Two measures written to advance a St. Louis MLS stadium project received from an endorsement from an aldermanic committee Wednesday, clearing an early hurdle.
Slated for a site west of Union Station in downtown St. Louis, the new MLS stadium is scheduled to open in 2022, coinciding with the launch of the city’s expansion team. It is being planned as part of a larger $461-million project that will be primarily financed through private dollars from the team’s ownership group, with some tax incentives in play.
Last Friday, two pieces of legislation were filed to help move the project forward. The legislation, which would secure partial property tax abatement and other tax incentives, received a 7-0 endorsement from the Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee at its Wednesday meeting. That gives the measures some momentum as they proceed toward the consideration of the full Board of Aldermen. More from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
[Alderman Cara Spencer] added that the new Major League Soccer team’s agreement to own the 22,500-seat stadium and land instead of the city ensures that “there will be no ambiguity” over the team’s responsibility for future maintenance and repairs.
The bills, which now move to the full Board of Aldermen, call for 25 years of property tax abatement on the value of new construction. That’s expected to save the ownership about $34.5 million.
Also planned is a sales tax exemption for building materials used for the project; an estimate has yet to be released for that.
The legislation, sponsored by Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, also calls for two separate one-cent sales taxes on food, drinks, tickets and other items sold at the stadium. They would be levied by new community improvement and transportation development districts.
The club’s ownership group features members of Enterprise Holding’s Taylor family—including Enterprise Holdings Foundation president Carolyn Kindle Betz—and Worldwide Technology CEO Jim Kavanaugh. The project calls for the venue to anchor redevelopment in the Downtown West district, which will include the construction of practice fields and other team facilities across from the stadium. St. Louis is slated to be one of two expansion teams that begins MLS play in 2022, joined by Sacramento.
Rendering courtesy HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects.
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