urbanSTL

BrickCity4470 wrote:As far as NS i applaud McKee for what he's doing sometimes i feel like I'm his secret big supporter when most people including the one's that filed the lawsuit against him didn't give a damn about N. St.Louis until this man started buying up property that the LRA wasn't even taking care of and most if not all these buildings were in horrible shape in the first place. The entire area is in need of a major makeover and this was and is the only person that was willing to step up and take a risk. So kudos to him and hope he's very successful...

That's not true. The people that filed the lawsuit were and still are residents and property owners in the McKee buying area.

As far as the buildings being in horrible shape, that is only partially true. Many of the buildings bought by McKee over the last ten years were occupied, but McKee would only buy vacant properties. The owners either moved themselves when they got an offer too good to refuse, or the landlords evicted their tenants since they did not have legally enforceable leases. McKee and Co then neglected the buildings so horribly that most got into a condition beyond the realm of feasible rehab, or brick rustlers got to them once they became vacant.

^ yep. even if Northside turns out to be an overwhelming success, McKee's tactics lack integrity.

With that said, I do honestly wish them the best in developing a quality urban project. I own a house and live in Old North, and I work in neighborhood development, so I as much as anyone want to see more development in North St. Louis. I just have my doubts about such a large project, and there have been giant missteps along the way. I also deal with the problems Northside Regeneration owned vacant properties bring everyday. There is a lot to prove on the part of Paul McKee and Northside Regeneration.

Does anyone think that Wells Fargo Securities is entertaining the idea of a new office campus/complex within the Northside footprint, maybe the 22nd interchange tower or Bottleworks Site? I wouldn't put it past McKee to go knock on their door nor would I see him advertising his proposal until he some confidence of pulling it off. The northside TIF would certainly help finance a parking garage and surrounding street work as part of a spiffy new tower or campus. Think Wells Fargo Securities answer to Edwards Jones campus expansion as well as the new interchange off I270 a few years ago

Nor do I think it is idea is without merit as Wells Fargo Mortgage is trading in an old Twin Cities campus for a new one. In case of Wells Fargo Securities, it would essentially be a move within the city to either a new 22nd interchange tower or maybe even the bottleworks site instead of across the metro area.

Such a move would technically be the 5000 new jobs within the Northside but a no gain for the city whatsoever and leaves the question of what to do with existing campus, does it get sold? who redevelops it, does Wells Fargo clean their hands off it as part of the deal, etc.? Not to mention terms, does Wells Fargo Lease or commit themselves to new buildings, so on?

The big downside in my mind would be a hit to the School District as a lot of property tax dollars as per the TIF would be flowing towards construction companies like the one owned by McKee's son to rebuild streets and pipes instead of school district. Not to mention, One ATT Center remains empty.

^i cannot see any scenario where they would do that.

^^That would be a nightmare scenario and I would hope the BoA and Mayor would do everything in their power to stop this TIF from being used to relocate a corporate HQ within the city.

Although a different situation, a TIF was to move LG a couple blocks downtown.

^ I could see the argument coming from WF and support of mayor's office that it would keep them from moving out of the city and region altogether. A weak argument considering the value is in human capital, but an argument none the less. They would probably throw in the fact that Charles Schwab is keeping its corporate HQ in San Fran but transferring a big chunk of their back office and training to Texas as a hint to the options that every business has these days.

I think it a no win situation for the city if this idea even has some traction. It is pure speculation on my part. On one hand, no gain in jobs and schools take a hit. On the other hand, does the city look at an empty ATT Center and greatly reduced WF presence on Jefferson in 5 to 10 years from now?

Of course they could give their current campus to Harris-Stowe, to which it is basically adjacent, and then move downtown. I think that would be a win-win.

I'm sure the part facing Olive will be built up when the streetcar is here.

dmmonty, think the idea of Wells Fargo giving over its campus to Harris Stowe if they want a new campus or tower within the Northside foot print is a pretty good idea.

