"The Central West End is doing really well. Do we really need to offer tax abatement for another apartment building?"
Absolutely, yes. "For another apartment building?" Really?!?! So backwards-thinking.
This is what frustrates me with St. Louis. The power some people have to kill good projects is unbelievable. And people wonder why St. Louis is slow-growing and why many big national developers haven't arrived in STL. It can be a pain in the ass to get things done.
As I see it, developers are trying to bring MORE high-end residential to the CWE. That's not a bad thing. The CWE is a hot area of town right now, but it is not at a place where tax abatements are no longer necessary. Developers aren't exactly tripping over each other to develop vacant parcels in CWE just yet. To take away development tax abatement/incentives sends a bad message to developers, I think.
To me, getting a few new residential buildings in the CWE over eight years (or so) and a few new projects and proposals is not indicative the CWE has fully arrived. In comparison to some other city neighborhoods, yes, but as long as there are still empty lots, empty and under-used buildings in the CWE, potential developers will need some assistance.
The CWE isn't the Houston Galleria/Uptown or Buckhead in Atlanta just yet, yet projects in both Buckhead and Uptown/Galleria are STILL getting tax abatements from those cities - even though the tax abatement debate rages in those cities as well.
And last, just because The Standard did not request incentives - it shouldn't be indicative other CWE developers won't need assistance. The Standard is being targeted to a specific market - college students - particularly SLU. Developers will get their money back, trust me, easily, because WUSTL, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, HSSU, and SLU are right there. You could even throw in Fontbonne University.
Those private college apartment complexes can be hideously expensive. Trust me, they'll get their money back.
Give Covington Realty Partners a tax break.
Statistics: Posted by arch city — Wed Jun 04, 2014 10:50 pm