The St. Louis board that’s responsible for reviewing development proposals and tax incentives is slated to approve key steps today that better position major and long-vacant properties for redevelopment. It’s also considering changes to the framework that determines how the city gives out tax abatements.
The Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority is slated to greenlight seeking bids for contractors to demolish the derelict parking garage directly south of the Railway Exchange. The authority purchased the garage and an adjoining surface lot for $2.6 million almost exactly a year ago.
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Commissioners will also consider issuing bids to stabilize the Cleveland High School and Marshall School sites that the St. Louis Development Corporation recently purchased from St. Louis Public Schools. Meeting materials note that scopes of work for the sites aren’t final yet, though expected improvements include roof repair, removing internal debris, boarding up windows, and “moderate to severe interior and exterior wall, floor and ceiling repairs to insure structural stability and weather proofing.” The goal is to get both properties in a position where a redeveloper can breathe new life into the historic properties.
Also included in the agenda is a presentation on proposed updates to SLDC’s Community Benefits Scorecard, which the city uses to determine how much tax abatement should be granted to redevelopment projects. It’s a tool first introduced a few years ago to offer a more predictable incentive process, scoring developments on elements such as affordable housing, historic preservation, location, transit access, capital investment, and many others.
SLDC is proposing to include more categories that projects are scored on, thus boosting the total score any proposal can achieve, depending on what it prioritizes. The development agency also wants to add an additional tier for the highest scoring projects that would allow for a maximum 10-year tax abatement period at 90 percent, followed by a second period of 15 years also at 90 percent—an increase from the current cap in the second period, which is now at 50 percent.
The presentation clarifies that under the new proposal “applicants will be committing to delivering and maintaining the Community Benefits for which they receive points,” with those commitments codified in redevelopment agreements.
The proposed changes offer a glimpse at which development projects the city is eager to support with incentives. Projects would now score points for their proximity to greenways, aligning with the city’s recently adopted Strategic Land Use Policy, and building housing that’s wheelchair accessible and/or has a larger percentage of units with three or more bedrooms.
It also appears SLDC is keen on reducing vacancy or underutilized lots, with the proposal doubling the points that were previously awarded to projects built on parcels held by the city’s land bank. Another category awards extra points to projects building on an existing surface parking lot.
SLDC’s presentation paints the changes as a way to “clarify language” and “reduce subjectivity” and respond to “feedback … the development community has called for more certainty and clarity.”
Once the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority approves incentives for a project, they still must be approved by the full Board of Aldermen.
