By Jim Baer
Any farmer or gardener worth their salt readily knows there is a methodology for growing trees, plants and flowers. First they carefully till the soil. Then seeds are planted, the soil is regularly watered and with adequate sunshine, fruits and vegetables, saplings and flowers, begin taking roots. These results take time, and they don't happen overnight.
A similar kind of nurturing has gone on in downtown St. Louis now going on 50 years. In the middle 1950s, the core of downtown
St. Louis was, frankly seedy and rundown. It was no place to live, set up a business or build a hotel, a restaurant or a shop. There wasnÕt much for visitors to see or do. That's altogether different today.
This year Downtown St. Louis Inc.
celebrates its 50th year of existence.
Six years ago, the name was changed to
the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. The payoff has come in spades. The slogan
is Downtown is Alive: the Signs are Everywhere.
Several years ago, the Partnership took on responsibility for enhanced management services, funded by a special assessment on properties within a 165-block Community Improvement District (CID). The downtown organization evolved into a partnership and updated a strategic plan for organization, exhibiting leadership in linking the destiny of downtown to that of the entire region, and vice versa. In fact, at their recent annual meeting of the Partnership (a sellout luncheon for 400 politicians, civic officials, and business leaders) at the Hilton at the Ballpark, the organization unveiled its brand new moniker "Partnership for Downtown St. Louis."
If you want clean streets, weeds cut, and a set of walking directions for tourists, a map for the lost visitor or a long-range plan to bring dwellers to the core of the city, then
a smart person turns to the Downtown
St. Louis Partnership for results.
These days, Jim Cloar runs the operation as president and CEO from office space on Olive Street.
Cloar has been at the helm since late in 2001, having arrived from running a similar-type organization in Tampa, Fla. "Jim was up here on a number of consulting projects, he knew our business and it was only natural that we hired him," says Vince Bommarito, principal owner of Tony's Restaurant and the longest-standing Partnership board member (35 consecutive years). Bommarito, now in his sixtieth year in business also served on the search committee that hired Cloar.
Cloar likes to make an analogy to golf to drive home his point about running the organization. "If you are playing golf, the first thing they teach you is to always keep your head down and your eye on the ball. But, you also need to have a clear vision of where you want the ball to go."
The Partnership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
private organization representing members in a pursuit of a healthy and vital downtown. The Partnership is a leadership organization, addressing planning, legislation, transportation, economic development and numerous public and private initiatives to strengthen the business and residential community.
The casual observer has no idea that nearly 10,000 residents call downtown home including living in lofts on Washington Avenue, in units in Cupples Station at Plaza Square apartments and Gentry's Landing apartments along the riverfront. "Of those 10,000 dwellers, 4,000 of them have recently moved here (to downtown St. Louis)," Cloar reports.
What St. Louis is getting is a reputation as one of the cleanest cities in the U.S. "A clean-swept city gives the feel of a much safer city," reasons Cloar.
So just how does Cloar get all the big downtown businesses, law and accounting firms and the rest to play ball and do the heavy lifting for his organization?
Dan Buck, CEO of the St. Patrick's Center knows how. "You have to create partnerships. Now that sounds easy in theory, but hard to accomplish. Jim absolutely empowers the board (Buck is a second year board member) to get corporate leaders to work together. Cloar creates stakeholders and stockholders for the City and people feel they have an ownership of the organization. He runs the meetings, gives out assignments, creates accountability and then steps back and waits for results. It is important for him not to drive the train," says Buck.
The Partnership board and the independent CID (Community Improvement District) board have taken St. Louis forward by quantum leaps.
The results are irrefutable. A retail revival includes adding 90+ new shops, restaurants and services (325,000 square feet) of
committed space since 2003. The Old Post Office District has been completely rebuilt. Office expansion and renovation now totals more than $500 million. The residential rebirth of lofts and other living spaces has topped the $1.5 billion mark for 65 new
residential properties (4,300 units) in the past ten years.
Mary Campbell, Marketing Executive for the Central Region, Bank of America was part of the push for redevelopment in 1997. At that time, the Downtown Development Action Plan was hatched, thanks to a grant from Bank of America and from the Danforth Family Foundation. "Our goal was creating a framework of a facility plan to work with national planners to engage development so St. Louis would become a 24/7 downtown city." Bank of America was the first bank to put money into the Washington Avenue developments. The end results are so noted today.
Bank of America bankrolled the sale of Cupples Station that led to the renaissance of the now restored and exquisite Westin Hotel. "It was all about timing in the
market. We had to move very quickly in order to make that happen," says Campbell. "Sometimes real estate development is measured in terms of inches," explaining the 10 year gap between investment and building completion for many downtown projects.
Meanwhile, Tom Reeves, president of Pulaski Banks and former board director of "Downtown Now" says development goes well beyond "bricks and mortar." "For a city to thrive and prosper, that city must have a vibrant atmosphere. A city must create safe streets and beautification projects. A growing city will have residents, tourists, conventioneers and the like. A city must have a strong residential, dining and retail component," states Reeves. The banker thinks the Partnership is definitely on track.
"The Partnership plays a key role in
planning and carrying out the vision for downtown St. Louis. It needs to be a
constant advocate, a salesman and an administrator," he explains. ÒThe key to development is collaboration at all levels," says Reeves.
