A St. Louis aldermanic committee approved a proposal by the Treasurer’s Office to issue $5 million worth of bonds to purchase a Midtown parking lot—but only after scrutiny from a committee member.
Treasurer Adam Layne said the city would be paying about $3.4 million for the parking lot, a cost he said was in line with an assessment commissioned by his office. Most recently home to a BP gas station, the lot sits across the street from a parking garage and a short walk from Chaifetz Arena and a host of businesses along Locust Street.
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“This feels like we’re overpaying for a parking lot,” said Alderman Michael Browning, who was the most skeptical committee member. He thought the location lent itself better to something mixed use.
The bill, sponsored by Alderwoman Laura Keys, said the 143-space lot would be utilized by Pappy’s and the Harris Stowe bookstore as well as Chaifetz on the nights of particularly big events. Last November, the Post-Dispatch’s Austin Huguelet talked to three veteran real estate developers who said they felt like the Treasurer’s offer of $3 million was too high.
One of Browning’s primary points was that it seemed to him like the city would be spending enough to build a new parking garage. He noted that the purchase price pencilled out to $23,776 per parking space. “That’s like the cost of building a parking garage, but it’s for a surface lot instead,” he said. He added: “We’re paying a lot of money per spot here. That’s why I am just trying to make sure that we’re doing a good deal for the city.” Of the lot’s 143 spaces, about a third would be exclusively parking for Pappy’s Smokehouse during its business hours. The restaurant is right now paying to lease those spaces, and would continue to do so if the city purchases the lot. Layne did not say how much that lease is.
“I am going to have to respectfully disagree on pricing,” Layne replied.
Layne said in the hearing he didn’t intend for the parcel to remain a parking lot forever and that the city would be a better partner for future development than a private entity. He said the lot risked remaining vacant or becoming another gas station when it could instead eventually spur economic growth by activating the empty corner of an intersection.
The lot’s current owner is Forsyth Associates Real Estate Holdings LLC, an entity associated with Harinder Singh. Keys told SLM that it was her understanding that part of Singh’s motivation to sell was that he was held up recently near the property in question.
Aleck Belcher, who works in Midtown, was the only person to speak during public comment. He brought with him a map of Midtown with the parking areas highlighted. Glancing at the map showed what looked like extant ample parking. “If you turn everything into a parking lot, there will be nothing to drive to anyway,” he said.
Ultimately, the bill passed with three ayes and Browning voting present. Browning tells SLM his present vote stemmed from him feeling like his questions about the math behind the deal went unanswered. It now heads to the full Board of Aldermen.
Keys says that she was initially skeptical about the price, but those concerns were assuaged by the Treasurer’s Office. She said that she worried that if the city didn’t make a move on the parcel, another entity would purchase a portion of the lot and build another gas station.
“We are oversaturated with gas stations,” she says.
