As the city of St. Louis contemplates how to allocate more than $250 million in Rams settlement funds, we agree: North St. Louis should receive the largest share of these resources. The devastation caused by decades of disinvestment — compounded by the May 16, 2025, tornado — demands bold action.
But if we are serious about rebuilding North St. Louis for the long term, we must also invest significant Rams funds in the economic engine that helps fund services and investments throughout the entire city: downtown.
Downtown is the city’s economic backbone. While downtown makes up less than 4% of St. Louis’ geography, the hotels, restaurants, residences, offices, sports and event venues and entertainment corridors within downtown account for more than 20% of the city’s tax base. At Busch Stadium, for example, the Cardinals generate an average of $12 million in tax revenue for the city each season. In just one week, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships held downtown this past January generated more than $416,000 in sales taxes and nearly $400,000 in hotel taxes for the city. The downtown footprint revitalized in 2024 through the CityArchRiver project, which connected and expanded the park’s grounds and museums, created $30.7 million in tax revenues for the region. These are just a few examples of the fuel the downtown economic engine generates.
Earnings taxes, commercial and residential property taxes, sales taxes and hotel taxes flow from downtown into the city’s operating budget. The city depends on these revenues to provide services that reach residents citywide — public safety, parks, streets, trash removal, mental health services and more.of
When downtown thrives, St. Louis thrives. According to St. Louis-based Development Strategies, Inc., for every dollar the city’s general fund puts into downtown-related spending, it gets four dollars back in taxes. Investments in downtown have ripple effects far beyond its two-square-mile footprint.
When downtown struggles, though, that tax revenue shrinks, and the city’s operating budget has less money to spend on critical services. That is the situation today. Downtown is at an important inflection point, and it is critical that we invest in its growth. A stronger urban core means less vacancy, more jobs and more visitors who generate the tax revenue needed to serve families and neighborhoods in every corner of the city.
The Rams settlement is a one-time opportunity. Decisions on how to spend it are not easy. There is more need than there are dollars available. But, applied strategically, the Rams settlement funds can help restore and strengthen several critically important priorities for St. Louis: North City, downtown and citywide infrastructure.
Like Missouri disaster funding, FEMA dollars, private dollars and philanthropic support, the Rams funds are an essential financial infusion for rebuilding North City. Fortunately, the possibilities for ongoing disaster support do not end with the deployment of Rams funds.
The next major phase of tornado recovery and rebuilding will require pursuing significant federal funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program. Those grants are designed to cover unmet needs after insurance, FEMA assistance, SBA loans and other aid have been exhausted.
The business community will stand with St. Louis and Missouri in pursuing those federal block grants to support the ongoing rebuilding of North City.
Downtown and North St. Louis are not in competition for St. Louis’ future. They are linked. Place-based investment done thoughtfully lifts more than the place it lands. Smart commitments to downtown today will create compounding returns for St. Louis for years to come.
Excluded from Rams investments, downtown will generate fewer of the resources that make true recovery possible elsewhere. Included, downtown becomes a multiplier.
We say this not as advocates for one neighborhood but as believers that growth is a prerequisite for inclusive prosperity.
We encourage St. Louis to choose strategy rather than choosing sides. Invest the Rams settlement boldly in North St. Louis and strategically in downtown and infrastructure. The future of each depends in part on the success of the other.
Karen Branding is president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Business Council. Ron Kitchens is managing partner for Greater St. Louis, Inc.