touche. So....bpv anyone?
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Shimmy wrote:This is just my opinion, but I don't think building taller than the arch is a must. I know some think, like newstl2020, that this a huge thing for the city. I just don't see it as that big a deal. The density of downtown and building on lots, I do see that as a big deal if we really want our downtown to be something.
I'm with you. We have several buildings that are taller than anything in downtown Portland, for example, but I think we'd all love to have that city's density and vitality.
So, based on my most recent post in the county thread regarding Centene's new headquarters, what do you think the chances are it will be in Ballpark Village?
I guess the good news is either way, we should know by Tuesday of next week at least.
I guess the good news is either way, we should know by Tuesday of next week at least.
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^ who knows was Centene wants? Although they've spent some money searching for other locations, they've spent many times more on planning for the Clayton location. Given that they were willing to endure a very public eminent domain fight, I'd say that they really want to be in Clayton. Maybe the BPV is more attractive, maybe they need to make a decision quickly and don't want to wait for Clayton, but I can't imagine that they're upset with Clayton - they really went to the mat for Centene and appear to be doing so again.
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2pm @ the History museum, get excited!!!
Centene... "Goodbye Clayton, Hello BPV"
Centene... "Goodbye Clayton, Hello BPV"
This is the official word? If so, very nice! Not as good as bringing in a company new to the MSA, but good nonetheless. How many jobs will be moved downtown?
2pm today? I have KSDK on now and there's no news; only some NBC Sports "Dew Tour."bpe235 wrote:I think 2000, check ksdk @ 2
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GOD BLESS MAYOR SLAY! I think this is everything we could have hoped for for Ballpark Village!
FROM CENTENE WEBSITE:
Centene Corporation to Remain in St. Louis Region
Corporate Headquarters to Move to Downtown St. Louis City
ST. LOUIS, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2007--Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) today announced the selection of Downtown St. Louis City as the location of its new corporate headquarters, Centene Centre. Centene and its development partners formed BW Development Group to construct the new facility. BW Development Group and the developers of Ballpark Village reached an agreement in principle that would allow construction to begin on the approximately $250 million complex in the spring of 2008. Centene expects to bring 1,200 jobs to Downtown in the next three to five years.
"Our company is enjoying steady growth," said Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Centene. "We entertained a number of very attractive offers from throughout the country. Of all the possibilities, Centene Centre will best accommodate our growth. We look forward to working in partnership with state and local officials to obtain the necessary governmental approvals in order to make this project a reality."
BW Development Group will purchase the two blocks in Ballpark Village on the corner of Broadway and Walnut Street. Phase one of construction on Centene Centre will include approximately 700,000 square feet of office space with street-level retail space and 1,450 parking spaces. Phase two of construction could include up to 550,000 square feet of space as needed.
Neidorff said, "I would like to personally thank Mayor Francis Slay for his leadership and commitment to the region. His hard work was instrumental in keeping Centene's corporate headquarters in Missouri. This development is a critical step in the Mayor's continued and impressive efforts to strengthen and revitalize Downtown St. Louis City." Neidorff also thanked St. Louis Cardinals' Chairman William O. DeWitt, Jr. and other area leaders for their ongoing efforts to retain Centene's corporate headquarters in the St. Louis region.
Centene plans to maintain a significant and important presence in its two current buildings in Clayton, Mo. The company has received ongoing support from Clayton Mayor Linda Goldstein, the Clayton Board of Aldermen and other civic leaders.
"Centene will be the largest employer to move its headquarters into the City in decades-maybe as long as 50 years," said Mayor Francis Slay. "We will look back on this move as a tipping point for Downtown. This announcement is significant for three reasons. First, we are keeping a major corporate headquarters in St. Louis and in Missouri. Second, this will bring 1,200 jobs to the City and help us create the density we need to make Downtown great. Third, just announcing this deal will increase our momentum and open some eyes as we continue to revitalize Downtown."
Mayor Slay continued, "I want to personally thank Centene, and specifically Michael Neidorff, for the Company's leadership and commitment, not only to the City of St. Louis but to the entire St. Louis region."
"The economics of this transaction will provide a highly competitive long-term cost structure for our growing company," said Eric R. Slusser, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "By being a partner in the development company for the headquarters project, we will not only realize the financial benefits from the development but will also realize significant benefits under the terms of a long-term lease arrangement. In addition, all financing for the development will be within the development company and will be non-recourse to Centene."
