urbanSTL

A certain UNC Tar Heel alum/real estate mogul here thinks he's got them wrapped up.

Wow!!! That kind of blows my mind.

sirshankalot wrote:A certain UNC Tar Heel alum/real estate mogul here thinks he's got them wrapped up.

Hopefully he's full of hot air.

DeBaliviere wrote:

sirshankalot wrote:A certain UNC Tar Heel alum/real estate mogul here thinks he's got them wrapped up.

Hopefully he's full of hot air.

I don't understand the reference. Can someone help me here?

I have a hard time believing that a company located downtown for years will just pick up and move to Clayton without unput from its employees. Then again anything is possible.

Downtown2007 wrote:I have a hard time believing that a company located downtown for years will just pick up and move to Clayton without unput from its employees. Then again anything is possible.

Oh, I wouldn't at all. My company moved because the CEO lived in Creve Coeur and didn't want to drive downtown any more.

JuiceInDogtown wrote:

Downtown2007 wrote:I have a hard time believing that a company located downtown for years will just pick up and move to Clayton without unput from its employees. Then again anything is possible.

Oh, I wouldn't at all. My company moved because the CEO lived in Creve Coeur and didn't want to drive downtown any more.

There is substantial data out there, primarily focused on the NYC region, showing how company headquarters moved to be more convenient for the CEO. Blech.

they're just playing the "we're leaving downtown" game so they get a better deal from Gateway One and the city, which makes complete sense if you ask me.. THey will now get a better deal from Gateway One and the city. If they didn't, they'd pay far higher leasing rates, etc. They're not leaving in this economy. Again, I think the MAIN reason AT left Met is because Centene is their major client. How you can justify going from $17 to $32/ sf i have no idea..



The city needs to get more aggressive with attraction to downtown. They have the Downtown Partnership, but it's like What do they do all day? provide neat little guides and sweep the sidewalks? how about an aggressive/ edgy advertising campaign? cut the staff in half and start putting out hard facts in business journal ads about downtown. I think over 65% of the largest 25 law firms are downtown. all creative ad firms are downtown, for the most part. who wants to hire a clayton ad firm...hello yesteryear.. the perception is that people are still leaving, when I don't think it's necessarily true.

JMedwick wrote:

steve wrote:

DeBaliviere wrote:

Hopefully he's full of hot air.

I don't understand the reference. Can someone help me here?

I will second the request for clarification.

The Tar Heel I know works for a Baltimore based developer.

Koman

<I>Post-Dispatch</I> story on DeWitt's speech:



<a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... ">Ballpark Village remains in limbo</a>

DeWitt said he was unsure when the developers of Ballpark Village would ask the Missouri Development Finance Board for final approval of state subsidies for the planned retail, entertainment and office project.



Asked if that might happen in 2010, he said, "I'm done predicting."

Bill Dimwitt III wrote:"I'm done predicting."

Fine. Then it's time for the City of St. Louis to force the Cardinals' hand. What happened to the penalties the Cardinals were supposed to pay if the project was delayed? Recession...schmession. I say the Cardinals should either pay up or put the property up for sale. I'm sick of this.

ThreeOneFour wrote:

Bill Dimwitt III wrote:"I'm done predicting."

Fine. Then it's time for the City of St. Louis to force the Cardinals' hand. What happened to the penalties the Cardinals were supposed to pay if the project was delayed? Recession...schmession. I say the Cardinals should either pay up or put the property up for sale. I'm sick of this.

I'm not necessarily defending BD3, but hasn't the holdup since March been the state legislature voting on the selling of bonds to fund the thing? I took that as him being fed up with delays outside the team's control.



That said, if the team had gotten on the ball and gotten the thing started when they said they would (read:pre-recession) , they'd be in much better shape now.



-RBB

RBB wrote:I'm not necessarily defending BD3, but hasn't the holdup since March been the state legislature voting on the selling of bonds to fund the thing? I took that as him being fed up with delays outside the team's control.



That said, if the team had gotten on the ball and gotten the thing started when they said they would (read:pre-recession) , they'd be in much better shape now.



-RBB

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Cardinals may have advised the Missouri Economic Development Board to delay approval of the public portion of the project until they had more ducks in a row on their front. It was scheduled to be on the board's agenda several times this year and it was scrapped each time. I don't think the Cardinals wanted to bring the proposal before the state until they had more things completed on their end.



Again, I could be wrong, but I think that's how it was explained to me and others here several pages ago in this thread.

Still pissed at Centene.

^ Me too. I wonder what could've been at Ballpark Village every time I pass the intersection of Hanley Road and Forsyth Boulevard in Clayton.

Mill204 wrote:

ThreeOneFour wrote:I still wonder what happened to the penalties the Cardinals were supposed to pay if they didn't live up to their end of the agreement to build Ballpark Village. [...] Does anyone know for sure?

From a Dec '09 KMOV article:

The Cardinals first promised to build Ballpark Village seven years ago as part of a city-backed plan to build a new Busch Stadium. The original goal was to have the village built in time for the 2009 All-Star Game. The Cardinals could face a $3 million annual penalty starting in 2012 if the project is not completed.

Well, I feel pretty confident that they're not going to have anything done by 2010.

I'm from St. Louis, now living in KC. KC's a great town. If you haven't been to KC in the past 5 yrs, then you really haven't been to Kansas City. Kansas City is Missouri's most populous city with over 130,000 more citizens than St. Louis and is the fastest growing metro area in Missouri (+12.61% compared to +4.83% in STL), growing at a rate 3 times that of St. Louis. It's amazing that when I go back to St. Louis, no one seems to be aware of these facts.

And population growth is only the beginning. There are far more things to do here in the KC metropolitan area. It's so much cleaner and shinier than St. Louis. And even in these difficult financial times, this city is continually under construction. From downtown, to the Plaza to Overland Park to the Northland to Lee's Summit, KC is growing and building and completely out performing STL in so many ways. The new airport here dwarfs the airport in St. Louis and they still use the old airport downtown. The tallest building in MO is in KC. In fact only 5 of the tallest buildings in MO is in St. Louis, while 9 are in KC.

Every major concert tour in America comes to KC while very few come to STL. Tina turner didn't even bring her tour to STL, she Opened her tour at the Sprint Center in KC. Garth Brooks did all 9 of his sold out concerts at the Sprint Center. Cordish Corp. are no more perfect than any other business in America, but, they bring businesses and revitalize urban entertainment districts better than any other company in the U.S. Problem with this article is that the writer doesn't understand that the reason why no businesses have sprung up around the new stadium "yet", is because smart businessmen/women are "waiting" for the ballpark project to unfold before signing leases and opening their businesses. Who wouldn't. And no, the Cardinals won't drive in the business that's needed to sustain the area.

Ballpark Village is the draw, just as the Power and Light District here in KC "is" the draw. KC doesn't even have a sports team downtown in their entertainment district. Yet, the Power and Light District is packed "every" weekend. So, Busch Stadium should be looked at as an addition to what will draw consumers and business to the area. Perhaps you should come to KC and take it on a "test drive" then go back to St. Louis and write your articles. If you wonder why St. Louis is going nowhere, you needn't read any further than the negative, defeatist and total lack of understanding or imaginative thinking found in this blog. It's important that a city does enough of the right things to maintain and drive new residents to the area. St. Louis is doing all the wrong things, again!