"We're not there yet. We still have a long way to go," says board member and businessman Bob Beumer, president of Hamilton Jewelers at 750 Locust Avenue in the heart of downtown St. Louis. "But we're becoming a neighborhood. A lot of positive things are starting to happen. Schnucks has made a commitment to build a grocery store in downtown and we're all very excited," says Beumer. "There are (downtown) guides all around and our streets are very clean (thanks to the Downtown Clean Team). In fact, we are one of the cleanest cities in America. We have a very low crime rate in the core area and the Mayor (Francis Slay) and his group have done wonderful things to empower us to make all this happen."
Ron Watermon, ex officio director of the CID Board and Director of Governmental Affairs for the St. Louis Cardinals is in sync too. "The St. Louis Cardinals are going green, recycling much of the trash left over from ball games. The Cardinals and the St. Patrick's Center have teamed up with the Downtown
St. Louis Partnership to create the Downtown Green Team. This effort involved launching a green environment around the park while
creating jobs for homeless workers and giving them a living and a sense of dignity.
"You just need to seek out strong alliances and do more with less these days to get these things done," says Watermon.
So what’s been
done So Far?
Just look around. The top 25 downtown developments in downtown St. Louis include among others, Lumiere Place Casino (with a connector to the Edward Jones Dome) and the attached four-star Four Seasons Hotel. Additionally, the New Busch Stadium, the topping out of the Renaissance Grand Hotel, the Eagleton Federal Courthouse, the AG Edwards "F" Building and Learning Center, Park Pacific, the Syndicate Trust Building
and the Westin Hotel top developments that all add up into the billions of dollars of development for downtown St. Louis.
What's Ahead?
Everyone interviewed said the same thing. Linking the St. Louis Arch grounds to the rest of downtown and creating an interactive environment on those very grounds
with attractions like a museum and visitor centers is a must. Attendance at the Arch has declined in recent years, and a well-designed lid over the depressed highway
(I-70) lanes (connecting downtown to the arch grounds) has become a top priority,
creating a seamless entrance to downtown streets.
Happy birthday greetings should go out to the Downtown St. Louis Inc. Fifty years is a long time to celebrate anything. Fifty years ago, the goal of the group was simply putting Old English carolers on the streets at Christmas time. There was no budget then.
A pat on the back certainly goes presently
to the workers and board members who
give tirelessly to make St. Louis' inner core
a much friendlier, cleaner, safer environment for visitors and residents alike. No region
can truly prosper without a thriving inner-city core and St. Louis doesn't plan on becoming the exception to any such rule. The watering, growing and nurturing of the downtown community is taking roots in a garden variety of community-based projects. For more information on the Downtown
St. Louis Partnership and downtown St. Louis, visit www.downtownstl.org.
DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS
PARTNERSHIP BOARD |
Joe Ambrose
President, St. Louis Region,
First Bank
Kathy Bader
Chairman, Community Development,
US Bancorp CDC
Richard Baron
Chairman & CEO,
McCormack Baron Salazar Inc.
Robert Beumer
President, Hamilton Jewelers
Vincent Bommarito
CEO, Tony's Inc.
Dan Buck
CEO, St. Patrick Center
Clark Davis
Vice Chairman, HOK Group Inc.
Bill Dewitt III
Senior Vice President, St. Louis Cardinals
Lon Friesenborg
Sr. Vice President, Bank of America
Todd George
VP & General Manager, Lumiere Place
Tory Goldson
Partner, Bryan Cave LLP
Frank Hamsher
Paul Goggin
SVP Operations, Macy's Midwest
Al Kent IV
Office Managing Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Mark Mantovani
President/CEO, NSI
Byron Marshall
General Manager, St. Louis Union Station
Peter McLoughlin
CEO, St. Louis Blues Enterprises
Richard Mersman
Partner, The Stolar Partnership
Kevin Mowbray
President & Publisher,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Tom Prince
Partner, Blackwell, Sanders, Peper, Martin
Gordon Reel
Asst. VP, Government & Legislative Affairs, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Steven Roberts
President & COO, Roberts Companies
Ronald H. Silverman
Sr. VP; Regional Manager,
Historic Restoration Inc.
Stephen A. Smith
President & CEO,
The Lawrence Group Architects
John Sondag
Vice President—External Affairs, AT&T
Donald Suggs
President & Publisher, St. Louis American
Henry Voges
Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle
Jim Woodcock
Senior VP & Partner, Sports Business, Fleishman-Hillard
John Wuest
President & CEO, St. Louis Equity Fund
Douglas Yaeger
Chairman, President & CEO,
The Laclede Group
Ex Officio
Jim Cloar
President & CEO,
Downtown St. Louis Partnership
Dennis Flatness
President, Welsch, Flatness & Lutz Inc.
Dick Fleming
President & CEO, St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association
Barbara Geisman
Executive Director for Development,
Mayor's Office, City of St. Louis
Ronald Kruszewski
Chairman & CEO,
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company Inc.
Col. Joseph Mokwa
Chief of Police,
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept.
Major Larry O'Toole
Commander, Central Patrol Division,
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept.
Francis G. Slay
Mayor, City of St. Louis
Michael West Jr.
Corp. Comm/Public Policy,
Ameren Corporation
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