St. Joseph Institute Selling Chesterfield Facility

The St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf is looking to sell its Chesterfield home in search for a newer, more modern facility.

The news was reported by the St. Louis Business Journal and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Thursday, who said the organization has enlisted Balke Brown Associates in the sale of their current 108,000-square foot facility at 1809 Clarkson Road and in leasing a new building. 

St. Joseph's Institute serves children with hearing loss in pre-school through 8th grade. The school provides quality education integrating speech therapy, language therapy and auditory-oral education. Also available are classes in computers, art, music and even an accelerated reading program.

Although an asking price has not yet been set, the Business Journal reported that it is estimated to be worth $21.9 million. The decision to move was influenced by a desire to find a building that would be more modern and able to accommodate the kind of IT infrastructure and technologies St. Joseph wants to use. 

More from the Business Journal:

Chris Martinez, the institute’s director of development and project manager for the relocation, said the organization does not plan to build, but is looking for a site that is both a convenient size and location, with the right technology buildout and corresponding resources. A projected cost for the move is still being developed.

“We know getting into a (leased) space that’s right for us will be a considerable savings, and let us put donors’ money toward programs and not a building,” Martinez said. Once the cost of the relocation and more information on the new facility are developed, the institute will “strongly consider” a capital campaign, he said.

The organization has an annual operating budget of $5 million, Martinez said. The institute has 50 employees in St. Louis and 20 at its Indianapolis campus.