Updated at 1:30 p.m. with reaction from local official:

ST. LOUIS • A psychiatrist who wanted to open a federal halfway house in south St. Louis said he withdrew his proposal after being served a tough lesson.

"I have learned one thing about trying to develop a large business," said Dr. Junaid Syed. "The next time I am going to do business, I am going to do it in the county."

Syed wanted to build a 161-bed halfway house, the largest of its kind in the region, in an unused wing of St. Alexius Hospital West Campus, 2639 Miami Avenue.

Syed, chairman of psychiatry at St. Alexius, applied for the contract last summer through his business, Xcell Prison Health.

He said the city wouldn't approve permits and the community wouldn't support the project.

"The city is not helping me, nobody is helping me," said Syed.

He blamed the local alderman and a developer for leading the opposition.