With construction closer to getting underway, more details are emerging about the second phase of St. Louis’s Ballpark Village.
The St. Louis Cardinals and their development partner, the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos, are moving forward with Ballpark Village Phase II. Adding to the existing amenities within the Ballpark Village development outside of Busch Stadium, the next phase will introduce a new hotel, along with an office building, apartment tower, and retail space.
Construction on the $261 million project is expected to begin later this year, with individual components of the development slated to open over the next several years. Some more details about the project were recently revealed, including confirmation that PricewaterhouseCoopers has signed a letter of intent to place employees in the new office building. More from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
As has been rumored, Cordish confirmed that PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms, has a letter of intent to move into the new office building planned for the corner of Clark and Eighth streets. It currently operates its St. Louis office out of the Bank of America Plaza, also downtown.
Other potential tenants, Cordish has told prospective investors, include a huge fitness facility, Onelife Fitness, that would take up the majority of a new retail building just east of the office structure. Wahlburgers, the burger chain owned by actor Mark Wahlberg and his family, is in negotiations to fill space in the existing Ballpark Village structure that opened in 2014, according to bond documents.
The public’s contribution to the project is significant. If Cordish and the Cardinals hit development targets outlined in their agreement with the city, nearly $72.7 million from bond proceeds backed by tax dollars could go to the $261 million second phase, almost 30 percent of the costs.
That’s up from the $65 million figure cited last year during debate to amend the city’s development agreement with the Cardinals and Cordish, when the project was projected to cost only $220 million.
As part of the financing for the project, the St. Louis Industrial Development Authority was expected to issue about $105 million in bonds, with the Cardinals and Cordish contributing $28.4 million in equity and $160 million in debt. The office, lodging, and retail spaces are all expected to open at various points in 2019, with the 29-story apartment building opening in 2020.