urbanSTL

^That's exactly what they should do. I hope their egos aren't too big to allow it. Right now, they sound like the kid who didn't get his way so takes his ball and goes home.

Clayton

What about Centene?The biggest story in Clayton right now is the Centene project.



As you probably know, the Missouri Supreme Court recently ruled that the area between Forsyth and Carondelet, where Centene was planning to build a new $210 million headquarters, is not blighted -- putting the project on hold. It's now very possible that Centene will opt to take its headquarters -- and its money -- elsewhere.

One of the things you may notice is that there isn't a story in this section specifically about Centene's plans.



That's because, as we write this, it's not clear what's going to happen. But the issue is still very much on our radar. Some of those who fought Centene are still willing to negotiate to sell their properties. We're keeping tabs on the discussions the involved parties are having, and as soon as we know something, so will you.



The Centene topic wasn't entirely ignored. New Clayton Mayor Linda Goldstein shared her thoughts on the Centene project as well as other developments in a Q&A (see page 36).



In addition, the section gives you an overview of the other things going on in Clayton -- from the major developments planned to the newest restaurants in town to the office vacancy rates.



In fact, there are so many things going on in Clayton right now that we couldn't fit everything in the section. That's why you'll find a story about Fontbonne's interest in buying the former Christian Brothers College High School site on page 5.



As you'll see, the Centene decision is big news for Clayton, but it's not the only news.

http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/ ... ocus1.html

MikeL wrote:I doubt Centene is going to take its marbles home and go move its headquarters out of Clayton. That is too much work compared to uping its offers to the hold out property owners. That's what the use of eminent domain for private development is all about....trying to be cheap. Everyone has their price. They are just posturing. The project will be adjusted or the "winning" land owners will be paid more.

Looks like you could be right.



Centene makes new offers for Clayton land

By Joel Currier

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

06/30/2007



Two years, a half-million dollars and a high court ruling later, three Clayton landowners found out this week that a prominent Clayton developer isn't giving up its plans to acquire their property.



Centene Corp. has offered new bids to three property owners who won a state Supreme Court battle to keep their land.



Centene sought to take their land using eminent domain but lost in the June 12 decision.



Dan Sheehan, one of the landowners who received the offer this week, says he wants to stay put.



"We would certainly like to stay where we are," he said. "We've been there a long time. The location is good for us, just like it is for Centene, and we'd like to continue operating there."



Centene, a company that provides managed health care and employs 600 people at its Clayton headquarters, hopes to hire 900 new employees if its proposed $210 million office, retail and parking complex is built.



Centene has offered the landowners "new and generous" offers that still would require the acquisition of those properties, said Robert Schenk, a company spokesman. He declined to outline details of the offers.



"We've made it very clear that the properties have to be part of the project, or the project won't go forward as it was designed," Schenk said.



Read more

JESUS H. CHRIST, where are our priorities?!??!?!!!!!





Centene gives up on Clayton project

STAFF REPORTS





07/06/2007



The Centene Corp. had proposed building an office, retail, and commercial development covering most of a square block of the Clayton business district. The main tower would be at Hanley Road and Forsyth Blvd.

(Karen Stockman/P-D)



After failing to find room to expand its Clayton headquarters, Centene Corp. now says it will take its 900 new jobs elsewhere.



The company, which lost a protracted court battle over the planned use of eminent domain, said late Friday that it is no longer pursuing the $210 million Centene Plaza development on the southwest corner of Forsyth Boulevard and Hanley Road in Clayton.



Besides becoming the company’s new headquarters, the Plaza would have included retail and parking.



The announcement follows a failed attempt to buy three tracts of land near the company’s existing headquarters. The company said it made “generous offers’’ but offered no details.



“Having failed to receive a response to its offers, the company is now aggressively pursuing other alternatives,’’ Centene said in a news release.

The company would not comment further.



Centene lost a two-year court battle on June 12, when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against the company’s plan to acquire the three parcels through eminent domain. Advertisement



Where Centene might put its headquarters remains a subject of wide speculation.



Last month, company spokesman Robert Schenk told the Post-Dispatch that Centene might take the 900 new jobs to another location, but that 600 jobs at the headquarters will remain. “We are sending out approximately two dozen requests for proposals to a number of cities and states, and we will await their proposals,’’ Schenk said.



Richard Fleming, president of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, said he remained hopeful that Centene would find a new spot within the area.



“I think it’s fair to say that there are any number of places in the metropolitan area and within Clayton and the (St. Louis) county that would welcome with open arms the kind of development Centene is proposing for their new headquarters,” Fleming said. “We’re simply going to do everything within our power to pursue that.”



Jim Koman, president of Koman Properties, a Clayton-based development company, said developers are watching the situation closely “to figure out if Centene was still interested in Clayton or would pursue other markets.



