In the week's STL Soccer Talk video, Tom Timmermann and Carter Chapley reflect on 最新杏吧原创 City SC's buzz-inducing win over Austin, which they have to put behind them as they get ready for the equally buzz-causing home opener.
ST. LOUIS 鈥 Every year, Eddie McVey makes a few upgrades at Maggie O鈥橞rien鈥檚, his Irish bar on Market Street in Downtown West. But once he heard the new Major League Soccer stadium was going up across the street, McVey went all in with a top-to-bottom, multimillion-dollar renovation.
It鈥檚 for sure the same Maggie鈥檚, with a bigger bar and little better flow and, most noticeably, a forest green paint job on the outside of the restaurant. For McVey, having the ownership group of 最新杏吧原创 City SC choose the city for its base 鈥渕eans the world to us little guys of 最新杏吧原创,鈥 he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud to have a business in 最新杏吧原创,鈥 McVey said. 鈥淭his is just icing on the cake.鈥
Investment has poured into the Downtown West neighborhood since MLS announced a new 最新杏吧原创 team in 2019, with roughly $820 million in development and 300 occupancy permits issued to date. In 2020 alone, the area had the most building permits citywide.
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New businesses, like the ViolaSTL marijuana dispensary and London Tea Room, have opened or relocated nearby. A historic redevelopment with hundreds of apartments will welcome residents this summer. And major streetscape improvements that officials promise will improve pedestrian safety are underway.
Much of the investment 鈥 around $500 million 鈥 is the CityPark stadium itself at Market and 22nd, built by the local ownership group of the Taylor family, of car rental giant Enterprise, and World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh.
最新杏吧原创 City SC officials said they want CityPark and the excitement around the new soccer team to be catalysts for change: lure development, generate civic pride and, hopefully, usher in a new era for 最新杏吧原创.
鈥淎s a region, we have to believe in the city,鈥 said 最新杏吧原创 City SC鈥檚 chief brand architect Lee Broughton. 鈥淗aving a downtown that isn鈥檛 the most vibrant space will take away from any individual part that is down there. 鈥 So much of this is really about much more than soccer.鈥
Fans mingle outside CityPark stadium before the start of a friendly match between Bayer Leverkusen and 最新杏吧原创 City SC鈥檚 City2 team on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022 in 最新杏吧原创.
最新杏吧原创 is a longtime believer in silver bullets. Leaders pinned their hopes on Ballpark Village and the Gateway Arch renovations only to be kept waiting. But the Taylor family鈥檚 investment in the soccer club and regional business group Greater 最新杏吧原创 Inc., which has made the downtown area a key focus, could be crucial.
Downtown West was on the rise before the soccer team. But area business owners say CityPark has inspired them to work together with residents to create a vibrant, sustainable neighborhood.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just so attractive, it really lifts the whole neighborhood,鈥 said Fran Caradonna, CEO of Schlafly Beer, located one block north on Locust Street. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like your neighbor down the street who keeps their grass short.鈥
鈥楢ctivity begets activity鈥
For three years, Caradonna watched the Olive, North 20th, Market and North 22nd streets transform from a handful of parking lots, low-rise brick retail buildings, interstate ramps and underutilized greenspace to a 22,500-seat steel and concrete soccer stadium.
The brewery has had typical ups and downs, the worst coming during the coronavirus pandemic. But recently, the Tap Room has experienced an upswing as more people visit the downtown area. Caradonna expects CityPark to draw even more.
Bob Schallenberg, left, wears a 最新杏吧原创 City SC hat as he enjoys a drink with his friend James Owen on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, at Schlafly Tap Room in 最新杏吧原创. Schlafly sits close to CityPark, the stadium where 最新杏吧原创 City SC will play. Schallenberg said he plans to be at the home games.
That鈥檚 a major plus for the neighborhood, said Gary Prosterman, president and CEO of Memphis-based Development Services Group. His firm is building The Victor, 384 apartments at the historic Butler Brothers building that was constructed in 1906 as a mail-order catalog wholesaler that later served the Ben Franklin retail chain.
CityPark was one of the factors that persuaded Prosterman鈥檚 company to move forward on the more than $130 million redevelopment, along with nearby job centers like the upcoming National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency headquarters less than 2 miles north. The first 147 apartments will be ready for residents by June along with nearly 2 acres of rooftop amenities like a swimming pool, pickleball courts and view of CityPark. The second phase will be done by this fall, he said.
Ryan Lewis, a plumber's apprentice, works on bracketing for overhead pipes on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, as work continues to renovate the former Butler Brothers building into an apartment community, close to CityPark soccer stadium on Olive Street in 最新杏吧原创.
