Ballpark Village Announcement

I have written before about Ballpark Village — and several times about That Hole.

Ballpark Village is planned to complement the various elements of our revitalized downtown. Today, the partners in the Ballpark Village project, the St. Louis Cardinals and Cordish Co., announced an important step in the process. After months of discussions, negotiations, delays, a couple of announcements, and more negotiations, the partners have now come up with a project, a time-table, and a financing plan that I support, and which I will recommend for approval to my colleagues on E&A, to the members of the Board of Aldermen, and to the appropriate agencies of state government.

I am pleased to be moving this project forward. It will undoubtedly have spin-off benefits for the entire region.

It is rare to be able to finance a development of this size without putting any existing tax dollars at risk. With zero City risk and zero City direct investment, Ballpark Village will create thousands of new construction and permanent jobs, generate tens of millions of tax dollars for City services, and create new office space to keep and attract high-paying professional jobs.

I congratulate the Cardinals and Cordish, and I thank Stifel Nicolaus for their invaluable assistance in getting us to this point.