$8 Million River Edge Redevelopment Zone in East St. Louis

goat314 · PostOct 14, 2010#12010-10-14T21:09+00:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 14, 2010

Governor Quinn Announces $8 Million for River Edge Redevelopment Zone in East St. Louis
Funding Will Help Clean Up Former Industrial Sites, Clear Way to Build Port That Will Create 1,200 Jobs

SAUGET – October 14, 2010. Governor Pat Quinn today announced $8 million to redevelop a 200-acre former industrial site on the Mississippi River to clear the way to build the Port of East St. Louis and help another local company expand. This investment will create approximately 65 jobs and is funded through the River Edge Redevelopment Zone program. When completed, the multi-modal Port of East St. Louis will create approximately 1,200 direct and indirect jobs.

“Today’s announcement will help East St. Louis create a world-class transportation facility in the heart of the Metro East area,” said Governor Quinn. “The River Edge program allows us to clean up areas that have suffered from years of neglect and turn them into economic engines, creating jobs and boosting Illinois’ continued economic recovery.”

link: http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/S ... ecNum=8970

PostOct 14, 2010#22010-10-14T21:12+00:00

I wonder how this is going to interact with the Arch Grounds Competition.

Alex Ihnen · PostOct 14, 2010#32010-10-14T22:56+00:00

^ It's not. They are different areas.

DaronDierkes · PostOct 17, 2010#42010-10-17T05:41+00:00

I wonder how this is going to interact with the other ports in the region. Every port is trying to improve itself. I even read that the port of Herculaneum is revamping itself. Does having so many ports undercut individual effectiveness, or does it make us collectively stronger and more diversified?

This is kind of like the question: Do we have too many airports?

This isn't like an Illinois vs. Missouri thing. Illinois has a big port upstream.

gone corporate · PostOct 18, 2010#52010-10-18T19:10+00:00

^ I'd think that, based on the size of the capital expenditures, there is significant demand for increased port access to spur these developments. This is in contrast to an idea where the ports are competing directly against each other for a static amount of cargo being shipped to and fro. While I'm sure that direct competition is strongly engaged amongst the different ports, I note that there are also state-based regulatory overseers who work to have the ports operate in a synergistic manner rather than in direct competition, so that total demand is met. At the very least, I'd hope and expect that increases in site capacity come from increased demand.

I'm glad to see Springfield IL supporting EStL and its redevelopment. It sure could use more than $8M, but it's a start.

xing · PostOct 19, 2010#62010-10-19T04:32+00:00

It's an on and off thing with Springfield, but lately it's been a positive thing. We've received quite a bit of transportation funding for Illinois, but what surprises me most is how much of it has gone into the Metro East. We're part of the massive High Speed Rail Plan. We're getting a new bridge. We picked up Boeing at MidAmerica, we have the metrolink, and now this. The Metro East is investing in transportation to connect it to the places where the jobs are at. That's a smart plan, in my opinion. You benefit with the construction jobs it creates. You benefit with the positions it creates. You benefit with providing your citizens access to other places where jobs might be more available.

goat314 · PostOct 19, 2010#72010-10-19T14:16+00:00

Maybe the Metro East is expecting some population growth in the next few decades. I personally know a lot of people that have moved to Metro East. They claim its growing faster than the Missouri side.

dredger · PostOct 20, 2010#82010-10-20T00:38+00:00

Gone Corporate, I still can't buy that a new river port is needed or that their will immediate demand. Especially when manufactureres, like Olin, are threatening to leave Metro East while river traffic is mostly bulk commodities handled through the various private facilities along the river. On top of it, both Tri-ports and St. Louis Port authority both have federal funds available towards expanding and rebuilding existing facilities. I think any states funds should go to matching the respective ports. Spreading the wealth does nothing if it doesn't bring a project to completion or create another competing public entitiy.

I also can't share Xing's enthusiasm at the moment for Metro East transportation funding. First, most of the high speep rail will go towards infrastructure north of Alton and haven't seen any good plan to make trains faster between Alton and St. Louis, the slowest stretch by far. Second, Boeing could have easily picked Downtown St. Louis airport that already has existing industrial base plus a new airpark proposal. Boeing would have been a great fit to kick off this development. Instead you have two Metro East airports trying to compete in the industrial aviation market. Third, lets put some prespective on private investment. Union Pacific Railroad had a ground breaking for a new $367 million intermodal terminal outside of Chicago and BNSF Railroad signed on a contractor to build its new KC intermodal terminal. We aren't seeing that.

Sorry to be a downer. But, I really think the region needs a way to compete as a whole and this doesn't help.

gone corporate · PostOct 22, 2010#92010-10-22T19:13+00:00

^ Well, I don't have the numbers to prove anything. I just think that people who are making large capital investments are doing so for a reason, and projects like this are based upon demand. I don't know the demand ratios for here, or for what industries, sectors, or subsectors, or how it adds to or subtracts from marketshare, or these details as they relate to preexisting facilities up and down the river. I'm only thinking that a guy buys an umbrella when he anticipates rain, not because he likes spending his money to carry something he doesn't need.

