A 最新杏吧原创 commission recommended approving $19.4 million in subsidies sought by the developers of a planned rehab of the former Federal-Mogul site in Midtown, but some members were skeptical of allowing the project to tap additional tax abatement.
The 最新杏吧原创 Tax Increment Financing Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend $19.4 million in TIF assistance for the first phase of the Lawrence Group鈥檚 City Foundry project, sending the measure to the 最新杏吧原创 Board of Aldermen for final approval.
The TIF is one piece of that make up about 56 percent of the project鈥檚 total $134.2 million first phase. The developer has $51 million in financing for the project, and the TIF would cover about 14.5 percent of the project鈥檚 initial costs, in line with the city鈥檚 policy of covering less than 15 percent of project costs with TIF.
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, which is planned to open in late 2018, is focused on the renovation of the Federal-Mogul site, unused since 2007. That building will be turned into a large food hall with 鈥渂ays鈥 for individual, non-chain restaurants and 20,000 square feet of common seating space.
鈥淎lmost the food truck culture is what we鈥檙e trying to create here,鈥 Lawrence Group CEO Steve Smith told the commission.
In the northeast corner of the redevelopment footprint, the Byco Building would be turned into a 30,000-square-foot single tenant retail space. Some 78,000 square feet of office space would also be added to the old foundry building, and another 30,000 square feet would be added to the Byco building. A 500-car parking structure is planned, as is a Great Rivers Greenway trail through the site and a new pedestrian walkway over Highway 40 (Interstate 64) at Spring Avenue.
Future phases could include a 24-story apartment building and more office buildings. The amount of TIF incentives for those areas would be approved separately.
The Lawrence Group and city staff and consultants said that much of the public assistance will initially be covering the substantial infrastructure costs to update utilities and roads, estimated at $37.8 million in the first phase. Future phases of the City Foundry development could receive less assistance because the infrastructure improvements planned now would also serve those areas of the site and allow development there.
Other developers have tried and failed to return the highly visible, vacant industrial site between Highway 40 and Forest Park Avenue to use, and Otis Williams, head of the 最新杏吧原创 Development Corp. called it 鈥渙ne the most blighted areas in the city.鈥
Several members of the public, however, questioned the amount of incentives being offered to the developer and the effect that uncollected new tax revenue has on the budgets of the city and 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools.
鈥淎t what point do we say we鈥檝e put enough public subsidies in鈥 to projects in the central corridor? asked Molly Metzger, a professor of social work at Washington University.
While commissioners were in favor of the TIF assistance, they took the unusual step of passing a resolution 3-2 recommending the Board of Aldermen not approve the Lawrence Group鈥檚 tax abatement request, which would be approved separately.
The Lawrence Group is requesting 10 years of full property tax abatement on site improvements and 15 years of 50-percent abatement. That agreement, which is not yet finalized, will likely be negotiated with a development corporation affiliated with 最新杏吧原创 University. to negotiate incentives with developers, including the Lawrence Group, near the planned $500 million new 最新杏吧原创 University Hospital planned by SSM Health.
The motion to recommend against tax abatement was made by David Jackson Jr., who is a commission representative for the 最新杏吧原创 Board of Education. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just something the school district can鈥檛 support for this project,鈥 he said of the property tax abatement.
