Centene pulls out of Ballpark Village; is the project dead?
We’re reporting now that “Centene Corp.’s much touted move to Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis is dead.”
That’s according to the early version of our story on STLtoday here.
The company put out a news release today, coinciding with the release of documents the Post-Dispatch had requested two months ago related to the Ballpark Village project.
City leaders and Centene officials announced in September that the company would relocate its headquarters to the proposed retailing and entertainment district near Busch Stadium. Few details have been forthcoming about Centene’s $250 million proposal or the Ballpark Village development since then and speculation has been growing that Centene would pull out.
Now it’s happened. Are you surprised? What does this mean for the Ballpark Village project at large?
UPDATE: Here is the full text of Centene’s statement.
Ballpark Village was unable to accommodate Centene’s plans for our world headquarters which we deeply regret and are disappointed to announce. Since our announcement in September 2007 , we have been working closely with representatives of Ballpark Village to finalize details for this project.
Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, we could not bring our plans to fruition. We were committed and excited to move our headquarters downtown, as we recognize that Ballpark Village will help strengthen the region and we wanted to be part of this. We wish the Cardinals and the developers of Ballpark Village nothing but the best in their efforts to complete this important retail and mixed-use development.
We are currently resuming the evaluation of other potential options for the location of our corporate headquarters, both in and out of the region. We very much appreciate the commitment that leaders of this community, especially Mayor Francis Slay and his staff, have shown throughout this unusually long and public process. We remain hopeful that we can work together with local leaders to keep our growing company in the St. Louis region, if not downtown.
We will keep you updated as our search progresses.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Here’s the statement that just came out from the Cardinals and Cordish.
STATEMENT: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS AND THE CORDISH COMPANY
The St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Company believe that Centene would have been a great addition to Ballpark Village. We are disappointed that the parties could not come to an agreement, despite months of effort and the best intentions of the City, Centene, and the Ballpark Village team. Ultimately, the many complexities of Centene’s proposed project in Ballpark Village proved insurmountable.
We will now work immediately with the City and State to finalize all public approvals and commence construction of Ballpark Village. The Ballpark Village partnership is in the unique position of having its private financing in place, and we are ready, willing, and able to proceed. Our vision has not changed — Ballpark Village will be a world-class mixed-use project that will positively transform the City of St. Louis.
(15 votes, average: 2.67 out of 5)
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Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
Apparently the city didn’t pony up enough freebies for Centente to be swayed more. I knew this was never going to get finalized.
When will the city change? How about voting OUT the Democrats and try some Republicans. You people have been electing the same old guard for decades. Dump that antiquated Earning Tax which is driving, or has driven, a lot of people and business away. Take some of that $1.9 million generated so far from the red light cameras and fix the streets. Also, pick up the trash I see everywhere I drive in the city.
In the meantime somebody please get a bulldozer and fill in the gaping hole in the ground and level the area out. Plant some grass and some trees so it doesn’t look like the land that time forgot when the blimp takes an aerial shot of the stadium during baseball season. Let famlies have picnics on that land before ball games. Come on St. Louis and Cardinals leaders, it’s not rocket science here. Perception is everything and what outsides percieve is a dump.