The Cardinals "unveiled their latest plan for Ballpark Village" yesterday, and it is "smaller than the last one, but one that the Cardinals say is more likely to succeed," according to Tim Logan of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. The team and its development partners "showed off a 100,000-square foot retail and entertainment complex to be built north of Busch Stadium,” anchored by a team HOF and big outdoor event space. The plan is "decidedly less ambitious than earlier visions of the project, which has been on the drawing board for more than a decade with no real progress." Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III stressed that unlike previous efforts, this version "is fully-financed, largely pre-leased, and attainable despite the weak economy." Logan notes the plan "includes a large building north of Busch Stadium on Clark Street." One part would hold a Cardinals HOF "themed restaurant." The rest would house "restaurants, bars and other 'entertainment concepts' around an open-air event space called Live Plaza." DeWitt III said that the space, which would have a "retractable roof, could hold up to 150 events a year, not counting Cardinals home game-days.” He added that the space is "more than 80 percent spoken for ... though he wouldn’t name tenants yet beyond the Cardinals." Logan adds the project will get "some public subsidies" -- $18M in bonds backed by taxes generated from the site. St. Louis Development Corp. Exec Dir Rodney Crim noted that the Ballpark Village "will not receive" $22.5M in New Markets Tax Credits the city had "planned to award to an earlier version." Logan notes those incentives will "need the approval of both state and city boards." DeWitt III said that if those approvals come quickly, construction "could start this fall, with an opening slated for spring of 2014" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/22).
