SLDC Statement on Wall Street Journal Article About Downtown St. Louis

On April 10, 2024, the Wall Street Journal published an article about some of the challenges facing Downtown St. Louis. In response, SLDC issued the following statement: 

As the economic development agency serving the City of St. Louis, SLDC is bullish about the future of Downtown. While we understand there are layers of disinvestment that are not going to be reversed overnight, SLDC is committed to continuing to invest in making our downtown a more vibrant epicenter for businesses, residents and visitors.

In the past six months, SLDC has made numerous investments in downtown activations, totaling nearly $3 million. It is unfortunate that the article did not highlight these activities. Focusing on the challenges — and not the solutions being implemented — is irresponsible, unproductive and does a disservice to the businesses, philanthropic organizations, civic leaders and citizens who are working to better the city for the greater good of the St. Louis region.

The Wall Street Journal article did not include the numerous investments and activations or any of the positive momentum we are seeing in downtown, including:

SLDC Funds Committed to Downtown Investments & Activations Since October 2023

 

Major Downtown Redevelopment & Revitalization Projects

Recently Completed

  • MLS (CITYPARK) Stadium, Practice Facilities & Offices - $461 million

  • Union Station Hotel and Entertainment - $160 million

  • Butler Brothers Building (Victor Apartments) - $120 million

  • 21C Museum Hotel (Old YMCA) - $90 million

  • Post Dispatch Building (Block, Inc.) Office Building - $70 million

  • Globe Building renovation - $45.7 million

  • Shell Building - Hilton Hotels - $43 million

  • 1014 Spruce Apartments - $32.3 million

  • Enterprise Center Upgrades Phase 3 - $30 million

  • Laclede’s Landing Mixed-Use - $30 million

  • Jefferson Connector Phase 1 - $29.5 million

  • 300 South Broadway – Ballpark Heights Apartments - $21.3 million

  • 100 N. Broadway – Larsen Financial Office Building - $18 million

  • Ballpark Village Phase 2 - $260 million

  • Le Meridien Hotel - $10 million

Under Construction

  • Convention Center Expansion - $300 million

  • Jefferson Arms - $145 million

  • 1800 Washington Apartments - $13.5 million

Planning/Preconstruction

  • Gateway South Mixed-Use - $1.2 billion

  • AHM Multi Building Mixed-Use - $232 million

  • Kimpton/Staybridge Hotels at Jefferson/Market - $120 million

  • Sheraton Hotel at Edison Building - $34.9 million

  • 801 Washington - $45 million

Downtown Infrastructure Improvements and Investments – Highlights

  • Brickline Greenway

    • Project coming to Market Street from 21st Street west to Compton – Construction to begin this year 

  • 7th Street Connector – Washington to Walnut; Convention Center to Busch Stadium – Construction to begin this spring

  • 20th Street Mobility Improvements – Construction to begin this fall

  • Tucker Boulevard Cycletrack – Construction to begin this year

  • Interstate 64 @ Jefferson Interchange Reconfiguration

  • Market Street Bridge Replacement

  • 22nd Street Extension – Scott to Olive

  • Jefferson / Scott / 21st Street Bikeway

  • Jefferson Corridor Improvements

  • Downtown Traffic Calming and 4th Street Cycletrack

  • Downtown Multimodal Street Improvements

The business and civic community in St. Louis should focus on the positive momentum in downtown instead of the negative narrative surrounding our challenges. That momentum was seen and felt last weekend when 100,000 visitors were downtown watching three major St. Louis sports franchises playing home games on the same day — while breaking the USFL attendance record — and earlier this week with the sale of the AT&T Tower. SLDC will continue to work alongside our public and private sector partners to actively and aggressively address these challenges by continuing to spur redevelopment and accelerating key initiatives to revitalize downtown St. Louis.

Previous
Previous

SLDC Commissions Digital Twin of MLK Corridor, Unveils Name of Campus for Economic Mobility

Next
Next

New Incentives Launched to Attract Retail Businesses to Downtown