A St. Louis city committee approved a proposal from the St. Louis Cardinals and Cordish Co. for a $300-million Ballpark Village next to Busch Stadium — but don’t look for construction to start anytime soon.
A St. Louis city committee approved a proposal from the St. Louis Cardinals for a $320-million Ballpark Village next to Busch Stadium — but don’t look for construction to start anytime soon, even though partner Cordish Co. says the proposed entertainment/retail/office complex is 80 percent leased.
One big issue remains: selling bonds to actually finance the project. The state and the full Board of Aldermen are expected to sign off on the plan, and after that the Cards and Cordish will go to market. What sort of greeting they’ll receive remains to be seen, but they’re not expecting quick action: to that end, the proposal was changed to give the pair three years to sell the bonds, an extension of an original one-year deadline.
The Cards and Cordish expect to sell $100 million in bonds toward the first $320-million phase. Besides a St. Louis Cardinals Museum and gift shop and studios for the Cardinals radio network, the development will include restaurants, shops and office space in a 20-floor tower. It will be built on the site of the previous Busch Stadium.