I do wonder how long it would take Harris Stowe to fill all that space and would be an interesting to see the how the campus could be repurposed from a corporate facility to something that could compliment the existing as well as help Harris Stowe grow its student body. I also think the idea of Wells Fargo making a significant contribution to Harris Stowe would much better for the city in the long run then being another corporate contributor to the Arch Grounds.

I don't even think this is unbelievable to be honest.
He got the biggest TIF in City history & can't find anyone to finance for infrastructure
among other things?

^Time to hand it over to smaller developers and let them attack it house by house, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood.

I truly believe he had a vision and the best intentions for this area, but his lack of progress is doing more harm than good.

Thousands of properties have fallen in ill-repair in his hands. Properties that others would want. Let's move on.

As a reminder:

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... l?page=all

How much have the McKees invested in the Northside Regeneration Project?
So far, a total of $105 million, which breaks down to $45 million in state tax credits (that have a value of $40 million), $32.5 million in bank debt and $32.5 million in cash.

What tax incentives have been approved for the project, and which are still up in the air?
So far, $41 million in state credits and $390 million in tax increment financing from the city of St. Louis have been approved for the project. The TIF allows McKee to receive some of the future tax income that the city may collect from the project.

Rainford said there is a common misconception that the state is giving McKee millions up-front for the project.

“He doesn’t get revenue from the TIF if we don’t get revenue,” Rainford said.

On March 6, the Missouri House approved a measure to make the balance of previously approved Distressed Area Land Assemblage tax credits available. The McKees would use the $48 million to buy the final 25 percent of the land for the project, according to McKee. The measure is being reviewed in a state Senate committee.

There are legitimate arguments re: his tactics and inability to deliver on his promises (especially the Carr and Clemens properties), but he does have 'skin in the game'.

-RBB

Part of the issue with the infrastructure investment is that he promised to undertake that as part of the TIF award package; so now it appears he is coming back and saying he needs more direct underwriting. It looks like $15 million is now in as part of the city infrastructure bond issue and not the $25 million the mayor (and I think Comptroller) wanted.

Supposedly there is a major employer looking at the P-I site but the details are so sketchy and McKee's believability so shady that its hard to get give it anything more than a shrug of shoulders. On the other hand, I see nextstl is tweeting how terrible it would be to get a single user on the 30 acres.... w/o knowing details I think that is premature.

Will definitely have a huge parking lot and not be built to the street, because the city has not been proactively planning for anything.

Roger, I'm convinced but can't provide anything solid to go on that the McKee's phantom 5000 jobs/employer is the pursuit of NSA looking for a new facility in the two to three years to replace the south city location. I'm assuming that one of the big issues for a new facility that it will have to be stand alone facility with a security or buffer perimeter that the Feds will agree too. The PI site would actually fit. That being said, is it ideal urban development for that location, No. Would the city losing out on 5,000 jobs have a big impact, Yes.

I'm betting that McKee is pushing his northside in the backrooms as hard as he can as the preferred location as well as pushing the fear button to city political leadership of losing out to Scotts AFB/Illinois politicians let alone to the county, think GSA and VA admin, if his site is not put front and center to the Feds. Lets not loose fact of the site that Scotts AFB has been very successful in securing CyberSecurity attachments as of late and would be considered a secure site.

My bet is that McKee's argument to city leadership is that they need to have a site ready to go and the only way that is going to happen is if some of bond funds is geared towards specific infrastructure project within his northside regeneration site. So the question, is it worth turning over the PI site, or 30 acres, if it keeps the 5000 or Fed jobs in the city? Is it worth funding some of McKee's infrastructure up front with city bonds?

One thing clear about TIF, those funds are not secured until tax revenues are generated. In fairness, he does have to secure financing on the argument that what will be built generates the revenues to pay back the bonds. That is a tough to pull off if he can't line up a major tenant, say a Walmart for retail development, or major office lease for a proposed 22nd street office tower.