When you hear the Central West End resident Ron Crooks say that downtown St. Louis suffers from “a critical lack of momentum,” notice what he’s not saying.
He’s not saying downtown is dying. Yes, nightlife has cooled, but 10 new restaurants either have opened or will soon in the neighborhood. Yes, development has dipped—reportedly because of high interest rates and possibly a tightening of public incentives—but there’s a new node of promise around the soccer stadium, a huge rehab underway at the Jefferson Arms building, and a developer buying up buildings on Wash Ave. Yesterday, Gateway Arch Park Foundation announced a $670 million plan to transform the site of the former Millennium Hotel.
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What Crooks seems to be saying is that, even if downtown is holding steady overall, it’s not surging ahead—and that’s what it must do to draw more residents, businesses, and tourists. “There simply must be a plan to improve both the reality and the perception of St. Louis’s downtown viability to these strategically important audiences,” Crooks said.
That’s a big reason revitalizing downtown earned a spot on the Citizens’ Agenda, which Nine PBS and SLM crafted based on focused groups and online feedback from residents. People are worried it’s falling behind—and will fall further without attention and a plan.
In an interview with Nine PBS and SLM responding to the agenda items, Mayor Tishaura Jones said that her office has worked with the St. Louis Development Corporation (the city’s development arm) and Greater St. Louis Inc. (a business group) to spur action at not just the Millennium Hotel, but the Railway Exchange Building. That eminent domain action is now in court. Jones also pointed to improvements on 7th Street to better connect Ballpark Village to the convention center. (This project originated before her tenure but is expected to wrap up by the summer.) Jones said that while folks may not be able to see the changes yet, “a lot of things are going on behind the scenes.”
She added, “It takes time for perception to catch up with reality. The reality is that crime downtown is down over 50 percent from the previous year. And I think this is another one of those things where people are just going to have to come and experience it themselves.”
Alderwoman Cara Spencer, whose 8th ward covers much of downtown, argues that what really broke the stagnation at the two big buildings mentioned above was her push for the city to acquire them through eminent domain. (Her legislation did result in the city’s acquiring Railway Exchange; as the Millennium Hotel came under scrutiny, its overseas owners ended up selling to the Gateway Arch Park Foundation.)
Spencer also insisted that a significant portion of the city’s $250 million windfall from the legal settlement over the Rams departure be invested downtown. (The Rams money plan that Jones initially supported did not prioritize downtown, but she eventually backed a compromise bill that did.) Spencer said the vacancy rate downtown is a “huge, huge problem,” and that given how much revenue downtown generates for the whole city, she believes “it’s imperative that we get serious about it.” She called for the city to get tougher on quality of life issues: “Coming down on liquor licenses that are running amok, people that are purveyors of liquor and other things that are operating outside of the law, and getting serious about the reckless driving.”
Michael Butler, the former state rep and current recorder of deeds, pushed back on that a bit, saying the neighborhood’s racial composition has been changing, with Black residents moving in. “Now we have a mixed neighborhood…. I agree that there are some things that are getting better downtown, but we have more than one voice that is not being heard directly just through neighborhood associations.”
Butler argues that the way to make downtown vibrant and attractive to business is to increase its population, and that the way to do that is through improving affordability through rent abatement and rent control, with a special focus on retirees and adults without children. “I’d be focused on getting a number of customers downtown and increasing population downtown,” Butler said, “and in turn, I believe, that that will drive more businesses and keep more businesses downtown.”
Andrew Jones, a retired utility executive, says that the root of downtown’s problem is the lack of a comprehensive development plan. “I can’t say it strong enough,” he said. “You have to have a plan or you plan on failing.” Jones also said the reason downtown looks boarded-up and defaced is a lack of safety. He suggested bringing in businesses through talking about the “beauty of St. Louis” rather than tax incentives, and he vowed to get rid of the 1 percent earnings tax if elected.
In the meantime, you can expect voters like Ron Crooks to be paying extra close attention to the candidates when they talk about how to strengthen our city’s historic heart. “We’ve got to be asking ourselves some hard questions about this,” said Crooks, “and really look into whether or not we’re doing everything we can.”
