Demolition of the old YMCA on South Grand Boulevard is expected to begin this winter as Altus Properties starts construction on a new 124-unit apartment building.

The $19 million project slated for the 2200 block of South Grand Boulevard, now home to the vacant community center, is expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2019. A construction permit for the five-story building was filed with St. Louis this month.

“No one else has really put a new apartment project in this area in the last, really, couple of decades,” said Joshua Udelhofen, managing director of development at Clayton-based Altus.