After the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced on June 2 that north St. Louis City will officially be the new home for its west headquarters, about 250 residents attended a community meeting to find out how the $1.75 billion project will affect their neighborhoods.
On June 6, city administrators held the first “Project Connect” community meeting at the Gateway Classic Sports Foundation north of downtown. City leaders said Project Connect “will ensure coordination and collaboration between neighborhood revitalization, transportation, and other re-development efforts and the city’s investments to support NGA.”
The Next NGA West project will be built at the corner of north Jefferson and Cass avenues. The site is 100 acres adjacent to the former site of Pruitt-Igoe public housing development.
Kevin Huntspon, a resident in the nearby Jeff Vanderlou neighborhood, told the St. Louis American that he hoped the new facility will help curb crime in North city.
“A lot of things happen in this part of the city that they definitely don’t tolerate in other parts of the city,” he said. “You got a mapping agency. They’re like the spies for the world, so they should know about what’s going on everywhere.”
During the public comment portion, Joyce Belk-Miller spoke on behalf of her mother, Kathleen Belk, who will have to move out of her home on the 2300 block Mullanphy, where she’s lived since 1957. Because of the rise in housing costs surrounding NGA, she will have to move out to St. Louis County, Joyce said.
“My mom is 80 years old,” she said. “She’s not familiar with the county. She wouldn’t know where she’s going.”
It’s not too late, she said, for the city to help residents like her mother to obtain one of the new homes that will be built around NGA.
Several people asked about the housing development that will take place around NGA. The person in charge of that development – Paul McKee Jr., the developer for the publicly-subsidized Northside Regeneration project – was not at the meeting. McKee told the American he didn’t attend because large-scale meetings are often unproductive, and he prefers to have meetings with less than a dozen community members.
On June 7, McKee announced that he will partner with Washington-based Telesis Corporation to develop 3,000 market-rate residential units within the Northside Regeneration project. Phase one includes 500 residential units located in a 50-block area. It’s bound by St. Louis Place Park, Cass Avenue on the south, North Florissant on the east – immediately adjacent to the eastern edge of the new NGA facility. He expects to finish the first phase in five years.
Marilyn Melkonian, Telesis’ founder and CEO, told the American the residents living in the area are the “bedrock of the community” and that an important part of their work is “citizen engagement.”
“It’s just good manners and necessary to having a successful program,” she said.
However, Melkonian also was not present at the community meeting on June 6.
Catherine Lynch, director of planning for Telesis, said she attended the first part of the meeting but left before the public comment portion. She said in hindsight, it would have been a good idea for Telesis to set up a table and talk with residents.
McKee also has a long-standing partnering with Larry Chapman, principal with CRG Real Estate Services – which is a part of Clayco, for the Northside project’s commercial development. Chapman said he didn’t even know about the Project Connect community meeting.
But Chapman wasn’t the only one in the dark. Residents said that the city only announced the meeting online, and the news didn’t reach many neighbors. Stefene Russell, an editor with St. Louis Magazine and a resident in St. Louis Place, gave a moving and emotional comment at the meeting about project’s process.
“I know a lot of people in the city are happy about the financial part of it, but there is some genuine trauma that’s going on that needs to be recognized,” she said, speaking through tears. “I’ve never seen anything like this. The sacrifices and the trauma that’s occurring needs to be acknowledged and honored.”
The site includes 76 percent vacant land, 9 percent vacant residential lots (lots with vacant homes), and 13 percent owner- or renter-occupied residences, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Final Environmental Impact Statement published on April 1. About 28 families were uprooted as part of the land acquisition, and eminent domain proceedings are currently underway for some of those.
In March, St. Louis city leaders offered the federal intelligence agency free land if it agreed to build its western headquarters in North St. Louis. The original price tag for the North City land was $14 million. The city also has committed to providing a $1.5 million annual contribution for up to 30 years.
The state has committed $131 million for infrastructure improvements – $95 million in Tax Incremental Financing and approximately $36 million in Brownfield Tax Credits.
On June 2, NGA Director Robert Cardillo signed the Record of Decision, indicating NGA’s final selection for its west headquarters is the north St. Louis City site.
“Ultimately this location, near a quickly-growing technological and professional environment, will allow for NGA to integrate capabilities and technologies in support of our mission to provide accurate and relevant geospatial intelligence to our customers.” he said.
While St. Louis leaders rejoiced, Illinois officials criticized the move and questioned the process, according to St. Louis Public Radio. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called the choice of north St. Louis short-sighted. Illinois proposed a 182-acre site in St. Clair County that also came with $115 million in infrastructure upgrades.
“I am deeply concerned about the security of the St. Louis site and I do not believe we have received acceptable answers from Director Cardillo,” Durbin said in a statement.
Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois has already asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office for an investigation into the NGA’s decision.
