architectural firm Eames and Young, with construction dating to the early 1900s. The building is described as a Renaissance Revival-style commercial structure and as one of the major monumental warehouse buildings on Washington Avenue.

Its original life was tied to the wholesale and garment economy that defined Washington Avenue during St. Louis’s years as a national distribution and light-manufacturing center. Sources indicate it was built for the Lesser-Goldman Cotton Company and later housed the Ferguson-McKinney Dry Goods Company, reflecting the avenue’s historic role as a corridor of dry-goods, clothing, shoe, and textile firms.

Like many Washington Avenue buildings, it experienced mid-twentieth-century decline as domestic garment production faded and downtown wholesale activity contracted. Preservation accounts note that the ground floor was altered during a period of storefront modernization, and by the early 2000s the building had become worn and underused even though retail tenants still occupied the street level.

The property’s modern identity emerged during the broader revival of Washington Avenue, when historic rehabilitation tax credits and downtown reinvestment made large loft conversions feasible. A renovation was underway by 2005, and the former warehouse was converted for residential loft use, becoming known as The Bogen Lofts. Today it stands as part of the Washington Avenue historic district revival, preserving original architectural character while serving as a downtown residential building.