You could say it takes a village to rebuild a downtown. Many essential factors enabled the announcements of two major redevelopment projects this week that promise a boost for a revitalized, more vibrant Downtown St. Louis.
Yesterday Pyramid Companies President John Steffen, an underappreciated and visionary developer, announced plans for the Mercantile Exchange district (MX), an ambitious, multi-use, $450 million transformational project that will occupy nine square blocks around the dilapidated, abandoned, former St. Louis Centre. The MX will include a hotel, condos and upscale, street-level retail and dining.
On Sunday, Michael Neidorff, CEO of Clayton-based Centene Corporation – a $2.2 billion, rapidly growing corporate giant in the managed-care industry – announced that for the first time in a half-century, a corporation would relocate its headquarters to Downtown St. Louis. Centene’s new, 1.2 million-square-foot office space, retail space and hotel project will bring a new dimension to the presumptive, highly-touted development of Ballpark Village. Notwithstanding many other offers from the St. Louis region, the state and around the nation, Neidorff decided – in a stunning reversal of typical corporate decisions regarding headquarters relocation – to bring this $250 million development to Downtown St. Louis. It is a historic decision.
Informed by enlightened self-interest, the Blunt administration has moved past the parochial thinking about Downtown St. Louis that pervades out-state Missouri. Blunt has wisely decided to help provide economic development resources at the State level. This assistance is essential for these projects to proceed. The Slay administration and forward-thinking elected City officials have also been willing to give support, otherwise unavailable, for these private developers in moving their projects forward. The economic incentives, while huge, are necessary to make Downtown competitive for projects of this scale. Hopefully, successful developments in Downtown will attract more substantial private investment in the future.
The announcement of these projects this week should be welcome news to the African-American community. We have a huge stake in the increased economic activity generated by these developments, which are labor-intensive and will mean sustainable jobs in the future. Steffen publicly announced that Downtown should not be exclusive and should be for everyone to shop, trade and frequent. We would add that, since these massive redevelopment projects require substantial public subsidy, they must be inclusive at all levels. Greatly expanded opportunities for women and minorities are afforded by these developments. There is still ample time to establish goals in contracting and workforce hiring. This hiring should include majority service provider firms that are inclusive in their hiring practices. African-American civic and elected leaders should press the expectation that the economic benefits of these developments will be shared equitably.