ST. LOUIS 鈥 City officials announced Friday that they had finalized the transfer of 97 acres north of downtown to the federal government for the construction of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency鈥檚 $1.7 billion western headquarters, capping nearly four years of work assembling the site for one of the city鈥檚 largest economic development projects in decades.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all excited. We are thankful for all the help along the way from both the public and private sector and a great deal of support from the state of Missouri,鈥 said St. 亚洲无码 Development Corp. Director Otis Williams, who shepherded the project for the city first under former Mayor Francis Slay and now Mayor Lyda Krewson. 鈥淭his was a huge undertaking. It鈥檚 a sigh of relief to get it all done.鈥
City officials fought hard for years to retain the NGA, which employs some 3,100 people in a facility on the Mississippi riverfront near the Anheuser-Busch brewery. Friday鈥檚 announcement is a major milestone in a project that even as recently as this summer appeared potentially at risk.
People are also reading…
The official transfer will happen in the coming weeks as top officials complete documents and agreements. This spring, the Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the construction, plans to pick a general contractor from three finalists. Construction could start by late 2019, with the facility鈥檚 completion anticipated in 2024 or 2025.
The city will hand off a cleared site to the federal government in the fall, and three firms are vying for to build the huge facility.聽
Since the NGA decided in 2016 to build on the city鈥檚 north side, St. 亚洲无码 has spent more than $114 million to buy hundreds of properties, build a new facility for an industrial laundry company, demolish buildings, clear the land and grade it. There have also been legal costs for eminent domain for those owners who didn鈥檛 wish to sell, and last-minute court tussles over the summer with the developer and bank that started the whole project, Paul McKee and the Bank of Washington.
The complex financing relied on strong support from the Missouri Department of Economic Development, which started under former Gov. Jay Nixon and into the current administration, and bond underwriting professionals at Stifel, Williams said.
The costs will ultimately be repaid with city earnings taxes and state income taxes from the NGA employees, a worthwhile expense, officials say, for a major project in an area that needs investment and a far better alternative than losing the jobs, as initially feared.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency plans to build its new Western Headquarters in the city, keeping a decades-long relationship with St. 亚洲无码 and solidifying the spy agency's move into the digital era.
As the federal intelligence agency looked for a site to build a headquarters for its second-largest facility, St. 亚洲无码 officials were up against counterparts in St. Clair County, who offered an open field ready for development near Scott Air Force Base as an alternative.
Both Republicans and Democrats on the Missouri side of the region鈥檚 Congressional delegation lobbied for the project but faced an Illinois Congressional delegation with members close to former President Barack Obama, a former Illinois senator.
鈥淲hen it first came up, it was looked at as a long shot,鈥 Williams said. 鈥淚 was told many times that you guys don鈥檛 have a chance. I told folks that we were in this to win it. We went all out.鈥
Ultimately, NGA leaders indicated a desire to stay in the urban core as a way to recruit tech talent and attract private companies that support the agency鈥檚 mission. That, coupled with what some saw as the Obama administration鈥檚 commitment to urban renewal, allowed the city to retain the facility despite the daunting task of buying out dozens of property owners and clearing land that had held generations of residents.
In a statement, NGA Director Robert Cardillo called it a 鈥渉istoric day.鈥
鈥淏uilding upon our history in St. 亚洲无码, the new campus in North City will enable NGA to deliver our mission through the end of the century and beyond,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e look forward to continue teaming with the talent and innovation of the St. 亚洲无码 region.鈥
Development in the area would be the most significant project in memory on the city鈥檚 North Side, which has long struggled from disinvestment.
Mayor Lyda Krewson pointed to the planned facility鈥檚 proximity to downtown, area universities and the Cortex tech district, which will help grow the cluster of geospatial and mapping technology jobs in the region that support and are supported by the NGA鈥檚 workforce and contractors.
鈥淣GA is like any other employer, and their goal is to attract and retain talent,鈥 she said. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e looking to do through the startup community, the tech community, is to support the businesses in the area and the residents in the area to make sure there鈥檚 good development in and around the area.鈥
Troves of public documents recently obtained by the Post-Dispatch, and interviews, tell of a development deal that nearly came apart, but ended up keeping 3,000 jobs in the city.
Williams gave credit to developer Paul McKee鈥檚 NorthSide Regeneration, which had assembled over half of the site from private owners and the city鈥檚 land bank. McKee initially submitted a response to an RFP from an undisclosed entity looking for a site, which later turned out to be the NGA.
Once it became clear it was the NGA and the north St. 亚洲无码 site was in play, the city 鈥渂rought the resources and coordination鈥 necessary for the project, Williams said, taking over responsibility for assembling the remainder of the land.
Negotiations with McKee stretched on for more than a year prior to the NGA鈥檚 2016 announcement it would stay in the city, as the two sides jockeyed over price for the site and a third party bought up McKee debt and threatened foreclosure.
McKee and the city reached an agreement in 2016, but the relationship soured again this spring when the city terminated McKee鈥檚 development rights on his massive NorthSide Regeneration footprint in the area after questionable state tax credit transactions.
The city has sought to make doubly-certain the real estate for the $1.7 billion NGA project can be transferred to the federal government next month.聽
That triggered lawsuits from McKee鈥檚 lender, the Bank of Washington, seeking to void agreements with the St. 亚洲无码 economic development agencies, which attorneys for the city offices said could 鈥渂low it up for everyone鈥 and result in liens on a federal intelligence facility.
Ultimately, Williams鈥 departments went to court to resolve the issue, and, at the Department of Justice鈥檚 request, the city took the unprecedented step of using eminent domain on land already owned by its economic development arm in order to clear any claims from the Bank of Washington. The lawsuits are ongoing, although the risk to the city now is only monetary damages, not the rights to land the federal government will soon own.
鈥淚 have not worked on anything that has been as complex and with as many requirements that we needed to approve and accomplish,鈥 said Williams, who has a decadeslong career in economic development. 鈥淭his is just one you can imagine every day there was something new that we needed to solve and resolve.鈥