St. Louis Centre Was A Design Failure From Day One

At dinner tonight I was reading the latest issue of the Arch City Chronicle and their cover story on St. Louis Centre. Like every other publication I’ve read on this subject the ACC is making the latest owner, Barry Cohen, out to be dragging his feet on plans to redevelop the dying mall:

“Neither Downtown Now nor Downtown St. Louis Partnership have been informed of any plans for the Centre. Tom Reeves, Executive Director of Downtown Now, seems to have lost confidence in Cohen.”

The last two groups that should be talking about someone else’s lack of action is Downtown Now and the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. They are both more heavy on salaries than accomplishments. That is, unless you could giving each other and their members awards…

Back to St. Louis Centre.

Cohen bought the once thriving mall at a foreclosure sale in August 2004 for $5.4 million. It was built in 1985 for $95 million. Of all the articles I’ve read in the last year I don’t think I’ve seen anyone stop and look at those numbers. I haven’t taken the time to go to the library and look through the micro-fiche to find articles on the financing and opening of the mall but no doubt a fair amount of that original number came in the form of some sort of public subsidy.

This alone is reason enough to be suspect about justifying a single massive project. The experts give glowing reports to get the public support behind the developer welfare program. Our convention hotel was supposed to save downtown is nearing bankruptcy after only a few years in operation and the Old Post Office project is claiming to provide something like 2,500 new jobs yet most of the tenants are simply relocating from other downtown spaces (Webster University, District Courts, St. Louis Business Journal, etc…). At what point do we stop believing the BS we are being fed?

Back to St. Louis Centre, again.

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