The MLB Cardinals are proposing a $380M "companion
plan" to their proposal for a new $370M downtown ballpark
(see THE DAILY, 4/10), according to Prost & Stern of the ST.
LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The development would be called
Ballpark Village and include about 410 apartments and
condominiums, more than 400,000 square feet of office space,
the city's largest underground parking garage, 135,000
square feet of retail shops and restaurants and "a long-
elusive aquarium." Ballpark Village would be "a mostly
privately financed development the Cardinals owners envision
alongside the new" ballpark, but "at this point," the plan
has not been made public. Cardinals VP/Business Development
William DeWitt III, son of team Chair William DeWitt Jr.,
called the plan "all very preliminary." Prost & Stern added
that the Ballpark Village plan was drafted by HOK and covers
six blocks, "generally where" Busch Stadium stands today.
Cardinals President Mark Lamping said that the team owners
"would help get Ballpark Village developed," but added that
it "was too soon to talk about details, including whether
the owners would contribute or sell their land to the
developers." Lamping also said that the Cardinals "have
spent more than" $200,000 in planning the design work for
the new ballpark, Ballpark Village and an economic impact
study on the development (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/17).
WELCOME TO THE BOOM TOWN: Prost & Stern cited a 37-page
economic and tax impact study, prepared for the Cardinals by
St. Louis-based consultancy Development Strategists, as
showing that the new ballpark and Ballpark Village would
together generate $818M per year in economic activity
throughout MO, "almost triple what Busch Stadium pumps into
the economy." Lamping said that the team "decided to pay
for" an economic impact study after government officials
"failed to get one done" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 12/17).
