The Cardinals and Cordish Co. last week unveiled the fourth iteration of a plan for Ballpark Village. If things go well — a very big “if” — the complex could start to materialize early next year on the hole formerly known as Busch Stadium II.
The nation is teetering near recession, lenders are tight-fisted, condo prices are tumbling and three major law firms are considering leaving downtown for the suburbs. It’s not an auspicious moment at which to begin what is being billed as a $600 million development. But the Cardinals organization and its Baltimore-based partner seem determined to try.
The economic climate for the deal was much rosier two years ago after the new Busch Stadium opened. Oil prices were relatively stable, and the housing market hadn’t cratered. Only the gloomiest of economists were warning of recession.
Things are a lot tougher now after two years of procrastination, long-winded negotiations and nit-picking — to say nothing of complaints and jokes about “Lake DeWitt.” The Cardinals ownership group, headed by William O. DeWitt Jr., has given the team and the city a public relations black eye.
For one year’s salary of a backup middle infielder, the site could have been graded and sodded and enclosed with something other than a chain-link fence. Mr. DeWitt’s son, team president Bill DeWitt III, promises something like that by late this fall.
The image of Gussie Busch spinning in his grave has been thrown around a lot lately, but we can’t imagine the Cardinals during the Anheuser-Busch ownership years foisting an embarrassment like this on the city.

To be sure, Mr. DeWitt’s group is not solely to blame for the delays. First, there was a hassle over the size of the city’s subsidy for the project. As that was being hashed out last fall, Centene Corp. threw the developers a batting-practice fastball, as they call it around the ballpark. The Clayton-based corporation expressed interest in building a new headquarters for itself at Ballpark Village. That set off a new round of head-knocking between the corporation, the city and the developer. The Centene pitch turned out to be a spitter; the company pulled out of the deal in March after the land it always had coveted in Clayton became available.
Then it was back to the bargaining table with key issues being the mix of retail, residential, office and hotel uses in the development and the question of what happens if the development doesn’t earn as much money as forecast.
To back the necessary construction bonds, the city agreed to give up much of the additional tax revenue generated by the project. But Cordish wanted the city to guarantee to make up the difference if the project’s revenues fell short of projections. Mayor Francis Slay wisely refused to put the city’s credit at risk.
That could make the bonds more difficult to sell, but Peter Czajkowski, the Stifel Nicolaus investment banker handling the deal, says there is “reason to be optimistic.” The Cards and Cordish say they’re confident that they’ll be able to raise their own share of the financing.

The deal faces other potential pitfalls. Plans are squishy on important details. For instance, the plans say the first phase will include “between 100,000 to 750,000 square feet.” That’s a pretty wide range. Nor is there a fixed timetable for construction, and the developers can back out of parts of the plan.
Smart developers won’t build an office building until they have lease commitments for much of the space. Mr. DeWitt III says he has tentative “handshake” deals to fill 300,000 square feet of offices, but leases can’t be signed until the project receives all of its approvals. He also says he has strong expressions of interest for much of the retail space that will be built as part of the development’s first phase.
The Board of Aldermen must approve a formal redevelopment agreement. With so many of the details still to be worked out and so many of the leases based on “handshakes,” the aldermen are being asked to take a lot on faith.
If done right — and Cordish has succeeded in other cities — Ballpark Village should bring more sparkle to downtown. We’re rooting for the Cardinals. But in the meantime, a nice fence and some landscaping are not too much to ask.