There鈥檚 close to $1 billion 鈥 and probably more 鈥 ready to pour into development in midtown and neighborhoods to the south.
With a new $550 million St. Louis University Hospital planned by SSM Health in the Tiffany neighborhood and major developments proposed on the edges of St. Louis University鈥檚 campus, SLU is moving to get ahead of the development that appears likely to transform another portion of the region鈥檚 central corridor.
The university is asking the city of St. Louis to give it more control over the zoning and tax incentives that will determine what is built on 395 acres near its medical center and north campus.
Just to the west, the city granted similar powers to the Cortex technology district and Washington University. Investors are now looking farther east, to the area surrounding another one of St. Louis鈥 anchor institutions.
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鈥淲e now have another major institution lending their name to the redevelopment of about 400 acres around their campus,鈥 said St. Louis Alderman Joe Roddy, who is co-sponsoring legislation to give SLU the ability to control development near its campus.
Leading the effort for SLU is the university鈥檚 chief financial officer, , who called the effort 鈥渁 terrific opportunity for the city of St. Louis.鈥
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 ignore the impact of a half-billion-dollar investment on your campus,鈥 he said.
A development plan for the area around the planned new hospital and its campus is nearly finalized, Heimburger said, but he declined to share specific details until it is submitted to the city early next month. The plan is expected to lay out proposed uses within the area and the amount of property tax abatement that will be offered to developers.
SLU鈥檚 push for the new development powers follows the university鈥檚 decision to and link up with SSM. Last year, SLU bought back the hospital from for-profit Tenet Healthcare Corp. and deeded it to SSM in exchange for board seats and a minority stake in the Catholic health care provider.
Unlike Tenet, SSM was willing to invest in the academic medical center, near the old one along Grand Boulevard.
The change in leadership at the university three years ago after the quarter-century reign of the Rev. Lawrence Biondi also played a part.
鈥淗e had the campus master plan in his mind, and it wasn鈥檛 shared broadly,鈥 Heimburger said at a St. Louis Board of Aldermen committee hearing last week.
Not since 1989 had SLU developed a campus master plan, and 鈥渙ne of the first things (new SLU President Fred Pestello) did was to develop a strategic plan at the university,鈥 Heimburger said.
Over time, the hope is that development can connect SLU鈥檚 north campus with the medical institutions farther south on Grand Boulevard.
鈥淚f we can somehow give it a feel that it鈥檚 one campus, that would be a tremendous thing for our students,鈥 Heimburger said.
Blighting Midtown
SLU, and now SSM, own about 53 percent of the land in the 395-acre redevelopment area.
The university envisions new academic and medical buildings along with private investment on some of that real estate.
To guide the private investment that comes in, even on land it doesn鈥檛 own, SLU is asking St. Louis to let it form what鈥檚 known as a Chapter 353 redevelopment corporation. The entity would be controlled by SLU and likely include partners such as SSM and other developers.
It鈥檚 the same path Washington University took 40 years ago when it created a similar entity.
鈥淥ur institution made a very conscious decision back in the 1970s to stay in the city,鈥 said Brian Phillips, executive director of the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corp. 鈥淎nd that decision coincided with an effort to stabilize those areas.鈥
It gave the university the ability to guide development by offering tax abatement to investors who followed its development plan and to set zoning and use categories around the institution.
鈥淵ou become kind of like a city administrator,鈥 Phillips said.
SLU cleared a key early step in the process Wednesday, when a Board of Aldermen committee voted unanimously to advance a measure blighting the area. Later, the full board will have to approve the measure as well as a redevelopment plan that coincides with the blighted area. Heimburger said the university hopes to have that ready to present at the St. Louis Planning Commission鈥檚 Nov. 2 meeting.
Still unclear is how much tax abatement will be offered to developers in the area. State law allows a redevelopment corporation to grant up to 25 years of property tax abatement.
Other incentives could be offered, too. Don Roe, director of St. Louis鈥 planning department, said the whole area is unlikely to be part of a tax increment financing district, as Cortex is. But it could include smaller TIFs in certain areas to entice developers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a large geography,鈥 Roe said. 鈥淒ifferent places will have different challenges.鈥
Soccer stadiums and affordable housing
This isn鈥檛 the first time SLU has led the creation of a 353 plan. In the late 1970s, it launched the formation of the Midtown Medical Center Redevelopment Corp. with several banks.
The entity鈥檚 redevelopment standards in neighborhoods around Tiffany and Terry Park riled some longtime residents. Some homeowners who wouldn鈥檛 negotiate with the entity had their houses condemned. There were protests and pickets. Some 50 families, mostly poor and black, were forced to move out.
This time, SLU is being careful to emphasize it won鈥檛 have the power of eminent domain that other 353 corporations use. However, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen could still use eminent domain on property within the redevelopment area through a separate measure, according to the statute.
鈥淯nlike the Cortex plan, there is no eminent domain,鈥 Heimburger said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not planning on using eminent domain in any way.鈥
For now, residents in the portions of the neighborhoods included in the redevelopment area 鈥 Tiffany and the Gate District 鈥 are open to the plan, said Alderman Marlene Davis, who co-sponsored the legislation. SLU says it wants to see infill housing develop on the property it bought in those neighborhoods.
鈥淭hey were very excited that the lots that (SLU) owned within the Gate District West neighborhood, that there are going to be homes built on those lots,鈥 Davis said.
Sarah Coffin, an urban planning and development professor at SLU, said she thinks the plan is a 鈥渟mart idea鈥 and is optimistic it will lead to the development of affordable housing within the footprint.
鈥淲ith all the investment that鈥檚 happening around the central corridor, affordability is really starting to become a problem,鈥 Coffin said. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 some development pressure that comes in that might affect affordability, the university can step in and guide that investment.鈥
Two major private developments within the redevelopment area are already in the works.
Green Street Properties this summer acquired with plans for an entertainment venue.
And just east of Cortex. The City Foundry project, as it鈥檚 called, would include a food hall, offices, retail and apartments.
The Lawrence Group鈥檚 chief executive, Steve Smith, said he鈥檚 all for the plan, and he鈥檚 in the process of negotiating a development agreement with SLU. Smith has indicated he wants the full amount of tax abatement available over 25 years, and his agreement with SLU would spell out the amount offered.
鈥淥ur investors and our lenders can have much more confidence that they鈥檙e investing in an area that鈥檚 going to grow over the next decade,鈥 said Smith, who has worked with SLU in the past.
There鈥檚 still likely to be some opposition. For instance, Heimburger indicated the remaining and near the southwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Chouteau Avenue are probably not going to be preserved.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 finalized the plan, but it鈥檚 likely those buildings are not to be kept intact,鈥 he said.
As issues arise, Heimburger said the university wants to work with the community.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure there will be differences of opinion, but as those come up, I assure you we will do our best to work through them,鈥 he said.
And as for a Major League Soccer stadium on the northwest corner of Chouteau and Grand? The development plan was in the works long before news arose that an ownership group was interested in the site, Heimburger said. MLS still needs to pick an ownership group.
鈥淲e鈥檇 be happy to talk, and that鈥檚 the extent of it,鈥 he said.