Developers Announce Revised Proposal For Ballpark Village

Developers Revise Proposal For Ballpark Village Development In St. Louis

The MLB Cardinals, Cordish Co. and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay yesterday announced a revised agreement for the Ballpark Village development. Per the new plan, the cost of the first phase will increase from $280M to over $320M, with the approximate total cost rising to over $600M. The plan calls for 100,000-750,000 square feet of office space and 225,000-360,000 square feet of retail space in phase one, and for 100-250 residential units likely in phase two. As with the earlier plan, the city will use only future tax revenues from the project for its contribution (Cardinals). In St. Louis, Riddhi Trivedi-St. Clair notes the revised proposal "looks a lot like the one from two years ago, but allows the developers to drop some of it, if they want." The question now is whether the project "will move from plans on paper to bricks and mortar." Approval from the Board of Aldermen and the state of Missouri is "all that stands in the way of construction," along with getting the "public portion of the financing in place." Another concern is "acquiring tenants and other support needed to begin construction." The Cardinals said that construction "could begin early next year." Cordish Co. VP Blake Cordish in an e-mail said that "completion could be within 24 months after" the beginning of construction. Meanwhile, Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III said that developers are "exploring the possibility of building a hotel in the first phase." DeWitt added that "focusing on ranges will allow the developers to adjust Ballpark Village to changing market conditions." Yesterday's proposal is "at least the fourth version of Ballpark Village." DeWitt said that "work on the site -- removing the concrete piers from the old stadium and grading the site -- could begin shortly, even as the development goes through the approval process" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 7/24).