North City Development Meeting on Thursday 5/21
Last Monday myself I and others from the media were not allowed to see a presentation from McEagle Development regarding their plans for developing the tons of properties they’ve acquired (see post). We were told that another meeting would be held on the 21st and that media would be allowed to attend. However, the meeting location and time was not yet confirmed. They had mentioned Vashon High School as a possible location for the meeting.
I just got the skinny:
Meeting May 21st at 7pm at Central Baptist Church Education Building 2841 Washington. For 5th & 19th ward residents. Media will be allowed.
The address is actually 2843 Washington Ave (Google Map) — the location of the closed door meeting from last week. This large project will have a bigger impact than just two wards so hopefully everyone that has an interest in the proposal can get in to see the presentation.
I’ll have a history of the project as well as thoughts on what I’ve heard so far this Thursday morning as well as a followup after I’ve seen the presentation.
And now McKee is getting double the amount of tax credits. From $10 million to $20 million. This just passed in the MO legislature yesterday. Basically passing a bill to benefit just a single developer. How wrong!
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/E03BA8B09F5FCE01862575B8000B25A3?OpenDocument
Yup. McKee is calling in some favors with his leashed dogs in Jeff City. He knows he needs to get this done as quick as possible in order to make a profit, and in order to be able to steamroll over public opinion.
This is a federal-state bailout for McEagle. I’m a northsider, so of course I personally despise Mr McKee, who owns the hideously unmaintained property next to mine and has threatened my neighbors face-to-face with his power to take their homes at whatever price he chooses to set. However, you have to admire his ability to get a bailout in under the radar of the bail-out enraged populace by selling it as a way to hose out us filthy northsiders.
At the first meeting on Monday, they got us accused of violence, idiocy, poverty, general shiftlessness, unable for some reason to get a bank loan in the 50’s, and, apparently due to lack of gardening know-how, eating our own feces in 1863. Quite the dramatic story! Takes the listener’s eye off the ball…. follow the money…. McEagle, largely a residential construction company, is looking for a bailout.
South and West St Louis are happy to bail him out if it means “bulldozing the ghetto” and “running the n*** out of Germantown”, and all the other wonderful comments about my neighborhood in the Post’s comments.
Barbara on 19th makes good points, but she’s wrong on one: McEagle does not do residential development.
That’s what’s so scary — 80% of this project is residential, just like 60% of WingHaven. A developer that doesn’t do residential is going to get development rights for a mostly residential project. That doesn’t add up!
Well people, we have two choices, to do something or to do nothing. I LIVE on the north side in the 19th ward where I am proud to say things are looking up…a bit spotty, but things are looking up. When you’re at the bottom the only way to go is up! Kudos to a Mr. McKee for having the guts to see that you can either continue to piece mill this thing or go whole hog or not at all. Last time I checked, it takes MONEY, M-O-N-E-Y…can you hear me now. MONEYYYYYYYYY, to impact significant change especially in our core urban areas which have, for whatever reason; decayed, been allowed to decay or suffer from self inflicted decay. I think I “WE” on the north side deserve life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness. If it takes someone with some type of HUGE plan, my hats off to them. This is America, capitalism is a way of life and the best way to improve the city St. Louis is to make improvements that will bring in more residents, black, white, red, pink, yellow, polka dot, whatever, so we can have a larger tax base. More people means more resources…HELLO, a larger tax base. It’s an idea that is long overdue. It is a process and we can continue to emotionalize things, pit black against white or we can join in together and make something happen. Not just some mamby pamby, onsie twosie development, but something of significance. People, we need to get stuck off of stupid, backwards, St. Louis lethargic thinking and progress forward. People are even brainwashed into thinking north St. Louis is supposed to look like it looks. I have news for you, conditions as they currently exist ARE NOT NORMAL AND CAN BE DRASTICALLY IMPROVED!!! Development would properly position us for more JOBS. Kudos to a McKee or a McGoo, whomever, had the vision enough to think forward enough to MARCH on out there for progress!