FROM CENTENE WEBSITE:
Centene Corporation to Remain in St. Louis Region
Corporate Headquarters to Move to Downtown St. Louis City
ST. LOUIS, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2007--Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) today announced the selection of Downtown St. Louis City as the location of its new corporate headquarters, Centene Centre. Centene and its development partners formed BW Development Group to construct the new facility. BW Development Group and the developers of Ballpark Village reached an agreement in principle that would allow construction to begin on the approximately $250 million complex in the spring of 2008. Centene expects to bring 1,200 jobs to Downtown in the next three to five years.
"Our company is enjoying steady growth," said Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Centene. "We entertained a number of very attractive offers from throughout the country. Of all the possibilities, Centene Centre will best accommodate our growth. We look forward to working in partnership with state and local officials to obtain the necessary governmental approvals in order to make this project a reality."
BW Development Group will purchase the two blocks in Ballpark Village on the corner of Broadway and Walnut Street. Phase one of construction on Centene Centre will include approximately 700,000 square feet of office space with street-level retail space and 1,450 parking spaces. Phase two of construction could include up to 550,000 square feet of space as needed.
Neidorff said, "I would like to personally thank Mayor Francis Slay for his leadership and commitment to the region. His hard work was instrumental in keeping Centene's corporate headquarters in Missouri. This development is a critical step in the Mayor's continued and impressive efforts to strengthen and revitalize Downtown St. Louis City." Neidorff also thanked St. Louis Cardinals' Chairman William O. DeWitt, Jr. and other area leaders for their ongoing efforts to retain Centene's corporate headquarters in the St. Louis region.
Centene plans to maintain a significant and important presence in its two current buildings in Clayton, Mo. The company has received ongoing support from Clayton Mayor Linda Goldstein, the Clayton Board of Aldermen and other civic leaders.
"Centene will be the largest employer to move its headquarters into the City in decades-maybe as long as 50 years," said Mayor Francis Slay. "We will look back on this move as a tipping point for Downtown. This announcement is significant for three reasons. First, we are keeping a major corporate headquarters in St. Louis and in Missouri. Second, this will bring 1,200 jobs to the City and help us create the density we need to make Downtown great. Third, just announcing this deal will increase our momentum and open some eyes as we continue to revitalize Downtown."
Mayor Slay continued, "I want to personally thank Centene, and specifically Michael Neidorff, for the Company's leadership and commitment, not only to the City of St. Louis but to the entire St. Louis region."
"The economics of this transaction will provide a highly competitive long-term cost structure for our growing company," said Eric R. Slusser, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "By being a partner in the development company for the headquarters project, we will not only realize the financial benefits from the development but will also realize significant benefits under the terms of a long-term lease arrangement. In addition, all financing for the development will be within the development company and will be non-recourse to Centene."
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Centene will move its HQ to Ballpark Village
By Riddhi Trivedi St. Clair
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/23/2007
Centene's headquarters in Clayton in April; the company originally proposed an office complex on the block.
(Karen Stockman/P-D)
Clayton's loss is downtown St. Louis' gain. Centene Corp., said today it is moving its headquarters from Clayton to Ballpark Village.
In return for the promise of 1,200 new jobs to downtown within the next five years, Centene will receive $78 million in tax incentives from the city for the approximately $250 million development with more to come from state and federal programs.
Construction is scheduled to begin on the Centene Centre complex in summer of 2008.
The complex will be built in two phases and include office, retail and parking on two blocks at the corner of Broadway and Walnut Street.
Both blocks will see some development as part of phase one. The first block will have 700,000 square feet of office space. There will also be two floors of retail but no square footage was given.
The health care services company will occupy 400,000 square feet and lease out the remaining 300,000 square feet until it needs the space.
The second block will have 1,750 parking spaces and two more floors of retail. The square footage of retail on the second block, or the total number of stories in each buildings was also not released. The rest of the second block will be built in phase two and include up to 550,000 square feet of office space on an as-needed basis.
The retail will be sold back to Cordish at cost and count toward the company's commitment to 360,000 square feet of retail in the first phase of Ballpark Village.
Cordish will also build a 180-room hotel in the first phase of Ballpark Village. The hotel will accommodate Centene employees, clients and other guests. The location of the hotel was not immediately clear.
"Centene will be the largest employer to move its corporate headquarters into the city in decades – maybe as long as 50 years," said Mayor Francis Slay in a statement.
