Opera Theatre of Saint Louis announced today it’s under contract to purchase what’s been described as “the most valuable real estate in the St. Louis area”—6.7 acres of the Caleres company headquarters in downtown Clayton. The opera nonprofit aims to raze the main building and construct in its place a new performing arts center.
Caleres, formerly Brown Shoe Company, began publicly seeking a buyer for the site, which totals 9 acres, in 2021. It told employees last week that they would be moving to new leased offices just down the street, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.
Andrew Jorgensen, general director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, tells SLM that the organization has long sought a performance space of its own. For its entire existence, OTSL has mounted its productions at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus.
“We’ve been talking about the need for a new performing arts center for 49 of our 50 years,” he says. “Webster has been a great partner, but the truth is that space was never designed to do what an opera company asks it to do. The orchestra pit is inadequate. The wing space, the backstage space, the fly tower, the acoustics have famously never been strong in that space. And so we’ve been talking about this. If you go back and read our strategic plans at five-year increments, going back 20 years, at least, we’ve been talking about the need to address this challenge.”
The Caleres space became available after the school board backed out of a planned purchase in January 2024. Says Jorgensen, “It was so clear that it would be a phenomenal place and a spectacular opportunity where we might finally realize this dream.”
OTSL’s contract includes the purchase of the main Caleres building at 8300 Maryland, as well as some of the adjacent grounds (although not the second, smaller building on site). Its purchase is contingent on a due-diligence process that involves site studies, cost estimates, and early fundraising, as well as approval from the city of Clayton for plans for a new performing arts center on site. While it’s too early to talk cost specifics, Jorgensen says, “It’ll be the biggest campaign by far that Opera Theatre has undertaken.”
The Clayton school board’s plans for the site engendered significant pushback, in part because the district would both be spending taxpayer money to acquire it and then taking it off the property tax rolls. (St. Louis County has appraised the site at $33.5 million.) As a nonprofit, OTSL would not pay property tax, but Jorgensen anticipates no such pushback here, noting that Clayton has long discussed its desire for a performing arts center.
In a statement, Clayton Mayor Michelle Harris echoed that sentiment, stating, “I have no doubt that the Clayton community will embrace this vision of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. The addition of a performing arts center has long been a priority for residents and city leaders. Opera Theatre of Saint Louis is a cherished regional and cultural asset, and this location will provide new opportunities for the enhanced visibility and growth of multiple arts organizations. At the same time, we are thrilled that Caleres has chosen to stay in Clayton, given its long history in our area.”
Jorgensen says OTSL looked for sites all around town: “We’ve looked north, we’ve looked south, we’ve looked east, we’ve looked west.” That includes downtown. But no other site had everything the organization wanted. As one example, a major part of OTSL productions has long been the pre-show picnics, held on Webster’s leafy campus; Jorgensen says OTSL very much aims to have those continue, which means creating a garden setting.
“But also we think it is just the right place in the community,” he adds. “It is a central place. It is close to public transit, it is close to highways, it’s the heart of the central corridor. And so this is a place that really puts us on the map in a way that we have not previously been, and I think that will not just serve us, it will serve everyone who performs in and comes to that space.”
While OTSL’s festival season takes place only in the summer, Jorgensen says it’s already in conversation with other arts organizations that might be interested in theater space during the other months of the year, although again, it’s too soon to say which ones.
He says he’s being intentional in not talking about building an “opera house,” but rather a performing arts center: “Because a performing arts center that will serve, we hope, many different constituents and be vibrantly activated throughout the entire year, that’s a really important part of the vision that we’re putting forward.”
In a statement, Jay Schmidt, president and CEO of Caleres, called OTSL’s plans “the best possible outcome for the future of our campus.”
“The idea of leaving our long-term home is bittersweet, but we are excited that it will become a performing arts center to serve the city of Clayton and the entire Clayton community and region,” Schmidt said. “I want to thank the management and board of the Opera Theatre for their support, patience, and flexibility as we searched for the right home to relocate.” Schmidt says the Caleres staff will now likely move to their new offices in mid-2026.
As for OTSL’s plans, Jorgensen didn’t want to guess at a timeline. But he says he’s excited to get the news out and be able to speak freely with the community about what’s ahead.
“Certainly, there are a lot of steps to take, and we approach that with enormous enthusiasm and great humility,” Jorgensen says. “Opera Theatre’s founders, I think, would never have imagined the kind of success that the company has achieved over 50 years of extraordinary stewardship. That, I think, cumulative success now makes our board feel like this is the time when we can contemplate taking that huge next organizational step of our own arts center that really will be our home.”