ST. LOUIS-After six years of planning after Busch Stadium opened, a partnership of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. are about to start work on the $550 million Ballpark Village. A few restaurants, led by Anheuser-Busch, have signed to anchor the $100 million first phase.
Some form of the project was promised by the partnership when the stadium was built, but economic pressures and a lost tenant held off the project. Stifel Financial Corp. had planned to anchor an office portion of the seven-city-block Village. However, the company pulled back and instead purchased its current headquarters.
Blake Cordish, VP for the family-run firm, tells GlobeSt.com that signing Stifel would have been a bonus anyway. “Had we gotten there, it would have been the equivalent to starting two phases at once,” he says. “It’s reality, there’s not a lot of new headquarters construction, and they were able to get their own building for a discount.”
Now, Anheuser-Busch announced a licensing and sponsorship agreement with the Cardinals-Cordish partnership to headline the $100 million first phase, which is supposed to have 100,000 square feet of retail and entertainment space along Clark Street, just north of the stadium. The large project, expected to span 10 acres north of Busch stadium, is supposed to feature retail, entertainment, office and multifamily buildings.
Anheuser-Busch said it will open a restaurant, beer garden and rooftop bar as a main portion of the first phase. “Not only will Ballpark Village enhance the way St. Louisans enjoy their city, but it will be the first impression many visitors get of downtown,” said Luiz Edmond, North American president of Anheuser-Busch InBev, in a statement. “We’re proud to help bring the vision to life.”
The partnership also announced the creation of Cardinals Nation, which will include two team-themed museums and a ticketed-seat deck overlooking the stadium. Cordish will also build one of its signature Live venues, which will feature a 40-foot diagonal viewing screen in a plaza that will be expected to host more than 150 events throughout the year.
The partnership is using $100 million in bonds for first phase, and requesting about $17 million of tax incentives from the city and state. A decision on the incentives is expected this month. Once the approvals are in, Cordish says the construction on the first phase should start this fall, with completion expected in 2014.
He says by next year, the partnership should know which block it will start next – likely multifamily, if the current market demand continues. “We will be responsive to the market,” Cordish says.
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