PS To “Cheryl”, FACT, there will be more than one developer so somebody else can step up to the plate as well.
PS “Chipewwa”, as a resident who lives there, my opinion, it can’t happen fast enough, 30 years of declay has been long enough! I’m glad that America IS a capitalistic society, it could be worse and we would be encouraging more people to loose money that are in business to MAKE money…can you say STIMULUS?
PS “barbara_on_19th” Maybe we as Northsiders have been living in a fog and missed the deterioating conditions that have happened over the course of the last 35 years or so.
PS “ceepee deecee” No comment, I don’t have all the facts and I believe ingnorance is not bliss.
Bottom line, let’s all stop emotionalizing, work together and really BELIEVE greatness that IS long overdue, is yet knocking at the door of North St. Louis.
May I remind Ms. Kaylyn that we live in a secular society, with a pluralistic, Constitutional, democratic republican form of government. Now, I realise that the corporate mentality of profit at all costs, damn the human torpedoes and full speed ahead, with no regards to human or other animal life is the dominant ECONOMIC system in our country, but we are a nation of laws, one human, one vote, not an oligarchy. For Mr. Mckee to have the ability to purchase so much favor without the slightest hint of what his plans may be, and without any input from the residents, strikes me as being somewhat less than the ideal of democratic representation. This man has, if you haven’t been observing Barbara on 19th’s observations over time, subjected many residents to a low-level terror campaign over the last few years. The classic tactics of block-busting and strong-arm pressure deserve criminal prosecution, not some package of goodies for a developer who claims his ends as good intentions, but whose means to those ends resulted in the further destabilisation of neighborhoods and genuine human misery. Because Mr. Mckee and his drones promoted the proliferation of shell companies to do the dirty work, operating under the radar of a disaffected and impotent law enforcement and disinterested, corrupt and venal political class, the true human cost will, almost certainly, never be known. To be sure, the last 60 years of federal, state and local mismanagement of planning and development cannot be ignored. But what Mr. Mckee has done is akin to kicking a man when he’s down. And because he’s a “Christian” (sorry, his defenders raised the point first; the subject is fair game), the individuals who accuse him of these less than charitable acts are vilified for comdemning a “good” man. Mr. Mckee is only another capitalist “Christian” who leaves his religion at the door to his workplace, but benefits from the illusion of piety. And that, Ms. Kaylyn, makes him a hypocrite. The actions of his shell companies make hime a criminal. But because he is able to purchase influence with his power, and pay for silence with his money, that fact will be forgotten. Slightly OT to my rant: the annnouncemnt says “for 5th and 19th ward residents”. Am I to take that as a clue that this 25th ward resident is not welcome at a public meeting about what could be largest development, in recent years, in this City’s history? Not very public.
“And now McKee is getting double the amount of tax credits. From $10 million to $20 million. This just passed in the MO legislature yesterday. Basically passing a bill to benefit just a single developer. How wrong!”
What is wrong is that the citenzry of MO sit idle allowing such foolishness as a bill being passed to benefit a sole developer. Aren’t there any attorneys involved that are working with and for the people. This bill should be challenged in the courts. Just because the idiots in JeffCity are passing legislation it doesn’t mean it constitutional. Although, I’ve not read the bill on the surface it seems discriminatory. What gives McKee preference over other developers and who crafted the bill. I attended the meeting last night and was in the breakout group with McKee’s attorney to stated he wrote the bill for 100M$ tax credit deal….duh!!!!
People we need to organize, organize and organize, to stop McKee and his mongrualling and change the ugly faces of state and local government. This man McKee is a major contributor to the existing deterioration in NC, where I live. His property as dismally maintained and create a public safety hazard giving free access for all types of illegal activities. He blames the brick thieves but he creates the setting for beautiful historic structures to be destroyed beyond rehab.
If WE THE PEOPLE have the power to elect the first African-American president to these United States, then surely we have the fortitude and ability to dismantle McKee and these sorry behind politicians who are selling the people for nought.