Cardinals to hold Press Conference on Ballpark Village
The press released handed to Antonio French, sitting at my right at the Board of Aldermen meeting, says:
The City of St. Louis, The St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cordish Company cordially invite you to a special announcement this afternoon (Friday, October 27) at 1:00pm at The Cordish Company’s Ballpark Village office located in the Bank of America at 800 Market Street, 17th Floor, Suite 1750.
Any guesses on how much the Cardinals are going to ask from the tax payers?
$0.00 from those who do not live, eat, shop or go to events at Ballpark Village.
Posted last night: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/62BEFFF84431611986257214001427D1?OpenDocument
unding for the $387 million phase one will come mostly from Cordish, with tax dollars created by the development footing the rest. Details include:
— $271.2 million in private funds from Cordish.
— $56 million in tax-increment financing from the city.
— $29 million in state money authorized by the Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act.
— $26 million from a special tax district created for the development. It would create an additional 1 percent sales tax in the district and a $1 ticket tax for the development’s attractions, such as the Cardinals museum.
— $5 million in public bonds to be bought by the Cardinals and Cordish.
The $116 million public portion of the funding would be raised upfront by issuing government bonds. Those bonds would be paid back with taxes generated by the project.
“with tax dollars created by the development footing the rest” —
That’s press release language, which the Post is always too happy to repeat verbatim.
But Margie, it is indeed tax dollars created by the development footing only 30% of the total build-out of this site and then some (Bowling Hall of Fame). You can’t point to any tax dollars currently collected or generated off-site that would fund this major development.
As a funding strategy, this is no different than Maplewood Commons paying for major improvements to Hanley Road and cross streets. But instead of a strip mall, we get a much more sustainable development within our revitalizing Downtown.
“The press release handed to…”
That’s passive voice, Steve. Someone did the handing. Who?
I don’t claim to be an expert in TIF, so I’ll pose this as a question. With $350m in new development on this site and tax income frozen at its current level for the duration of the TIF, who funds the additional municipal services required to support the new businesses and residents? Police, fire, and ambulence coverage? Parks and education? Street lighting and refuse collection?
Of course you pay for the extra costs if you’re a taxpayer. You gotta love the way local elected leaders like to use complexity and intervention to get their way.
Let’s see, some of the most valauble real estate in the city needs incremental (subsidized) financing. I guess the area must be blighted and without any other viable alternative.
Ah shucks, who cares as long as the Cardinals win!
My understanding is that the project is TIF’d at 50% not 100%, which is normal for almost all city projects to this point. So the city and schools would receive an immediate and direct tax benefit from the project.
My apologies in advance if this discussion has happened elsewhere. But what’s the back story behind the RFT article on the Gehry plans for the Village, in light of this news today? The RFT made a huge deal out of it, and that’s all I’ve heard. Did they get completely duped?
(Not to take away from the current thread here, which is also interesting of course. This seemed to be the best place to ask this question.)
The RFT article was a joke.
Literally – but a very well written one indeed.
Here’s the deal (hipsters, this is all about YOU):
It’s *cool* to be cynical about the motives of rich team owners or to oppose public financing of ballpark related improvements.
It’s *cooler* to be a cynic as the Cardinals are about to bring St. Louis its 10th World Series title.
And it’s *coolest* if you are embarassed that St. Louis is a baseball town.
Damn, do I feel like one of those people who forwards around Onion articles that contain shocking, just shocking, news. Shoulda read it more carefully.
I guess it isn’t funny enough for the RFT to tackle an issue head-on in a way that engages its readers. The ballpark village story, as the basketball one a few years ago, undermines the credibility of the RFT when it covers issues of importance to St. Louis. If the RFT can fabricate an entire story, who is to say that it won’t doctor details of other stories in order to fit serve the paper’s objectives? I for will be reading future RFT stories with a heightened skepticism.
Having said that, its vital to address the issue at hand. I recall reading that less than 5% of those attending Cardinals games are City residents. Is the financing package equitable for City taxpayers?
iron man,
give me a break. you sound just as cynical as your so-called “hipsters.” my 50 year old mom doesn’t like baseball. is she a “hipster.” NOT EVERYBODY CARES ABOUT SPORTS like you do. frankly i couldn’t care less who wins the series. that doesn’t mean i’m embarrassed that saint louis is a baseball town. that’s great, but PUBLIC financing of PRIVATE enterprise is only acceptable to the extent that it serves the GENERAL PUBLIC and not just baseball fans. how much public money are you willing to throw at, say, a new downtown complex devoted to modern performance art?
Iron Man supports baseball and downtown performance venues.
Iron Man accepts that life in St. Louis means being part of baseball.
Iron Man also welcomes performance art, the St. Louis Symphony, Forest Park, and Ted Drewes.
These are all things that make St. Louis unique.
But the one thing that we are know round the world for is…
The Arch.
No, I mean the Cardinals!
🙂
Iron Man accepts that life in St. Louis means being part of baseball.
i think you mean coexisting with baseball culture, not necessarily being a part of it. i’m no less of a saint louisan because i don’t take part in the baseball culture. and i’m happy that we have a rich baseball culture – it adds character to the city – but it does not define the city. the project certainly deserves some public funding as it will help revitalize downtown, but don’t pretend that it serves all saint louisans equally.
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