Development Services Group has met with other business owners in the area, including 最新杏吧原创 City SC, about creating a neighborhood plan. Prosterman said he knows from experience that stadiums aren鈥檛 the main draw for residents.
鈥淎ctivity begets activity,鈥 he said.
Jackie James saw plenty of activity this past summer when she moved her London Tea Room from its longtime home near Tower Grove Park to Locust Street. Her new space is nearly five times bigger, can host more events like tea classes and a celebration of King Charles III鈥檚 coronation in May, and is about 2 blocks north of CityPark 鈥 a happy coincidence, she said, for the native of Surrey, England.
There鈥檚 nothing like the atmosphere that surrounds a Premiership game in England鈥檚 top soccer league, she said.
鈥淣ow if only Ted Lasso will come here,鈥 said James, referring to the American television character who winds up managing an English soccer team.
At ViolaSTL, the dispensary across from the stadium on Olive, business is growing week over week.
Co-founder Dan Pettigrew said his company chose the location because it was downtown, within reach of Illinois customers and situated within a growing neighborhood. Being located next to police headquarters is as much for security as it is to make a statement. CityPark, though, was a bonus and a 鈥渧ery, very pleasant surprise,鈥 he said.
Viola, founded by former NBA players, is all in for the games.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited for people to see the neighborhood, see new businesses opening and how reinvigorating it is,鈥 Pettigrew said. 鈥淭he intention is to bring thousands of people to our neighborhood and all of the businesses here. We really hope people get a chance to enjoy it.鈥
鈥楥atalytic projects鈥
The stadium is largely privately financed, an anomaly among arenas across the country: $5.7 million of tax credits; 25 years of real estate tax abatement worth $35 million; amusement tax abatement worth $22 million; plus 2% in special sales taxes at CityPark.
A financial analysis from 最新杏吧原创 Development Corp., the city鈥檚 economic development agency, projected that the stadium would add $10.4 million to city coffers and $3 million to 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools over 10 years.
The ownership group is capitalizing on a rich soccer tradition in the region and is likely to appeal to 最新杏吧原创鈥 international workers, said Sarah Coffin, a professor of urban planning at 最新杏吧原创 University.
However, Coffin cautions that CityPark won鈥檛 prompt change or economic development without solid plans that address longstanding concerns like housing and safety.
鈥淭here are other components of downtown that need to change for it to be an attractive place to live. And once that鈥檚 an attractive place to live, then you鈥檙e going to start seeing more investment,鈥 said Coffin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to be the stadium that鈥檚 going to do it.鈥
The tower of Union Station looms in the background as workers arrive early Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, at the building site of 最新杏吧原创 City SC's new soccer stadium in downtown 最新杏吧原创.
Greater 最新杏吧原创 Inc. 鈥 of which Enterprise鈥檚 Andy Taylor is the founder 鈥 has made the downtown area a focal point for the regional business group. The organization has plans to make the area walkable, and thereby safer for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as to continue to invest in 鈥渃atalytic projects鈥 like CityPark that bring more business and activity to underutilized spaces, said Kurt Weigle, Greater 最新杏吧原创 Inc.鈥檚 chief downtown officer.
The organization has thrown its support behind the Brickline Greenway that is expected to improve walkability by adding over 12 miles of biking and walking paths throughout 14 neighborhoods in 最新杏吧原创, including past CityPark.
Greater 最新杏吧原创 also has invested an undisclosed amount of funding into a proposed apartment development near 20th and Locust, just north of the stadium, from 最新杏吧原创 real estate investors AHM Group.
鈥淲hat we are crafting right now and have crafted is a plan for taking downtown to the next level,鈥 Weigle said.
Expectations are high.
Jassen Johnson was the only developer around Locust and Jefferson Avenue for much of the past 15 years as he invested $100 million near the Downtown West and Midtown border, to fulfill his vision of Jefferson Connector, a mixed-use project featuring offices, apartments, restaurants and retail shops to connect downtown to the Midtown neighborhood.
Over the past few years, Johnson has seen others join him and development take off at warp speed thanks to CityPark. He鈥檚 excited at the prospect of people coming to the area, who, before 最新杏吧原创 City SC, likely wouldn鈥檛 have.
And he鈥檚 especially energized by other business owners and developers in the area coming together to form a single vision of what they want to see the area become.
Work isn鈥檛 finished, but it鈥檚 getting there, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an affirmation, that through all the trials and tribulations,鈥 Johnson said, 鈥渋t was worth it.鈥
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the job title of World Wide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh.
