By Gail Appleson
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
For the once-decaying St. Louis City Hospital, the table is being set for another tenant.
Richard Nix Jr., owner of a St. Louis catering service, is in the midst of moving his business to what served as the hospital’s laundry building decades ago.
Butler’s Pantry, one of Missouri’s largest caterers, will continue its 42-year tradition of service with a surprise on the menu: a venue that will host weddings, corporate parties and other extravaganzas. Butler’s Pantry’s new banquet hall will be called the Palladium St. Louis; Nix has been looking for such a site for the last 10 years.
“I wanted to be in the city,” he said. “I love the proximity to the highways. Our trucks are always on the move. And I really feel like this is a connector piece between Soulard and downtown.”
Butler’s Pantry, which will move from 5385 Arsenal Street to 1414 Park Avenue, currently employs about 300 part-time and 30 full-time employees. Nix plans to hire an additional eight full-time and 25 part-time employees for the Palladium at 1400 Park Place. Although the hall is not opening until the spring, Nix is already taking reservations.
“I think it will be a big plus for the neighborhood and the city and we’ll have another event place near downtown,” said Phyllis Young, alderman for the 7th Ward where Butler’s Pantry will be located.
“The building they are taking over is amazing since they have been refurbishing it,” she said about the former laundry that will be used for the Palladium. “It makes people stop and look at what’s going on. Think how much it’s changed in the last five years. It’s come a long way from being a hospital complex.
The company will move its warehouse, office and commissary space into a separate 18,000-square-foot building now being constructed on the former hospital grounds.
The office/commissary building and Palladium are part of the 13-acre Georgian Square mixed-use project that encompasses the hospital and its ancillary buildings, which are located in the Bohemian Hill neighborhood that sits between Soulard and Lafayette Square.
The hospital, which had originally been built in 1845 to serve the indigent of a cholera-infested city, had been slated for demolition when Gilded Age developers Chris Goodson and Trace Shaughnessy purchased the property in 2005.
The first phase of the project was the $30 million renovation of the hospital to create 104 condominiums, 86 of which have been purchased, Goodson said.
The Butler’s Pantry and Palladium section is part of the $27 million second phase that includes the renovation of the 20,000-square-foot power plant building, which the developers hope will house a restaurant and offices.
Nix’s decision to open the Palladium and office building in the Georgian Square development was the “linchpen” in getting bank financing to move the project past its initial residential phase, Shaughnessy said.
“The big thing was it put the next piece into the mixed-used development,” he said.
Young said Butler’s Pantry commitment is also helping to stabilize the first phase of residential development.
The investment by the well-established caterer serves as testimony to Nix’s faith in the area and its long-term viability, said Goodson. Nix has invested more than $3 million into the project.
Nix said he believes the investment will pay off and that the Palladium promises to become a destination spot, particularly with a growing trend by brides and grooms to have receptions at venues other than hotels.
When completed, the 8,000-square-foot structure will be able to hold 700 people. It will have two levels with the rebuilding of a mezzanine that wraps around the room and windows two stories high.
“It’s a historic building with great city views,” Nix said.
Butler’s Pantry began negotiating the deal more than a year ago, before the economy worsened and the stock market plunged, he said.
“Obviously we’re worried about the economy. Catering is a discretionary expense, but we feel confident about our brand,” Nix said. “We built this because our business is growing.”
While companies might be spending less, Nix said clients have not cancelled any holiday parties. He said bookings for Christmas are about the same as last year when the catering company did about $600,000 in business.
“It might be a little down from that this year,” he said.
“We’ve seen people be more budget conscious, but it’s made us be more creative with our menus,” Nix said. “And on the positive side, people might turn to catering at home or in an office setting instead of a more elaborate country club setting.”
BUTLER’S PANTRY NAMED BEST CATERER AT ST. LOUIS WEDDING AWARDS
Butler’s Pantry was proud to be part of the 2008 St. Louis Children’s Hospital tabletop Event held on April 24th at the Ritz-Carlton which raised $107,000-an event record! This one-of-a-kind luncheon featured imaginative tabletop designs by some of St. Louis’ finest florists, decorators and vendors. For the second year in a row, Butler’s Pantry teamed up with Brian Blasingame of Fleurish to design this year’s table. 
