Blogged

Ballpark Village takes a hit

A year ago, I said:

…(note to cities everywhere: always make ballclub owners build the promised shopping [or dining] district [or building] before constructing the new stadium)…

And this is, pretty much, why:

Centene Corp.’s much touted move to Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis is dead.

The Clayton-based company released a statement today stating, “Ballpark Village was unable to accommodate Centene’s plans for our world headquarters, which we deeply regret and are disappointed to announce.” [...]

Centene’s decision to pull out of Ballpark Village leaves great uncertainty as to when construction will begin on the $387 million first phase of the project. In addition to the Centene portion of the project, Ballpark Village is supposed to have 324,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; 100,000 square feet of office space; and 1,200 parking spaces.

Hizzoner’s take on this utterly awesome news:

I am very disappointed that Centene and the Ballpark Village Partners could not come to an agreement. Meeting the needs, obligations, legal requirements, and goals of both parties was extremely difficult, complicated, and frustrating. [...]

I still support Ballpark Village. Because of changes in the composition of Ballpark Village proposed by the developer, a new redevelopment agreement will have to be negotiated. The project will only move forward on terms that are fair to the taxpayers.

In an earlier blog post, Mayor Slay laid the blame for Ballpark Village difficulties squarely on Baltimore-based co-developer Cordish.

A story in this morning’s newspaper quotes a Cordish Co. spokesman explaining why there is still a big hole outside Busch Stadium – and may still be a big hole there for the next several months. He attributed the delay to continuing negotiations with Centene Corp., which plans to relocate its headquarters to downtown from Clayton. [...]

But, I don’t believe Centene is to blame for the delay. Cordish has had four months to complete the negotiations and finish the development agreement. Like everyone else, I am growing impatient. I want to see construction start soon.

Meanwhile, Centene offered up its own announcement…

“Ballpark Village was unable to accommodate Centene’s plans for our world headquarters which we deeply regret and are disappointed to announce,” Centene said in a statement. “Since our announcement in September 2007, we have been working closely with representatives of Ballpark Village to finalize details for this project. Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, we could not bring our plans to fruition.”

…and grouchily muttered that it may not even stay in the St. Louis area.

No official word just yet from the St. Louis Cardinals, who stand at the center of a muddy hole downtown where a development may or may not be, someday. No word from Cordish either, for that matter.

Let’s end on a happier note by remembering how giddy everyone was over the prospects for Ballpark Village, long, long ago.

Update: The Cardinals and Cordish issue a joint statement…which saves time, I guess.

The St. Louis Cardinals and The Cordish Company believe that Centene would have been a great addition to Ballpark Village. We are disappointed that the parties could not come to an agreement, despite months of effort and the best intentions of the City, Centene, and the Ballpark Village team. Ultimately, the many complexities of Centene’s proposed project in Ballpark Village proved insurmountable.

We will now work immediately with the City and State to finalize all public approvals and commence construction of Ballpark Village. The Ballpark Village partnership is in the unique position of having its private financing in place, and we are ready, willing, and able to proceed. Our vision has not changed — Ballpark Village will be a world-class mixed-use project that will positively transform the City of St. Louis.

Hard to judge either the complexities or the intentions involved, since (as Kurt Greenbaum of the P-D points out) few details have actually been released by the parties. All we can know for sure is that everyone’s disappointed.

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