Lindenwood University, which already has expanded in the region with nearly a dozen satellite locations, will open an off-site campus in downtown St. Louis in October.

Lindenwood has leased a floor, totaling 6,300 square feet of space, at a five-story building at 1409 Washington Ave. owned by TCM Realty 3, an investment group led by Terry McDonald of West St. Louis County. TCM bought the 35,000-square-foot building in January for $2.2 million.

Joi Niedner of McKelvey Properties represented Lindenwood and the building's owner. Tom Mason of McKelvey Properties also was a listing agent on the space. Brett Barger, dean of evening admissions and extension campuses, was the lead on the deal for the university.

Asking rental rates at the building are $13 per square foot, making the deal worth an estimated $81,900 annually.

Lindenwood will join Webster University, which opened a satellite campus downtown in the Old Post Office building at 815 Olive St. in 2006. Webster University's Downtown St. Louis enrollment in the 2007-2008 academic year totaled 3,300 undergraduate and graduate students.

Lindenwood, a liberal arts school led by President James Evans, has more than 14,000 students and more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

In addition to its 500-acre main campus in St. Charles, it operates off-site campuses in Defiance, Lincoln County, Florissant, O'Fallon, Mo.; South St. Louis County, Weldon Spring, Wentzville, Westport, and Belleville, Ill.