I think if Microsoft becomes a tenant of the new building that will be constructed in Cortex, a Microsoft Store could open over near IKEA. But not in this development. I think this site will have a Apple Store for the College Students at SLU and Harris Stowe.dredger wrote:Microsoft seems like it would be a perfect fit/anchor tenant for Cortex East.
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Extremely unlikely. More likely to see a MicroCenter or Best Buy Express.chriss752 wrote:I think if Microsoft becomes a tenant of the new building that will be constructed in Cortex, a Microsoft Store could open over near IKEA. But not in this development. I think this site will have a Apple Store for the College Students at SLU and Harris Stowe.dredger wrote:Microsoft seems like it would be a perfect fit/anchor tenant for Cortex East.
rbb wrote:This one?framer wrote:Anyone have photos of the model they were displaying at the preview?
Source
-RBB
Excellent! I sure hope they can get those towers built.
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Reminds me of the bus depo on delmar. Look at that giant street wall.
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https://www.stlmag.com/news/economy-inn ... y-foundry/
https://www.stlmag.com/news/economy-inn ... y-foundry/
That needs a massive crosswalk that goes across Forest park and cuts right through that parking lot. Like the crosswalk for SLU going across Grand.
StlToday - SLU redevelopment plan, City Foundry project get key aldermanic endorsements
Including state and federal historic tax credits and special sales tax districts, about 52 percent of the financing for the $134 million project would come from public sources — an amount Alderman Cara Spencer called “an astronomical figure.”
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/ ... 90bbf.html“We’re not going to be able to get this thing financed with local retailers.”
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^ wait, so they're not committing to owning Desolage beyond a year or two, or they're not committing to leaving it standing beyond a year or two? if the latter then that combined with MO Belting and Pevely is a GIANT load of horse sh*t.
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Seems like there's a lot of evidence building that Foundry is trying to lure businesses from other parts of the city into their development. If that's the case, the city needs to reconsider TIF support for the project.
^^^What evidence?
There have been conversations with local chefs about starting new, high concept eateries into the food hall since the food hall is about small, very creative eateries, but they are not trying to pull local retailers away from other parts of the City.
The hope is to bring retailers who do not have a presence in St. Louis into the development.
I could be wrong, but isn't this type of development exactly what TIFs were created for? To help develop a blighted and difficult property? This site is beyond contaminated and needs major utility, et. al. work.
I'm not a fan of giving away public money, but we're not talking about moving a wal-mart across the road, they're trying to redevelop a historic property that is extremely contaminated and would sit empty for who knows how long without some kind of assistance to make redevelopment possible.
There have been conversations with local chefs about starting new, high concept eateries into the food hall since the food hall is about small, very creative eateries, but they are not trying to pull local retailers away from other parts of the City.
The hope is to bring retailers who do not have a presence in St. Louis into the development.
I could be wrong, but isn't this type of development exactly what TIFs were created for? To help develop a blighted and difficult property? This site is beyond contaminated and needs major utility, et. al. work.
I'm not a fan of giving away public money, but we're not talking about moving a wal-mart across the road, they're trying to redevelop a historic property that is extremely contaminated and would sit empty for who knows how long without some kind of assistance to make redevelopment possible.
I agree with olvidarte. Steve Smith said himself that they are courting national retailers that are not currently in St. Louis but don't want a mall location. because the financing wouldn't work with local businesses alone.
I get the objection to tax breaks, but this project I feel is going to be a big catalyst for more peripheral development, and its saving the entire historic, high-profile complex to boot (remember, the previous proposal called for complete demolition and replacement with a big box strip center). We need to choose our battles here. The Lawrence Group has a track record of doing great things in the city (Pevely fiasco notwithstanding), and i think we're going to see a first-class development here.
I get the objection to tax breaks, but this project I feel is going to be a big catalyst for more peripheral development, and its saving the entire historic, high-profile complex to boot (remember, the previous proposal called for complete demolition and replacement with a big box strip center). We need to choose our battles here. The Lawrence Group has a track record of doing great things in the city (Pevely fiasco notwithstanding), and i think we're going to see a first-class development here.