The move will help keep a major corporate headquarters within the metro area, bring jobs into the city and increase the momentum of downtown revitalization, Slay said.
To encourage Centene to make the move, the city will give the company $48 million in city tax abatement in addition to other incentives for a total of $78 million in incentives.
Centene will also receive $24 million through a federal incentive program for underdeveloped business districts. The company will receive $1.9 million as a portion of the sales tax collected from the hotel through the formation of a special tax district.
The city also plans to request more funds from the state's downtown economic program.
These tax breaks will be in addition to the approximately $116 million in incentives already allocated to Baltimore-based Cordish Co., the developers of Ballpark Village.
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Centene will be building 700,000 square feet of office space in Phase 1.
Here is what 700,000 square feet of office space looks like in tower form:
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In addition to this, up to another 550,000 square feet of office space will be built in Phase 2. Great news!
Here is what 700,000 square feet of office space looks like in tower form:
In addition to this, up to another 550,000 square feet of office space will be built in Phase 2. Great news!
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WooHoO! This is pretty exciting...a huge deal for balancing the region.
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Big Props to the City for capitalizing of the opportunity. Hopefully we can snatch more Corp HQ's!!!!!
after a major, major bummer on my part because of the Rams game...I needed this! 
This a GREAT News for Downtown and BallPark Village!
The tower plans should be wonderful with this announcement and bringing all of these jobs to downtown is great. Great location for them right on Metro - BallPark Village and the entire new downtown landscape. Not only that, the residential neighborhoods of downtown is probably loving this too.
The aryicle also says:
Another hotel!
Damn. Downtown has a lot of hotels... but they all do fairly well. The new Four Season's is a really wonderful addition for downtown. In addition, Centene can enjoy the Downtown Westin, Millineum, and Hilton Ballpark at their doorstep.
The tower plans should be wonderful with this announcement and bringing all of these jobs to downtown is great. Great location for them right on Metro - BallPark Village and the entire new downtown landscape. Not only that, the residential neighborhoods of downtown is probably loving this too.
The aryicle also says:
Cordish will also build a 180-room hotel in the first phase of Ballpark Village. The hotel will accommodate Centene employees, clients and other guests. The location of the hotel was not immediately clear.
Another hotel!
Damn. Downtown has a lot of hotels... but they all do fairly well. The new Four Season's is a really wonderful addition for downtown. In addition, Centene can enjoy the Downtown Westin, Millineum, and Hilton Ballpark at their doorstep.
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This is great. I understand that some will not approve of all the tax incentives that made this move happen, but that's the way things seem to be done. The city will be better off with this move. I think the employees will find being a part of BPV to be great. Of course those who aren't big baseball fans may be annoyed with the extra traffic. Maybe they'll find that if they live in downtown west or the OPO district the commute won't be too bad!!!
courtland wrote:after a major, major bummer on my part because of the Rams game...I needed this!
This is so funny - I feel the exact same way on both fronts!
(and Linehan needs to go).
What does 700,000 Sq. Ft. Equate to in height? 30-35 stories? How about the height of a parking garage that holds 1750 cars and two floors of retail. Sounds like when done we could have at least 5 new towers in that space.
Great news indeed.
Finally. Downtown will finally get that large amount of new Class A office space its been needing - with a large tenant to boot.
Also, these types of tax incentives are nothing. They are about in line with incentives offered by other municipalities and states to lure (or keep) that many jobs. I am glad that city officials were aggressive.
Depending on the footprint, I think the new tower should reach 25-stories or greater. I hope to get at least a 35-story out of the deal.
Finally. Downtown will finally get that large amount of new Class A office space its been needing - with a large tenant to boot.
Also, these types of tax incentives are nothing. They are about in line with incentives offered by other municipalities and states to lure (or keep) that many jobs. I am glad that city officials were aggressive.
Depending on the footprint, I think the new tower should reach 25-stories or greater. I hope to get at least a 35-story out of the deal.
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datawhse wrote:What does 700,000 Sq. Ft. Equate to in height? 30-35 stories? How about the height of a parking garage that holds 1750 cars and two floors of retail. Sounds like when done we could have at least 5 new towers in that space.
700,000 Sq. Foot usually equals 40 stories when built to typical tower specifications. However, it also depends on how the base is built. If they build a large base full of shops and restaurants, we could end up with a large rectangular building or something I expect to be more similar to this but geared more to office space rather than residential:
