Why Crestwood Mall Redevelopment Talks Are Stagnant
Why haven't you seen Centrum representatives recently? "They're going to wait until a new board is elected in April," remarked Mayor Jeff Schlink.
A handful of residents addressed the Crestwood Board of Aldermen on Tuesday concerning progress on the redevelopment of Crestwood Court.
Each resident spoke for slightly different reasons—to request another town hall session, to ask how the recent loss of the Post Office will be addressed, or to see a quicker resolution to the city’s sales tax revenue woes. One resident even told the board she was disappointed to hear an hour of conversation on the public pool, but none on mall redevelopment.
Mall discussion has not been a regular agenda item since December, when the board rejected PGAV Planners as the proposed project's planner.
Browse Patch's previous coverage on mall redevelopment.
Mayor Jeff Schlink said he and Centrum’s Vic Pildes have discussed organizing a meeting, possibly in March.
When the topic was resurrected by a resident later in the meeting, Schlink provided some more insight into his most recent conversations with Pildes.
“I told [Pildes] it was my intention to not pass along this information, because it has been shared with Mr. Roby, but Centrum as of right now, they are not interested in moving forward with the project. They’re not going to come to St. Louis. We’re not sitting on our hands,” Schlink said. “They told us they’re not going to do anything; they’re going to wait until a new board is elected in April, and they’re going to see if there’s people supportive of the TIF they’ve requested.”
Four seats will be decided in the April 2 election. The terms of Crestwood aldermen Mimi Duncan (Ward I), Bob Deutschmann (Ward II), Jerry Miguel (Ward III), and John Foote (Ward IV) are expiring. See who's running for Board of Aldermen.
John Dough
9:55 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
I see....residents should vote for candidates that support a TIF and we will move forward.
I guess Centrum (and possibly the Mayor) are in the aldermanic re-election business now (?)
Basically no TIF no Build.
Grant Mabie
11:19 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
I don't blame Centrum for not wanting to get rejected by the current Board again. Delaying moving forward for a few more months is disappointing, but Centrum's position gives everyone in Crestwood an opportunity to indirectly vote on the proposed redevelopment in the upcoming aldermanic elections. If you are in favor of the redevelopment, vote for candidates that will support it. If you are opposed to the redevelopment, vote for candidates that will not support it.
Reasonable Person
9:12 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Mr. Mabie, if elected, would you vote in favor or against moving forward with the redevelopment project, if Centrum will not waiver from their current TIF request?
Grant Mabie
10:23 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Tax increment financing is a powerful tool, but one that certainly has the potential for abuse and overuse. I think St. Louis is full of examples of poorly conceived uses of TIF. However, I support the use of TIF to redevelop this site, and I think this is the type of project that is tailor-made for TIF and in the spirit of the original intent of the statute. Crestwood mall is outdated and vacant, and moving forward with new development there involves demolishing almost a million square feet of buildings, and site work over almost 50 acres.
Historically, Crestwood has been a city that relies heavily on sales taxes, which allows property taxes to remain low. If we want to continue to be that kind of city, I think this development is critical. It is certainly debatable whether West County mall in Des Peres was an appropriate use of TIF. However, it is unquestionable that the use of TIF to redevelop the mall was a boon for Des Peres financially (and that mall was in much better shape to begin with than Crestwood mall is now). The West County Mall TIF was almost 30 million dollars (more than requested by Centrum here). While not due solely to West County mall, Des Peres currently has its own fire department, almost a 1 million dollar budget surplus, and does not charge its residents property taxes.
Grant Mabie
10:35 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Sorry, had to divide my response in half due to word restrictions.
As for Centrum's exact TIF number, I think it would be premature to commit to vote for that at this time, and my support of the project should not be taken as wanting to give Centrum carte blanche to proceed. I want to do my own due diligence, exhaustively review the proposal, and listen to the concerns of Crestwood's advisors and planners, and potentially those of the TIF Commission to be formed. With that being said, I think the amount of TIF requested for a project of this size is in the right ballpark, and Centrum is committed to investing almost $80 million in the site exclusive of the TIF. Finally, I think there is a little bit of confusion existing as to Crestwood's risk in the project. Obviously, I think everyone in Crestwood wants to see a successful development there. However, if the TIF is approved, and the project is not successful, the risk is borne by the private bond holders, and not Crestwood.
Reasonable Person
11:01 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Well said. Will you and your opponent be debating before the election?
Grant Mabie
11:19 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
I am not sure if there will be a Lincoln/Douglas style debate per se, but I believe there will be some "Meet the Candidates" type events that allow for questions and answers. I think the Crestwood-Sunset Hills Chamber of Commerce usually hosts one, but I haven't heard of one being scheduled yet. I have been asked for my availability by others for similar events, but I do not believe anything is firm yet. As soon as any events of this type are finalized, I will post the details on my website, and I'm sure the Patch and the local papers will provide notice of them as well.