最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� A spy agency鈥檚 history in 最新杏吧原创, which dates to Lewis and Clark鈥檚 Corps of Discovery, will soon have a new chapter.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will announce this week its preferred location for a massive new Western Headquarters, ending the battle between Missouri and Illinois that ensnared each state鈥檚 highest-ranking officials. At stake is a $1.75 billion development project and 3,100 people working for a top-secret intelligence agency whose growing annual budget is nearly $5 billion.

While four sites are under consideration, two have emerged as favorites: an empty cornfield near Scott Air Force Base and an urban neighborhood in north 最新杏吧原创 near the demolished Pruitt-Igoe housing complex.

For 最新杏吧原创, winning the battle would mean keeping jobs in the city and luring billions of investment to an impoverished area northwest of downtown. For St. Clair County, it would mean further solidifying Scott Air Force Base, the largest employer in the Metro East.

Robert Cardillo, the NGA director, is expected to announce the decision Friday morning. He had delayed it by one week so he could be in the country when the announcement is made.

Officials say Cardillo, a former deputy director of national intelligence who was appointed to head the agency in 2014, will be the sole decision-maker in a process that has been shrouded by political intrigue. President Barack Obama, who has been briefed on the selection process, is from Illinois and lobbied for Scott Air Force Base in the Senate during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process that could have shuttered the base, which houses the military鈥檚 Transportation Command. Another round of base closures could come in 2017.

In 2005, top Pentagon leaders recommended moving NGA to Scott during the base realignment proceedings. The military later scrapped that plan because of lack of funding. It did, however, move the NGA鈥檚 Eastern Headquarters to a $1.8 billion site near the Fort Belvoir Army base in Springfield, Va.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., a longtime friend of Obama鈥檚, said this month that he had spoken with the president about the matter, but he declined to discuss specifics. But Durbin said the decision would rest totally with Cardillo. Durbin said that he had met with Cardillo but that they had focused only on the merits of St. Clair County鈥檚 proposal.

鈥淭here was no compare and contrast going on,鈥� Durbin said. As to any decision, he said Cardillo 鈥渄id not show his cards.鈥�

Durbin鈥檚 counterpart in Missouri is more circumspect about whether Cardillo will be influenced by the administration.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell how much of this decision will be completely NGA,鈥� said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. She suggested that the president鈥檚 鈥淧romise Zone鈥� initiative aimed at prioritizing federal spending in struggling areas should play a role.

鈥淭he White House certainly knows this is exactly what they鈥檝e been talking about鈥� in the Promise Zone program, McCaskill said. The city鈥檚 north 最新杏吧原创 location falls within a Promise Zone .

The NGA, which has taken on many names throughout its existence with the Defense Department, has grown from its original mission to map Thomas Jefferson鈥檚 Louisiana Purchase. Through the years it has played a critical role, from producing images to brief President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 to building a model of Mount St. Helens after an eruption removed most of its north face in 1980.

Notably, the agency played a pivotal role in the hunt for terrorist Osama bin Laden. Through satellite imagery, it helped locate bin Laden鈥檚 compound in Pakistan and then created a replica of it as Navy SEALs planned their successful raid. The replica currently sits in a private museum on NGA鈥檚 current campus at the 最新杏吧原创 Arsenal, one of the oldest continually operating military installations in the United States.

The NGA says its aging 最新杏吧原创 facility, which is controlled by the Air Force, is no longer feasible for its high-tech, top-secret missions. In 2014, the agency announced it would move to a new聽location in the 最新杏吧原创 area by 2022, setting off a battle that has largely been fought by 最新杏吧原创 city and St. Clair County.

Perhaps more is on the line for 最新杏吧原创, which has housed the agency at its current headquarters south of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery since 1952.

The city has deployed a complicated real estate strategy involving everything from the use of eminent domain to physically moving houses to new locations.

鈥淲e are moving heaven and earth to make this happen,鈥� said 最新杏吧原创 Mayor Francis Slay. 鈥淭his was not simple.鈥�

While St. Clair County had the luxury of open farmland, 最新杏吧原创 had to work with a downtrodden urban neighborhood sprinkled with houses and businesses.

Slay makes an environmental case for the city site,聽noting the agency would be using land that has already been developed, instead of plowing over green space.

The Missouri effort has come with a hefty price tag. So far, the state has committed $131 million to the project: $95 million in tax increment financing, a portion of which would include diverting state income tax payments of NGA employees; and $36 million in Brownfield Tax Credits 鈥� an amount higher than originally expected.

The city, meanwhile, has committed $1.5 million a year over the next 30 years, including diverting half of the 1 percent earnings tax paid by NGA workers. Currently, NGA workers pay more than $2 million in income tax to the city, and officials expect employment and payroll to grow over time.

Cost is an issue. Slay said he met with NGA director Cardillo and asked if St. Clair County鈥檚 offer of free land to the government would be a factor.

鈥淢ore and more, we were hearing that might make a difference,鈥� Slay said. 鈥�(Cardillo) said to me, 鈥業t makes a difference.鈥欌��

So Slay worked with state officials and announced a plan this month where the city matched St. Clair鈥檚 offer of free land.

Cardillo has placed an emphasis on modernizing the agency and recruiting the smartest computer technicians available. Slay hopes to use the city鈥檚 urban location to its benefit. Young college graduates have shown a preference for living in dense urban areas over sedate suburban settings.

鈥淚 think we鈥檙e very well-positioned,鈥� Slay said.

In Illinois, officials have prioritized Scott as the area鈥檚 economic engine.

Mark Kern, the St. Clair County Board chairman, said NGA would be a boost to the community and the base.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been host to Scott Air Force Base for nearly 100 years,鈥� Kern said. 鈥淲e would relish adding NGA to it and welcoming them to our community.鈥�

The agency has been in growth mode, and many speculate it could expand and add jobs at its new Western headquarters. The agency鈥檚 Eastern headquarters is the fourth-largest federal building in the Washington area and already houses 8,500 employees.

The government doesn鈥檛 release the agency鈥檚 budget for security reasons, but information revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden showed the agency鈥檚 2013 budget was $4.9 billion. Snowden鈥檚 information also showed NGA鈥檚 spending has increased by 108 percent since 2004, an increase nearly double that of the Central Intelligence Agency.

最新杏吧原创 developer Paul McKee hopes that growth will bolster his controversial NorthSide Regeneration plan. McKee owned 40 percent of the nearly 100-acre 最新杏吧原创 site showcased to the NGA. He has signed agreements to sell the land, which was previously owned by the city, back to the city for the development should the NGA come to the site.

This week, McKee said he is 鈥渧ery, very anxious鈥� to hear the NGA decision.

鈥淚 feel very bullish,鈥� he said.

If 最新杏吧原创 doesn鈥檛 win, McKee said, it won鈥檛 be the end of his project, which has struggled with lawsuits and financing.

鈥淲e will have a 100-acre site to showcase for a corporate campus,鈥� McKee said.