ST. LOUIS 鈥 Tina Pihl, the alderman whose ward covers Cortex, one of the region鈥檚 key employment centers, is staying mum on what it will take to win her support for a major development there that has stalled since she took office last spring.
Some regional leaders see the project as a priority because it would finally add a residential high-rise to the office-heavy tech district where activity drops dramatically after work hours. But negotiations over the development鈥檚 incentive package have dragged on since spring, when Pihl and the office of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones reentered talks with Cortex and the developer, KDG.
A real estate fund affiliated with Greater 最新杏吧原创 Inc. 鈥 formed a year ago with the merger of the 最新杏吧原创 Regional Chamber, Civic Progress and other groups 鈥 has a tentative agreement to finance part of the KDG project. As part of the agreement, first contemplated in April, the Greater 最新杏吧原创-affiliated fund would require the developer to include 32 units of lower-priced apartments in a 161-unit residential building planned in the Cortex tech district as a condition for a loan it plans to extend to the project.
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Pihl, 17th Ward, said those 32 鈥渨orkforce housing鈥 units were not added as part of her negotiations with Cortex and the developer, which are ongoing. She pointed to a November report that found a need for more affordable housing for the region鈥檚 lowest-income residents but would not say whether she thought the project should incorporate more affordable housing units as a condition for her support of development incentives.
鈥淚 need to talk to Cortex and KDG more,鈥 she said Thursday. 鈥淲e are not complete in our discussions.鈥
Pihl, whose ward has been home to many of the city鈥檚 largest development projects in recent years, and Jones鈥 administration have pushed to include lower-priced housing in other developments as a condition for city incentives. The next phase of City Foundry, also in Pihl鈥檚 ward, only won approval for incentives it needed to complete its financing after the developer pledged $1.8 million to the city鈥檚 affordable housing trust fund.
The Cortex development, part of an office and residential complex planned at Sarah Street and Clayton Avenue, has been on the drawing board since the Koman Group acquired the 3-acre site in 2016. When Koman鈥檚 最新杏吧原创 operations merged with Keeley Development Group to form KDG, that developer picked up the project. The development鈥檚 apartment building made it an important priority for Cortex officials.
By the time KDG once again began advancing plans for the $100 million office and residential project early last year, it was put on hold in May after Jones and Pihl took office and reentered negotiations over the project鈥檚 incentive package. The project had been seeking $14 million in tax increment financing through Cortex鈥檚 TIF district, a larger TIF the city approved in 2013.
After months of inactivity, the KDG project finally took a step forward Tuesday after an aldermanic committee voted to advance the land鈥檚 rezoning. The city鈥檚 Planning Commission in June had recommended the rezoning, but Pihl, who by 最新杏吧原创 aldermanic tradition must sponsor rezoning and incentive bills in her ward, did not introduce the zoning bill until November. A December hearing on the zoning bill was canceled the day before.
The project has not had a hearing rescheduled at the TIF Commission, which originally was set to review the project in May. In a statement, a Cortex spokesman said it was working with Pihl to finalize plans and that she 鈥渉as been great to work with on the rezoning and other aspects of the project, and we greatly appreciate her support.鈥
KDG Vice President of Development Rob Lochner also said discussions are 鈥渙ngoing鈥 with Pihl.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to find the best solution for the city and our development in Cortex,鈥 he said Thursday.
Pihl, though, would not say what she would like to see incorporated into the project as a condition for her support.
鈥淭here could be many different scenarios,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 need to be able to talk to the developers, and I told you that all we鈥檝e been talking about is the zoning.
鈥淚 need to be talking with them regarding that, and I haven鈥檛 gotten to that phase,鈥 she added.
The importance some see in the Cortex project is illustrated by the involvement of the Greater 最新杏吧原创-affiliated fund, Arch to Park Equity Fund LLC. Greater 最新杏吧原创 leaders have described the entity as a 鈥減atient capital鈥 fund, backed by civic-minded investors and business leaders who use it to plug financing holes in projects deemed important for the region.
Officials with Greater 最新杏吧原创 confirmed the 32 units of workforce housing are part of a proposed 鈥済ap financing鈥 agreement with the Arch to Park Equity Fund that would provide $6.4 million for the project. The workforce units are designed to be cheaper than market-rate housing, with rents limited for 10 years to amounts deemed affordable for households making 80% of area median income 鈥 $54,350 for a household of two. Affordable monthly rent and utilities are calculated based on 30% of that figure, which comes out to around $1,350 a month for a one-bedroom unit.
Recently, the Arch to Park Equity Fund has helped fill financing gaps in several major deals in the city, including Green Street鈥檚 residential development in Forest Park Southeast and the planned rehab of the massive but empty Butler Brothers building in Downtown West. Both projects also include 鈥渨orkforce housing鈥 units.
