urbanSTL

P-D: You've taken some jabs about the halting progress of Ballpark Village. To some extent things have been out of your control. But to what degree can you offer assurances that it's going to happen?



BDJ: I feel confident that the Village will get developed and, from this point forward, in a more timely manner. The market's changed. There will be less residential and more office. We spent a lot of time on the Centene Project, which we thought if it could work would be a great addition to the Village and downtown. But it didn't work. It set us back a number of months. Now you look out there with the dirt and the water…— we need to get started with construction.



P-D: The club has offered assurances before on behalf of itself and the developer. Why should the public be convinced now?



BDJ: I think we have more certainty now because we know Centene won't be here and we were able to acquire the Bowling Hall of Fame site. That also had its own set of complications. If they hadn't chosen to move, we would have loved for them to be in Village. But in that location on that parcel, it wasn't ideal. That would have complicated things to move them to another part of the Village. We could have done it. But I think the way it worked out is probably a cleaner way for us to have certainty for that site and simplify the project.



P-D: Will the project be recognizable compared to its original rendering?



BDJ: I think it will be recognizable from the original vision. I don't think residential will be Phase I. It will be a second phase. I hope the residential market comes back to where it's viable.



P-D: Projections no longer call for completion of the project before the team hosts the All-Star Game next July. What can be done by then?



BDJ: The site will be a lot nicer for the All-Star Game. We'll definitely need to pave and set up an area for various All-Star activities. We were hoping to have it open for the All-Star Game but as of now that's not going to happen.



P-D: When can the city expect to see something coming out of the ground?



BDJ: I think toward the end of the year, the first of next year. I think you'll see some cosmetic things before then. But in terms of real construction ... nothing until later.



P-D: So, for you, is there still a question of whether Ballpark Village will be built?



BDJ: The Village will be built. It's just a matter of when it will be completed.

southslider wrote:And a lot of the Class B space would make good residential conversions similar to the former PET building, especially the upper floors of older mid-century small-floor-plate buildings, like Millenium Center (6th/Olive) and Gateway Tower (Memorial/Market).

markofucity wrote:The last two points are well taken - the ball park is a draw for business as well and office space can be converted at a later date ... but I'd much rather see a building DESIGNED for residential take advantage of those views. And you could always do both. There's nothing stopping them from building 10+ floors of office on top of the residential floors.



lets just pray to god they don;t foul up the opportunity all together and build itty bitty buildings with less than 10 stories ....

markofucity wrote:There's nothing stopping them from building 10+ floors of office on top of the residential floors.

City, Cordish near Ballpark Village deal



St. Louis Business Journal - by Christopher Tritto and Lisa brown



After more than a year of delays, Ballpark Village developers and St. Louis city officials said they expect to finalize a development agreement for the vacant site next to Busch Stadium within the next couple weeks.



"We're at the point where we're either going to get it done or not going to get it done," said Jeff Rainford, Mayor Francis Slay's chief of staff.



Plans still call for a $650 million multi-phased, mixed-use development similar to that proposed before Centene Corp. announced last September it would purchase a portion of the site and build a new headquarters there, according to Rainford and Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III.



That deal fell through in March when Centene opted to build instead in Clayton. Earlier plans for the first phase of Ballpark Village included at least 100,000 square feet of office space and 270,000 square feet of entertainment and retail space.

A major difference in the revised agreement is that Cordish wants to eliminate the residential component from its $387 million first phase of construction and save it for a later date when market conditions improve. Citing tight credit markets and a battered housing market, DeWitt said a new condominium tower does not make sense right now.



Cordish officials have always been careful to call the housing market in downtown St. Louis an emerging one, noting that no new residential high-rise projects have been built downtown in decades. In an April 18, 2006, memo to city officials, Cordish Director of Finance Jason Epstein said that the final project would change to meet evolving market conditions.



Slay has long pushed for condominiums or apartments as part of the plan, but is now willing to give Cordish more flexibility.