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As to evidence, there was a hint of some in the article. And here's a tweet I saw last night:
Yup they've reached out to several Cherokee street businesses about relocating and many are considering it.
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Uhg that's terrible newsjoelo wrote:Yup they've reached out to several Cherokee street businesses about relocating and many are considering it.
It would be pretty messed up to give tax breaks to a developer who would rob businesses from other parts of the city and in turn steal some of their taxes.
The Foundry sounds cool, but IMO it is currently set up to operate like a food court in an outdoor mall. Only way to access it is by car unless you're a SLU student. I imagine people from the suburbs going to Ikea, grabbing lunch at the Foundry, and then going home. I live close by in Shaw. Driving to a food court and dealing with parking lots sounds awful. I could take the bus and walk down Forest Park, but if I'm walking, I'd rather be on South Grand. I have images of Ballpark Village in my mind but only more rustic yet hip.
The Foundry sounds cool, but IMO it is currently set up to operate like a food court in an outdoor mall. Only way to access it is by car unless you're a SLU student. I imagine people from the suburbs going to Ikea, grabbing lunch at the Foundry, and then going home. I live close by in Shaw. Driving to a food court and dealing with parking lots sounds awful. I could take the bus and walk down Forest Park, but if I'm walking, I'd rather be on South Grand. I have images of Ballpark Village in my mind but only more rustic yet hip.
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^ keep in mind as well we have the Union Station food hall concept and the South Vandeventer food truck project as well as potential new competitors for essentially a common industry of luring the hot local brands. But on the brighter side, I think these projects can allow for the opportunity for economical expansion for existing local foodies and get some others back in the city such as those losers like Kakao and Companion. So ideally weighting heavily to second locations for existing biz and some new offerings for the city.
Also, the food hall is just one component of the project... my understanding is that the first phase also will bring in national retail and some office and actually depends upon those kinds of tenants to move forward. So it should be more multi-use in a neat environment even without the residential component.
Also, the food hall is just one component of the project... my understanding is that the first phase also will bring in national retail and some office and actually depends upon those kinds of tenants to move forward. So it should be more multi-use in a neat environment even without the residential component.
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This is happening, but we'll see. I hear rents approach $35/sf at City Foundry. I can't think of a business that would move from Cherokee to this place with that rent. Perhaps chefs and other businesses would open a high-end concept. I'm not sure that's a bad thing.joelo wrote:Yup they've reached out to several Cherokee street businesses about relocating and many are considering it.
Can the city if SLU gets the devel authority they are seeking?hiddeninput wrote:Seems like there's a lot of evidence building that Foundry is trying to lure businesses from other parts of the city into their development. If that's the case, the city needs to reconsider TIF support for the project.
Megan E. Green (Ward 15), Cara Spencer (Ward 20), and Shane Cohn (Ward 25) all spoke against the tax incentive on this project during the meeting today
edit: Passed
edit: Passed
Good. I'm not crazy about them poaching small businesses from other areas but I think it's more likely that they are looking for local shops to open up another location in the central corridor.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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^ A lot of these projects aim to bring in new biz and not just shift things around the city but there are no guarantees the way things are structured... if incentives are approved I wish there were structured so they are more performance-based with clawbacks, etc. Of course BPV had penalties but those were waived.
Good amount of work already being done on this site, at least as observed from the Ikea. (Too bad Ikea didn't make the dining room a rotating one.)
I think a fair concern for all these projects is “are they just taking business from somewhere else in the city or are they growing the pie”. To get a better idea I had Paul Payne with the Budget Division run the history of the 1% Restaurant tax—per his email:
“Joe,
Per your request - here is a history of the C&T Fund 1 Cent restaurant tax receipts. These are gross amounts before commissions. As discussed, the restaurant tax excludes the sale of alcohol. The restaurant tax has been one of the better performers in recent years with annual growth at about 4%. (FY17 year to date is down 0.4%.)
