ST. LOUIS — The long anticipated City Foundry project spearheaded by developer Steve Smith is again considering a large apartment building in its second phase, an idea it scrapped three years ago in favor of more offices.
For more than two years, Smith has planned a second phase at 242 South Vandeventer, just west of the old Federal Mogul factory that construction crews have recently finished turning into offices, a food hall and retail space. The next phase calls for 282 apartment units, 75,000 square-feet of office space, almost 10,000 square-feet of ground-level retail and a 400-space parking garage.
St. Louis University is helping with the second phase. Last year, it acquired the South Vandeventer site from a limited liability corporation controlled by Cortex. Smith has worked closely with SLU on other developments in the Midtown area.
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Late this summer, the Cortex tech district and St. Louis Midtown Redevelopment Corp., controlled by St. Louis University and SSM Health, reached an agreement to split the special property assessments that the second phase of the City Foundry project will pay to the independent redevelopment corporations. Because it is owned by SLU, the land is tax exempt for regular government assessments. The special assessment is a formula based on rentable square feet.
Smith told the St. Louis Planning Commission Wednesday that City Foundry would not seek any additional city development incentives at this time. City officials in 2016 and 2017 approved the use of some $36 million in tax increment financing assistance — which uses new taxes from the site to pay down development costs — for the two phases of the $300 million-plus redevelopment of the old factory site.
Smith and his team have long argued free parking will be essential to make the retailers and food vendors at City Foundry viable. The developer also hopes that if the planned Brickline Greenway (formerly Chouteau’s Greenway) comes to fruition, it will reduce the ultimate need for parking at the Foundry.
When it was first proposed in 2016, City Foundry called for an apartment building. But Smith ended up scrapping the apartment concept because of concerns about its impact on historic preservation tax credits intended to be used as part of the project.
The main City Foundry’s opening has been pushed back to next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it has held a few outdoor events in recent months.