PostJul 29, 2013#102013-07-29T20:34+00:00

Well, that took long enough...

IL Governor Quinn has just freed-up the $13M going to the buildout of the Port of East Saint Louis, doing so by passing the Illinois Economic Development Act of 2013 (SB 20) some time last week.
Source: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/07/29/ ... -st-louis/

Again, this is to be a redevelopment of what's called Goose Hill, on a 200 acre part of East STL just south of the Poplar Street and MacArthur Bridges (think: between the Sauget night clubs and the river). The goal is to create an industrial port in ESTL that can serve barge traffic, with spin-off projects to include warehouse development, new roads feeding this site, and hopefully to attract new businesses to the area. Since 2010, engineering work has been taking place. Goals are for construction to start in Spring 2014, with the site operational by the end of 2014. This first phase is expected to cost $35M.

1,200 new jobs.

These monies come from two sources:
1. The original $8M in grant monies from 2010; and
2. $5M from the River Edge Development Zone grant to build up transportation infrastructure to and from the port.

As well, $2M will be allocated to two companies, Slay Industries and Kinder Morgan, to lead the development.

From the STL Biz Journal:

The port is anticipated to support increased river traffic as well as relieve road and rail congestion, while boosting the regional economy.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morn ... rt-of.html

Addendum: This link leads to an earlier TIGER II Application for the Port of ESTL via East West Gateway Council:
http://www.ewgateway.org/tigerII/freigh ... _Louis.pdf
I include this because there's a rendering of the port on the fourth page.
Note the two cranes on either side of the port site...
Is it just me, or do these look like cranes for standard cargo boxes?

dredger · PostJul 30, 2013#112013-07-30T01:06+00:00

Gone Corporate, Don't know much about Slay Industries but Kinder Morgan has become a big terminal operator for commodities. Believe Either Arch Coal, Patriot or Peabody have a stake into two large coal export expansions in the gulf that Kinder Morgan is pursuing at their exsiting terminals, Houston area and on the Mississippir River downriver from New Orleans (Plaquemines Parish believe).

I think a lost of shippers are taking out the risk out of the agins Locks and volatile river levels by taking rail/truck straight to St. Louis metro area from the upper midwest. PD had a pretty good series on the increase business taking place/returning to the river but also did good job explaining how a lot of the river terminals have become highly automated with very few people capable of transfering a tremendous quantities from rail/truck to barge, vice versa

Speculative but think it something that would interesting to see if it would could become reality down the road. Airbus is going to build out an assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama and think it is a only matter of time before they have a major manufacturing presence in North America. I wonder if the region can use the river systm and its strong aviation manufacturing base to leverage additional business. I can see Airus components going by barge from St. Louis to Mobile, AL by barge just as Boeing components go by rail from Kansas to Washington.

gone corporate · PostJul 30, 2013#122013-07-30T19:55+00:00

^Yeah buddy, big time.

Note that Kinder Morgan is the owner of the industrial site along the Mississippi River in Sauget, that large brick building with the multiple smoke stacks west of the Sauget bars. From the renderings, it looks like this site will stretch from south of the MacArthur Bridge to this Kinder Morgan site. I would think this facility will also focus predominantly on commodity shipping, everything from agriculture to energy to metals.

Your commenting that many companies are driving their goods to STL for shipment, because of hesitancies in utilizing upriver sites that have to deal with aging river infrastructure, not only makes sense but, if it's a trend, will see a lot of new industry coming into town.

It's anticipateable that this site will feature heavy automation. I'm fine with that. I want to see new warehouses and multimodal distribution points along this port site, which will mean jobs in construction & development as well as post-buildout distribution. Note that this site is actually split between the cities of East STL and Sauget, branded the Port of East STL mostly I believe because East STL is more identifiable in the minds of national shippers than the smaller (but more economically viable) city of Sauget would be.

I'm still curious about the cranes and whether or not they're being built to move standardized cargo containers. If so, then the whole region's got a lot of new business to look forward to.

When looking at Airbus, note that they manufacture <49% of their components in the US, >51% in Europe. Tooling for many of these planes' components is very similar to those for Boeing planes manufactured in the US. Much of the final assembly takes place in Toulouse, France. The Mobile facility (which costs around $790M, with AL contributing hundreds of millions in subsidies) will focus on the A320 but could also touch on the A318, A319, and A321. So long as things don't muck up, I see ancillary related business arriving in the STL Metro Area in the relative near future.

Presbyterian · PostJul 30, 2013#132013-07-30T22:49+00:00

I keep picturing a barge development with lush foliage and animal tracks stamped in the concrete walkways.

xing · PostApr 16, 2014#142014-04-16T21:48+00:00

The Port of East St. Louis - Looks to be just north of the Monsanto Factory, well south of East St Louis' Jefferson National Expansion Memorial East, and those projects.