“My personal hope and wish is that Centene stays within the metro area so at least the region will retain the jobs,” Koman said. “All businesses and developers look towards pro-development communities and municipalities, no matter where they are located.”



http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/busine ... enDocument



SCREW THOSE SELFISH HOLDOUTS WHO ALLOWED THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PASS. YOU BACKWARDS SOBs!!! I don't blame Centene a single bit for saying "Your loss!" Everyone should forever boycott those a$$holes who wouldn't sell. Oh wait, nobody's ever even heard of those losers anyway.

Yes, it is. I'm wondering what the city is doing to try to gain these jobs and investment.

I blame Centene for this. I think they went about this all wrong.



What's wong with the current site? They still have plenty of land on that block to modify their plan.

It would be cool if they could work something out with Montgomery Bank, Triannon, or the Crescent phase II and incoporate more office into the mixed use plans.

Overall I hope they end up DT, it would be great for the City's psyche, although I don't think they need enough space to add much to the skyline.[/i]

Not knowing what Centene offered the property owners, I won't blame them yet. Obviously, they're probably pretty ticked that Centene tried to eminant domain their property, so I doubt that they would have moved now even if the offer would have been rediculous.



Regardless, Centene shouldn't blame the region for this. It would be much more profitable for them to stay in the St. Louis region - moving is not cheap. In my opinion, Centene has the opportunity to be the bigger company here and find another location in the metro. Now, St. Louis city and county should be falling over backwards to give them site locations and the necessary tax breaks to relocate / build.



One idea I had - maybe Pyramid could quickly rehab the Class A office space above the STL Center? How much contiguous space is left in that building now that AB moved out? Obviously, the bottle district and ballpark village should also be considering how quickly they could build new Class A office space for their developments. The word on the street is that Metropolitan (Skyhouse developer) owns many more surface lots downtown that could also be developed into Class A office space.



As you can see, I think the best opportunity for Centene is downtown. They obviously are ok going vertical, and they still would have access to public transportation and such downtown like they would have in Clayton.

bpe235 wrote:I blame Centene for this. I think they went about this all wrong.



What's wong with the current site? They still have plenty of land on that block to modify their plan.

It is this attitude that worries me so much. I don't know what Centene offered these businesses for their properties, but it is moot considering they all said they don't want to sell at any price. They were intent on staying put no matter what, just to stand on ceremony about how "we've been here for so many years..." yada yada yada. Nevermind that Centene was offering them all class A space in their new building once completed. Nevermind that Centene's project would have far-reaching positive effects on the economy, image and confidence of the St. Louis market. Nevermind that they came back and offered MORE money for these properties just out of good faith.



The business owners are selfish, short-sighted, provincial and disgusting IMO. It is that kind of territorialism that makes St. Louis an unattractive business environment. It's like saying, "We know you represent growth and progress, and we know you want to provide hundreds upon hundreds of new jobs , but we're fine just the way we are, thank you very much."



PUKE! These idiots should go cry in the corner and thank themselves for f***ing St. Louis in the a$$ just so they can stay put in their ugly, nondescript little shacks. I hope they all sulk in their stupidity for the rest of their lives! Pathetic, small-minded losers!

I know some of the owners were listed in the BJ, but has anyone seen or put together a list of all the business owners who absolutey refused to sell at any price? Just wondering who we need to boycott.

^Bakewell Realty is one. The others are more obscure, which makes me so pissed. How pretentious that they think they're more important than Centene.

Forcing a private property owner to sell their property to another private owner is just plain wrong.



The fact is, Centenne already owns plenty of land at Hanley/Forsyth to build their tower. But they want more, and they're acting like a bully to get what they want. That's what pisses me off!



Let's hope cooler heads prevail. Obviously, there's lots of options for them here in St. Louis, whether on the land they already own in Clayton, or elsewhere in the region (Ballpark Village would fit their timeframe perfectly, as well as provide the kind of mixed-use office/retail environment they say they want).



In the meantime, I don't think it's right to blame the current property owners for this mess (or to run around calling them silly names or threatening a boycott).



The bottome line is, forcing a private property owner to sell their property to another private owner is just plain wrong.

JivecitySTL wrote:How pretentious that they think they're more important than Centene.

Framer is right. This is america where we value and protect the idea of private property. Those people arent being pretentious by reserving the right to keep property that they own. And they dont think theyre more important than a major corporation. They just have principles that they will not give up.

^Sure, the sanctity of owning your own property is great and all and should be protected. The problem is that St. Louis seems to have a lot of dumba$$ short-sighted losers who don't see the big picture and are more concerned with being stubborn for the mere sake of being stubborn rather than help to procure tangible growth for the region's economy and image. It is not the fact that they own their private property that pisses me off. It's the fact they are SO STUPID by not thinking outside the box. You have no idea what kind of message this sends about our city. We look like a bunch of selfish amateurs. In most cities, nearby business owners would move heaven and earth to get a company like Centene to expand in their proximity. I don't agree with eminent domain in most cases, but these holdout business owners are a detriment to the entire St. Louis region and they should be vilified.



