The MLB Cardinals this morning announced that a 29-story luxury apartment building alongside the Gateway Arch "will be the featured part" of Phase II of Ballpark Village, according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The team revealed a $220M project that will "significantly expand the existing Ballpark Village and move the club closer to the imagined downtown micro-city based around Busch Stadium." The forthcoming construction will include "more than 500,000 square feet of residential, office, retail, restaurant, entertainment, and park added to the Ballpark Village." The construction will start in late '17, with "target date for completion" in '19. To fund the construction, the Cardinals "intend to approach the City of St. Louis to alter their existing development agreement, the one that led to the current Ballpark Village." The amendment would "add a sales tax within Ballpark Village and issue bonds for the revenue generated by the project." The team said that it "has spent in excess" of $730M in development of downtown St. Louis "since it broke ground" on the current Busch Stadium in '04 (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/25). In St. Louis, Diana Barr notes the apartment tower will offer views "into Busch Stadium." Phase II also will have a "two-story retail marketplace and entertainment venue overlooking the Busch II Field open space adjacent to Ballpark Village" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/25).
