urbanSTL

Here's some photos of the signage. I thought I'd drive by today over lunch. I wasn't planning to take pictures, but I was able to take a few from the car. They're not particularly good, but you can see some of it anyways. The road was blocked up with construction related vehicles, so I had to turn around before I could get close to the Phase I building.

i actually like the lone building but everything will look much better once the project begins to fill in. As far as TGIF's why would they move that location for? I would like a Buffalo WW to go in there or somewhere around downtown ...

Thanks for the pictures. I'm reserving judgement until I can get down there and see it for myself. I want to see it with landscaping and filled with people.

The Cardinals named AT&T as the corporate sponsor of the rooftop seating area at Ballpark Village. And apparently, it's an all-inclusive experience. Gee, was there ever any doubt that (1) the Cardinals would milk fans as much as possible at these seats, (2) there was no way in hell that these would be cheap seats, and (3) that yet another corporate sponsor had to plaster their logos all over the place? But hey, AT&T just wants to demonstrate their commitment to St. Louis, haha. Only a NASCAR uniform has more corporate tattoos than this place. It's like the clothes the characters wore in Idiocracy. Or maybe it is Idiocracy.

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/a ... d=20140319

And do you know what I enjoy more than history? Revisionist history, of course!

The construction of Ballpark Village represents the next step in the Cardinals' vision for their investment in downtown St. Louis that began with the opening of the privately financed, $411 million Busch Stadium in 2006.

OK, is anyone else overwhelmed by the stench of bullsh!t in that statement? Do the Cardinals really think their fans are that stupid? Wait, I shouldn't ask that, because I think I know the answer. The Cardinals get a lot of credit when they do well, and a fair amount of forbearance when they don't, and it's largely deserved because they consistently deliver an entertaining, competitive, top-tier on-field product. But this is utter bullsh!t, and Ballpark Village is still a disappointment in my opinion.

1. The giant signs are awesome. I don't care how commercial it is, well crafted signs visible in a ballpark are some of my favorite things. (See Citgo in Boston.) I don't care how many there are.

2. Busch Stadium III WAS overwhelmingly privately financed. Look at stadium deals around the country at that time and even today. Busch III received a disproportionately small public contribution compared to the norm. By quite a bit. That's why it's considered publicly financed. And it's not just the Cardinals who call it that.

http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/nl/BuschStadium.htm

88% privately financed.

We all know the Cardinals got a lot of benefits, especially as it relates to BPV, but there's no reason to take issue with the statement that ballpark was privately financed. It was.

threeonefour wrote: It's like the clothes the characters wore in Idiocracy. Or maybe it is Idiocracy.

So there will be an all-electrolyte bar opening up in BPV sometime soon?

I think it's looking great. There are some great photos on instagram and they all look fantastic. The design looks pretty solid and the way it interacts the stadium is cool.

ricke002 wrote:

threeonefour wrote: It's like the clothes the characters wore in Idiocracy. Or maybe it is Idiocracy.

So there will be an all-electrolyte bar opening up in BPV sometime soon?

Perhaps. It would go well with most of the other tenants. And a gigantic Brawndo- The Thirst Mutilator sign would be sweet!

In response to the question of private financing, yes, the Cardinals chipped in more than most franchises, unless you look at the San Francisco Giants (AT&T Park was 100% privately financed), or look to the NFL (the New England Patriots fully funded construction of Gillette Stadium). But a closer look at the link provided above shows the total cost of the stadium at $344 million, $90.1 million of which was funded by the Cardinals. In other words, that doesn't add up to 88%. Granted, the Cardinals are on the hook for bond payments to the tune of roughly $15 million annually, but they also benefited from tax incentives from the city and state based on future revenue that weren't factored into this total. And they dodged millions of dollars in penalties to the city even though they were a few years late and a few highrise buildings short of what they originally committed to build. (If only the rest of us could be so fortunate when we owed the city money.)

I don't want to rehash the public financing debate or rain on anyone's parade, but it's not like the city didn't give up anything at all to get the stadium and village built.

Bunch of pics from the inside
(Friend of a friend took them)

i think this village could grow on me..

What's next for Ballpark Village?
Developers say a residential tower and office buildings could come later.

30 minutes ago • By Tim Bryant tbryant@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8206

The public finally gets its first look this week at Ballpark Village, the much-delayed development next to Busch Stadium. But even before it opens, St. Louisans are asking, “What’s next?”

No doubt the project’s first phase — a $100 million sports bar complex — will make a splash downtown. Bars and restaurants surround a big central court with a glass roof that will open when the weather is nice. Rooftop bleachers provide views into the ballpark. The Cardinals and their Ballpark Village co-developer, Cordish Cos. of Baltimore, expect first-year attendance to top 7 million.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... witterfeed

^ nice post Goat, I think it was one of the better articles lately on BPV and what could be impacts on surrounding area might entail even though the article doesn't give any great groundbreaking news. However, for what it is worth, the article at least give DeWitt the opportunity express that his goal is something more than a surface lot as well as a believe in downtown. At the same time, I think future phases will certainly see a hotel and residential along Clark with hopefully future office towers along Walnut. I do wonder, what does the rendering DeWitt has in his office look like?

At the same time, KC is getting a new 25 story residential tower in P&L but you have to wonder at what cost. From the article it notes that KC is now looking at extending the bonds to 2040 for short term financial gain.

Last month, a city council committee backed a plan to refinance the city’s Power & Light District debt to help pay municipal employee pension costs, the Kansas City Star reported. The plan adds seven years to the district’s debt payments, to 2040. It lowers payments from 2015 through 2019 to free up cash to help pay pension costs but bumps up the payments between 2020 and 2040 for a net increase in overall debt of $36 million, the newspaper reported.

The Cardinals and Cordish secured Ballpark Village bonds themselves, a key step, DeWitt said, in pushing the project forward. But it’s not as if the developers are building Ballpark Village completely on their own dime. State and local incentives of $17 million for the first phase could eventually reach $183.5 million if the project meets benchmarks on retail, office, residential and other offerings.

Maybe they're serious about residential...

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morn ... llage.html

T'm sure this will move quickly knowing the Cardinals

Cardinals President Bill Dewitt III told the Post-Dispatch that he thought a tall, thin residential tower could be ideal for the property at Clark and Broadway.

Dewitt also told the newspaper that he thought the properties on the Walnut Side of Ballpark Village would be a good site for office buildings, and the southwest corner could be home to a hotel.

Anyone good at photoshop? I'd love to see what this might look like from inside the stadium!

And where are they going to find office tenants for a tower?

^He said it would be a good site for offices, which it is. He didn't say it would happen

I actually think we should embrace the Cardinals desire to build office buildings on the site. Ultimately we need office towers for downtown to fully comeback.

I don't know of any other developer making it a priority to build new office towers and secure major tenants. We have mostly residential rehabs, we have rehabs with some office space, and we have the soon to be empty AT&T tower. But we don't have anyone pushing for new shiny office tower to attract tenants.

In the Cardinals, we do. The market isn't there yet, as we're all painfully aware. But I'd rather we have an advocate for it who's willing to work at it than see nobody making the effort at all until it "naturally happens."

I don't want to see BPV plans be so dependent on office towers that nothing happens to the rest of the lot. They certainly should put up some residential sooner than later. But I have no issue at all with them trying to make office towers work. We need that.