St. Louis committee clears committee substitute to allow blight study, eminent domain for Millennium Hotel demolition

The St. Louis City Board of Aldermen’s Housing, Urban Development and Zoning Committee on Tuesday adopted a committee substitute to Board Bill 39 that removes a proposed tax abatement and preserves a Chapter 99 redevelopment plan and blight study to allow for an eminent domain process and demolition of the longtime-vacant Millennium Hotel at 200 South Fourth Street.

The committee substitute was adopted and forwarded with a do-pass recommendation by a 6-0 vote.

Committee members and project partners described the substitute as focused on clearing the site and starting remediation and demolition work while city and nonprofit partners pursue a private redevelopment. Alderman Derek Aldridge, the bill’s sponsor, said the substitute removes “the 20 years at 90%” tax incentive and keeps only the Chapter 99 redevelopment and blight-study provisions that permit eminent domain to address the property’s condition.

Zach Wilson of the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) told the committee the redevelopment plan attached to the original bill includes a blighting study (noted at the start of the document) and detailed urban-design standards, and that page references in the packet point to the demolition recommendation and design standards committee members asked to review. Wilson said the blighting study shows existing conditions and noted the property has since been condemned as hazardous.

Ryan McClure, executive director of the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and Zed Smith, chief operating officer of Cordish Companies (the developer selected through an RFP), described a planned private redevelopment the foundation and Cordish say would transform the superblock and reconnect the Arch grounds to the riverfront. McClure said the private redevelopment under discussion would be a roughly $670,000,000 project comprising about 1,300,000 square feet of residential, office, retail and cultural space and that the foundation entered contract discussions after ownership put the building up for sale.

Committee members pressed project representatives on timing, site hazards and worker protections. Alderman McKees and others were told remediation work is already underway to remove asbestos and mold; project representatives and Spiritus Wrecking said contractors are engaged and that demolition would follow remediation. Aldridge estimated demolition could take about a year and a half to two years, and representatives cautioned the top-down demolition will be complex because the building sits close to an elevated highway and contains hazardous materials.

Labor representatives asked about projected job counts and labor protections. Jamieson Ramirez of SEIU Local 1 noted a discrepancy between the blight study’s listed estimate of 50 jobs and the developer’s report projecting about 1,000 jobs. Ramirez and other SEIU speakers urged the city to require living-wage or prevailing-wage protections and a labor-peace commitment if public incentives are part of any future package.

Wilson said typical blight-study job figures are general and that specific job and wage commitments would be written into any redevelopment agreement and the compliance period for incentives. “Those numbers will be enforced inside the redevelopment agreement that comes afterward,” he said, and added the city will enforce prevailing-wage and living-wage requirements where applicable.

At the meeting the committee adopted the committee substitute and then voted to forward Board Bill 39 (committee substitute) with a do-pass recommendation to the full Board of Aldermen. The formal committee roll calls recorded six yes votes and no recorded no votes.

Votes at a glance: The committee voted 6-0 to adopt Committee Substitute 1 for Board Bill 39 and then voted 6-0 to forward Board Bill 39 (Committee Substitute) with a do-pass recommendation. The roll-call recorded yes votes from Alderman Shalanda Switzer, Alderman Jamie Keyes, Vice Chair Sonnier, Alderman Browning, Alderman Aldridge and Chair Clark Hubbard (six ayes).

The substitute removes the previously proposed 20-year, 90% tax abatement from the redevelopment package and retains language enabling a Chapter 99 redevelopment plan, a blighting study and use of eminent domain where necessary. Project proponents said the next steps will be remediation, demolition and negotiation of a redevelopment agreement that will specify job, wage and compliance requirements.

The committee hearing included detailed questions about where the redevelopment-plan materials appear in the packet (Wilson directed members to the plan attachment — including a demolition callout and urban-design standards) and repeated concern from committee members about the technical difficulty of demolition near highway infrastructure. Project representatives urged additional coordination on how a large development could better connect downtown to the riverfront and the Arch grounds.

No specific public incentives beyond the committee substitute’s retained authorities were approved at the meeting; committee members and presenters said future incentives, if any, would be considered separately and would be reflected in a negotiated redevelopment agreement.

The committee’s actions clear the way for remediation and demolition steps to proceed under the redevelopment plan and for the city and the foundation to continue negotiating with Cordish on the private redevelopment scope and associated legal and labor terms.