Committee approves plan for Hampton shopping area
City negotiating purchase of MSD property on Hampton Avenue
By Jim Merkel
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 2:05 PM CST

A plan to turn the 26 acres on the northeast corner of Interstate 44 and Hampton Avenue into a shopping area is moving forward in the Board of Aldermen.

The board's Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee last week approved a plan blighting the area and allowing 10 years of tax abatement on any improvements. In tax abatement, property is taxed at the rate before improvements are made.

The measure sponsored by Alderman William Waterhouse, D-24th Ward, now is set for discussion, initial and possibly final approval at Friday's meeting of the Board of Aldermen.

The area, surrounded by I-44, Hampton, the River des Peres and the eastern end of the city Street Department facilities, now includes the Street Department property and the now-empty former headquarters building and parking lot of the Metropolitan Sewer District.

Otis Williams, deputy director/special projects, of the St. Louis Development Corp., an economic development arm of city government, said the city is negotiating with MSD to buy its headquarters building.

Dale Ruthsatz, director of commercial development for the St. Louis Development Corp., said the price the city would pay for the MSD property would be about $2.4 million.

The city is looking at a number of locations to relocate the street department property, Ruthsatz said.

This creates a very large site for retail use, Ruthsatz said.

The project would bring in 200 to 500 jobs, Ruthsatz said.

City officials at last week's committee meeting wouldn't say who might take over the property.

The area could be used either for retail or commercial, Waterhouse said.

"I think it's got a lot of potential," Waterhouse said. "What I'm hoping for is something that's going to be positive for the neighborhood or the city."

The city already is talking to potential developers, but isn't saying who they are, Waterhouse said. The city also will open the property up for anyone else who is interested, he said.

"I know there's a need for some type of retail," Waterhouse said.

That property isn't a good location for the street department, Waterhouse said. "That's high dollar property. We have other sites in the city that aren't quite as valuable," he said.

MSD secretly sells building
By Phil Sutin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Mar. 05 2008

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District in December quietly sold its former
headquarters building at 2000 Hampton Avenue for $2.4 million to a St. Louis
development agency.

The 2.93-acre site would become part of a 26-acre shopping center and office
complex on the northeast corner of Hampton and Interstate 44, under the city's
plan.

Trustees unanimously approved the sale at a closed session Dec. 13. About a
month later, the sale to the St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment
Authority closed.

Under ordinance, the district has the authority to sell surplus real estate "by
negotiation rather than by open and public competition and without publication
of notice when the purchaser is a public or governmental agency having the
power of eminent domain."

The vote to sell was taken in a closed session. Real estate transactions should
be handled in executive sessions, Karl Tyminski, the sewer district's
secretary-treasurer, said.

The proceeds of the sale went to a special account for buildings and
maintenance yards, Lance LeComb, a district spokesman, said.

Rodney Crim, executive director of St. Louis Development Corp., the parent of
the authority, said two other tracts of land that would become part of the
shopping center-office site are adjacent maintenance yards of the St. Louis
Streets Department and the sewer district.

LeComb said the city did not offer enough money to cover both the value of the
district's maintenance yard and the cost of moving the yard, possibly to a site
near its Bissell Point sewage treatment plant in north St. Louis. LeComb and
Crim said they expect more negotiation between the district and the city about
the sale of the district's maintenance yard.

Crim said the city needs a shopping center so residents "can shop in St. Louis
rather than go to St. Louis County." The 26-acre site, he said, is in a good
location near two expressways — next to Interstate 44 and close to Highway 40.

The city hopes to seek proposals for developing the site by the end of the
year, he said.


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Don't we already have a tax abated shopping center nearby called St. Louis Market Place?

Columbia Bungalow,
Yeap, at the February 25th CHNA meeting Alderman Waterhouse said something that seemed entirely different. Now it seems it was already a done deal.
St. Louis Market Place was suppose to generate sales tax revenue, which it never did. There are about 400 people working there now, but they probably only generate earnings tax. 1% vs 8.2 cents per $1 in sales.

The following information breaks down the City of St. Louis sales tax rate. The State of Missouri Department of Revenue collects all sales taxes in the City of St. Louis. The City receives its share of the sales tax from the state on a monthly basis.

City of St. Louis Sales Tax Breakdown

4.225% State of Missouri
1.000% City – General Fund
0.375% City – General Fund
0.500% City – Transportation
0.500% City – Capital Improvements
0.250% Metrolink
0.100% Metro Parks District*
0.666% St. Louis Board of Education
0.125% City-Parks and Recreation (effective 4/1/07)

7.741% Retail Sales Tax Rate
1.500% Sit Down Restaurants
9.241% Sit Down Restaurant Rate

*The City and St. Louis County each receive half of the 0.100% Metro Parks District sales tax, making the City’s portion 0.050%.

**Up to an additional 1.0% sales tax can be added to purchases made within a Special Taxing District. These districts are located throughout the City and are authorized by state law and ordinance.

Union Pacific Railroad Company (Union Pacific) appeals the district court’s judgment in its suit against former officials of the City of St. Louis (City) and others.