A federal judge has dismissed an involuntary bankruptcy petition filed by small creditors of a Florida company that purchased the massive Railway Exchange building downtown with plans for a major redevelopment, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. U.S. District Judge Charles Rendlen III noted that over 90 percent of the creditors of the building’s owner, HH St. Louis Railway LP, an entity connected to Florida-based Hudson Holdings, supported dismissing the involuntary petition. The petition was filed last month by local consulting firms Development Strategies and Lafser & Associates and security firm Hudson Services for what they said were unpaid services worth collectively about $115,000. They weren’t secured creditors, unlike Hudson’s lender on the building purchase and some contractors. It was the latest sign of trouble for the daunting redevelopment project that envisioned hundreds of apartments and office space in the giant, 1.2 million-square-foot historic building that was once the flagship Famous-Barr department store and headquarters for its parent, May Department Stores. This year, an architect on the project sued in St. Louis Circuit Court, and the lender for the building purchase joined that action. But even they said that the bankruptcy petition was unnecessary and threatened any chance of success the project might have.
