State approval of Ballpark Village at least six more weeks away
Members of the Missouri Development Finance Board met today by conference call but absent from their agenda was final approval of public subsidies for Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis.
A vote by the state panel is the last step in the approval process. The matter has been awaiting state action since shortly after St. Louis aldermen approved in January incentives of up to $188 million for the $550 million Ballpark Village.
The developers previously asked the state board to pull the matter from its June meeting agenda. Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said then that work remained on the timing of seeking approval of the public subsidies. He added he had hoped the board would decide the Ballbark Village matter today.
Didn’t happen. Bonds for the project cannot be sold until the state panel signs off on Ballpark Village. DeWitt has said over and over that the bond market remains tough but that he remained gratified that potential Ballpark Village tenants had continued to stick with the project.
The Cardinals and Cordish Co., of Baltimore, are Ballpark Village’s co-developers. Stifel Financial Corp. is widely viewed to be planning a move to Ballpark Village. But another potential tenant, the Polsinelli Shughart law firm, decided this spring to consolidate its offices elsewhere downtown.
Still undetermined is when Ballpark Village approval will be decided by the state panel. Its next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 18.
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Here we go again…You know it will never happen…Just look back to DeWitts Texas fiasco.
Why not simply make it a beautiful park, with walking paths, street vendors, ( similar to Central Park), street musicians (similar to Santa Monica’s street mall) with a lake and fountain. Maybe even with special events during Cardinal games. (at least until DeWitt moves them out)
This would really be something special and something to draw families back to the city center. (of course the police would need to participate in keeping it safe from drug dealers, and drive bye’s) Maybe even close off a street or two, to make it even more attractive, with shops and restaurants and possibly an old time Merry-go-round, with a band stand for special events. Nah….that makes too much sense.
NO PUBLIC MONEY FOR MILLIONAIRES/BILLIONAIRES!! Let them use their own money to support their ‘pie in the sky’ developments!!
Greyshark should make a trip Downtown sometime. It would help direct and focus his recommendations for the City. The Post Office park and City Gardens (cost $37-42 million) already do more than the NY and CA parks he cites as models and more beautifully for our City.
My thought is to hold the Ballpark Partners feet to the fire and insist on full performance of their agreement. They have already hurt us badly without even considering the impact of the long delay. Both Centene and the Mayor blamed them for Centene and its potential 3000 jobs not coming to the City. They absolutely refused to make any accommodations to Centene (tenant status only, parking in a nearby garage with rental fees - i.e. none in their own building, and so on). That obstructionism had a HUGE adverse impact on the City, so at the least they should be forced to comply with their development agreement.