McKee Receives $19.6M in State Tax Credits for NorthSide, Next Step: $400M TIF Request
Paul McKee received possibly the best Christmas present of any of us: $19.6M from the State of Missouri in the form of tax credits that in effect pay him back for purchasing a significant portion of North St. Louis. Awarding tax credits was the next crucial step to move the $8.1B NorthSide project forward and will free up resources to allow McKee to continue work on the project.
As with most issues there are two (and more) ways to view this, both of which are factual. 1) Paul McKee just received almost $20M of our tax money to purchase land and buildings in North St. Louis for his own eventual profit - if there is any. 2) North St. Louis is one step closer to seeing transformative investment and redevelopment that otherwise would not happen without taxpayer assistance.
Either way, the conclusion is certainly that McKee has the political backing and in the absence, to this point, of successful opposition the NorthSide project is moving ahead. The next step will likely be a deal with the City of St. Louis regarding the $400M TIF request. It remains almost unimaginable that the City would guarantee any portion of this, but we're quickly getting to the point where money begets money and it's difficult to imagine that the State didn't speak with the City before giving McKee $20M. No one will want to see that money go to waste. For better or worse it appears NorthSide's on a roll.
Gentrification: "... welcome by some and feared and loathed by others, and even dreaded and welcomed at the same time by the same people." Lance Freeman's pursuit of this duality makes the book strong-he's willing to admit that gentrification is both a pleasure and a problem, rather than setting up camp on one side.
TIFs can be a nice tool to encourage development, there is no question. But if this development succeeds to the degree that Mr. McKee hopes or predicts, it will create a dense mass of people where there weren't people before, which puts a burden on services, some of which are funded by the abated taxes. How does that impact the rest of the region's residents, in a time when resources are already strained?
Check the Post article today. McKee is using the DALATC money to pay off debt. Not sure that constitutes "being on a roll" -- more like "keeping the head above the water".
But what else would he be using DALATC money for? If he didn't need it to pay off debt then he wouldn't need it at all. Any project is going to be financed.
The pic you are using is not in the development area, but I can see it from my house just to the north. It is at 13th and Monroe, firmly within Old North St. Louis. It has been purchased by the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group since the pic was taken, and has been stabilized and made weather tight, something Mr. McKee could take a lesson from. If anyone would be interested in purchasing it to complete a rehab, contact ONSLRG for details.
Anon 1- Are you referring to fixed infrastructure, transit, retail or education? Any dense mass of people will take YEARS to accrue, and one would think essentials would need to accompany an influx of people who intend to both work and hopefully RESIDE in this area of north St. Louis.
Matt - that's awesome! Thanks for the information.
My dream for the area - I would have rather have seen the area turn into more or less a lower density "suburban" area, an area with only rehabbed existing historic housing and a great tree canopy, with the potential for future organic modernist new construction as property values rise, while ONSL continues to improve and densify...THAN see McKee remake another cycle of artificial "urban renewal."
I'd rather see McKee work on downtown, rehabbing and new construction.