**ADDENDUM**



I would never, ever support the replacement of homes or businesses to make way for a mega-stripmall or a Walgreens or something else that could easily be built elsewhere, but this is a very unique opportunity. When three businesses have to be displaced in order to create a loyal company's expanded headquarters, it should be a no-brainer.

I would never, ever support the replacement of homes or businesses to make way for a mega-stripmall or a Walgreens or something else that could easily be built elsewhere, but this is a very unique opportunity. When three businesses have to be displaced in order to create a loyal company's expanded headquarters, it should be a no-brainer.

How is this a no-brainer? It's still a case of the government stepping in on the side of a private party and taking what belongs to another private party. Hanley and Forsyth is not blighted, so there's no need for eminent domain and Centenne is still free to build on their current site, they just can't do everything they wanted...boo-hoo such is life.



You can't blame people who are located in a prime location and doing good business fighting to stay there, their livelihood could be at stake.

PUKE! These idiots should go cry in the corner and thank themselves for f***ing St. Louis in the a$$ just so they can stay put in their ugly, nondescript little shacks. I hope they all sulk in their stupidity for the rest of their lives! Pathetic, small-minded losers!

So this argument has nothing to do with the rights of property owners, you just want a shiny new glass tower for Clayton and a feather in our cap and making sure people know we're business friendly. Some would say that's small minded as well.



There are other ways to prove St. Louis is a good place to do business that don't involve taking property from business owners. Like others have said, a large corporation and a tony city are the people to blame here, not the business owners.

Centene has been an outstanding corporate citizen thus far and have showed a loyal commitment to St. Louis. They only pursued eminent domain after making several fair offers to the businesses in question. I don't know the dollar amounts offered, but I know it was at least market rate value. Even after Centene lost their ED case (a decision I actually agree with), they made yet another more generous offer for the properties. If you think these businesses are holding out just because they worry they'll lose business, you're kidding yourself. They were offered space in Centene's new development that would have offered them a much more high-profile placement than where they are now. They were just being difficult to make a statement. And they definitely succeeded-- at the expense of the entire metro St. Louis economy. Thanks! I don't blame Centene for pursuing locales outside of St. Louis where they would actually be appreciated. Come on, we're not talking about historic buildings or a landmark public space-- can we look at the trade-offs here?



Again, I DO NOT condone the use of eminent domain in this instance or most other instances either, but I just wish some of these stubborn business people could see the big picture here. They occupy small, inconspicuous storefronts which are a dime a dozen all over Clayton. We've all heard St. Louis labeled "conservative" and "stuck in its ways." Well this is the perfect demonstration of that sentiment. No matter how anyone wants to spin it, this outcome was a very bad deal for Clayton and potentially all of greater St. Louis.

And they definitely succeeded-- at the expense of the entire metro St. Louis economy.

I didn't know that this is the ONLY site in the metro area that is available to build a new office tower. There are SEVERAL other sites in Clayton that are on the drawing board:

-Forsyth between Merrill Lynch and Shaw Park Plaza

-Brentwood and Forsyth

obviously, Centene doesn't own these sites, but I'm sure could be available for the right price.



Outside of Clayton in downtown, several sites are available. The surface lot to the east of Busch Stadium is one off the top of my head. The city should SELL the two blocks next to AT&T to Centene for a discounted rate.



Jive,

I'm bummed too that this won't be built anymore, but it comes down to this, and it really is QUITE simple. Private owners don't need to have their property TAKEN from them by the government. Don't fall back onto the old line "oh, st. Louis is so parochial, small minded and conservative, blah..blah..." The MSC made the right decision. Again, look at Montgomery Bank's site.. interesting.

JCity wrote:

And they definitely succeeded-- at the expense of the entire metro St. Louis economy.

I didn't know that this is the ONLY site in the metro area that is available to build a new office tower. There are SEVERAL other sites in Clayton that are on the drawing board:

-Forsyth between Merrill Lynch and Shaw Park Plaza

-Brentwood and Forsyth

obviously, Centene doesn't own these sites, but I'm sure could be available for the right price.



Outside of Clayton in downtown, several sites are available. The surface lot to the east of Busch Stadium is one off the top of my head. The city should SELL the two blocks next to AT&T to Centene for a discounted rate.



Jive,

I'm bummed too that this won't be built anymore, but it comes down to this, and it really is QUITE simple. Private owners don't need to have their property TAKEN from them by the government. Don't fall back onto the old line "oh, st. Louis is so parochial, small minded and conservative, blah..blah..." The MSC made the right decision. Again, look at Montgomery Bank's site.. interesting.

Agree, it wasn't the STL metro that said "No" it was the Missouri supreme court that made the ruling.