When you first read the headline you probably assumed the City of St. Louis, right? Wrong. The city faced with blight in their downtown is the City of Clayton. Don’t let the expensive restaurants and valet parking fool you, Clayton is full of blight. So much so they are ready to give tax breaks to a company already located in Clayton.
From a KSDK story:
When you think of blight, crumbling buildings probably come to mind. But what about a bustling block in the heart of downtown Clayton?
It is all part of a plan to grant a tax break. The city wants to declare one block “blighted” so a corporation can expand its headquarters. But, Clayton has never granted tax abatement in the past. And some small business owners say it shouldn’t start now. David Danforth says, “The notion that we have blight here in Clayton is ridiculous.”
The block in question is bordered by Forsyth, Hanley and Carondelet. The Centene Corporation’s existing building sits here. It is also where the healthcare company would like to expand their corporate headquarters.
The city of Clayton wants to help them do that through tax abatement. The first step would be to declare the area blighted. Clayton Mayor Ben Uchitelle says, “Some of the properties along Forsyth are old and the Library Limited property has been vacant for five years.”
The proposal is this: Centene would get a 50% tax abatement for 12 years. They would promise to create 800 new jobs. And they say they would generate $20-million dollars in new property taxes.
Mayor Uchitelle says, “We’ve heard the argument that this would open the floodgates but we don’t think so. We think the effect of this will be to improve properties all around and make other development possible.”
For the Clayton School District, this presents a dilemma. They worry that future developers will also expect tax breaks. Still, they stand to gain $490-thousand dollars a year, even after the abatement. Board President Steve Singer says, “That is our central concern: the issue of precedent. And frankly, the city has made a very good case to us.”
But it is small business owners who stand to lose the most. This whole strip will likely be bought out in the deal. Business owner David Danforth says, “I think the notion that they need to blight private property owners in order to somehow subsidize their development is wrong.” Danforth and others on Forsyth plan to fight this development before the blighting issue goes to vote.
I had dinner last night a few blocks away from the blight. I didn’t see any boarded up windows or anything but with all that blight I was careful as I walked from my car to the restaurant. If something happened because of the blight would the valet across the street parking someone’s Range Rover be able to help? Doubtful. As I left the restaurant I drove past the blighted block, doors locked of course. What amazed me were some of the businesses located among the blight — a couple of high-end restaurants, some fast food places in urban storefronts, a fancy jeweler, a title company, and two real estate brokerages. Clayton’s blighted area contains an interesting mix of building types and materials. Maybe that is why it is considered blight — because it is not one big long boring block like so many of the others in downtown Clayton. Could it be blighted due to the fact MetroLink mass transit will come to Clayton in about a year. Perhaps the critics of mass transit are just getting ahead of the curve and blighting areas before mass transit arrives rather than waiting and blaming it on the type of ‘element’ that doesn’t have their own Lexus?
The City of Clayton should not blight this block for a number of reasons. First, this is a big block with multiple buildings that adds interest to an otherwise sterile area. Second, just because the area doesn’t have a brand new building on it doesn’t make it blighted!!! I really wanted to use an expletive in that last sentence — took all my strength not too.
Those of us in the City of St. Louis should look for the positive side to all this. Clayton’s old buildings can’t even come close to competing with the old buildings we have left. Also, we are on the upswing with a number of new condo projects not receiving tax abatement. Looks like the tables have just been turned.
– Steve