-pwp
Fund 1111 Convention and Tourism
1 Cent Restaurant Tax Receipts (gross before Commission)
FY06 $ ,363,071
FY07 $ 4,549,605
FY08 $ 4,505,230
FY09 $ 4,776,371
FY10 $ 4,641,025
FY11 $ 4,819,264
FY12 $ 5,284,031
FY13 $ 5,505,369
FY14 $ 5,625,363
FY15 $ 5,956,023
FY16 $ 6,193,096
Growth Rates
1Yr 4.0%
3Yr 4.0%
5Yr 5.1%
10Yr 3.6%
FY17 YTD
11/1/2015 $ 2,094,729
11/1/2016 $ 2,086,290
% Chg. -0.4%
“
The developer’s proforma calls for $25 Million in sales or about a 4% of total—1 year’s growth. To achieve that, they will need about 4,000 customers per day. How might the get that:
1. Over 5,000 average visitors per day at IKEA
2. Plans for Cortex to add 10,000 new employees including about 1,000 with phase 3.
3. Over 1000 new living units in various stages of planning or construction in immediate neighborhood
4. Nearly 900 new jobs on site
5. Similar number of new jobs at the Armory
6. The project has 150k sf of retail of which only 30 is food—that means we capture retailing going to the county and along with it the people who eat while shopping. For example—SLU runs shuttles weekly to the county for their students.
The subsidy is heavy on this project because so much of it is brown field and historic credits. Additionally, much infrastructure for the project needs to be built for the first phase that will serve the later phases. Don’t expect nearly as much for the new construction, later phases that follow.
For some detail on “developer” projections and how their substitution rates compared to SLDC look here: http://aldermanroddy.com/514/city-found ... ojections/
“Joe,
Per your request - here is a history of the C&T Fund 1 Cent restaurant tax receipts. These are gross amounts before commissions. As discussed, the restaurant tax excludes the sale of alcohol. The restaurant tax has been one of the better performers in recent years with annual growth at about 4%. (FY17 year to date is down 0.4%.)
-pwp
Fund 1111 Convention and Tourism
1 Cent Restaurant Tax Receipts (gross before Commission)
FY06 $ ,363,071
FY07 $ 4,549,605
FY08 $ 4,505,230
FY09 $ 4,776,371
FY10 $ 4,641,025
FY11 $ 4,819,264
FY12 $ 5,284,031
FY13 $ 5,505,369
FY14 $ 5,625,363
FY15 $ 5,956,023
FY16 $ 6,193,096
Growth Rates
1Yr 4.0%
3Yr 4.0%
5Yr 5.1%
10Yr 3.6%
FY17 YTD
11/1/2015 $ 2,094,729
11/1/2016 $ 2,086,290
% Chg. -0.4%
“
The developer’s proforma calls for $25 Million in sales or about a 4% of total—1 year’s growth. To achieve that, they will need about 4,000 customers per day. How might the get that:
1. Over 5,000 average visitors per day at IKEA
2. Plans for Cortex to add 10,000 new employees including about 1,000 with phase 3.
3. Over 1000 new living units in various stages of planning or construction in immediate neighborhood
4. Nearly 900 new jobs on site
5. Similar number of new jobs at the Armory
6. The project has 150k sf of retail of which only 30 is food—that means we capture retailing going to the county and along with it the people who eat while shopping. For example—SLU runs shuttles weekly to the county for their students.
The subsidy is heavy on this project because so much of it is brown field and historic credits. Additionally, much infrastructure for the project needs to be built for the first phase that will serve the later phases. Don’t expect nearly as much for the new construction, later phases that follow.
For some detail on “developer” projections and how their substitution rates compared to SLDC look here: http://aldermanroddy.com/514/city-found ... ojections/
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Am I reading this correctly? 2800 NEW jobs?
1,000 in phase 3 of cortex, 900 at this site, 900 at the armory?
1,000 in phase 3 of cortex, 900 at this site, 900 at the armory?
Yes--developer projections--for what it's worth. The Cortex jobs will be pretty firm and will mostly be net new for the city. The other projects are more fuzzy.
Biz Journals reporting that City approved Foundry subsidy package including TIF from yesterday commission meeting. Good news but somewhat surprised that CORTEX 3.0 wasn't first in line or maybe their TIF was also approved but not reported. Anyone with more details from today?
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... pment.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... pment.html