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ACROSS THE BOARD
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Greater
St. Louis Regional Empowerment Zone
Catalyst for Collaboration
By Pam Droog
Above:
(Board Members left to right): Frederick Douglas, Helen Jackson,
Russell Houston, Debra H. Moore and Morris "Butch" Thomas
Right now in downtown St. Louis, about 1,400 construction workers
are building the Renaissance Grand convention hotel. When it’s completed,
the hotel will hire nearly 900 permanent employees. These 2,300-plus
jobs and the $266 million development have been made possible with
the help of tax-exempt bond financing leveraged by the Greater St.
Louis Regional Empowerment Zone, a nonprofit economic development
organization. The hotel is the most notable of numerous success
stories the zone’s dedicated board has nurtured from a concept to
a positive conclusion.
In fact their work on the convention hotel, which will bring 1,081
rooms and more than 70,000 square feet of function space to downtown
St. Louis, was recently lauded by The Deputy Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development, Alphonso R. Jackson, at the ribbon cutting
for the Renaissance St. Louis Suites Hotel-the first phase of the
project. Jackson recognized the unique and important role of the
Greater St. Louis Regional Empowerment Zone and its Executive Director
Mike Jones. He said that as he has traveled throughout the U.S.
he has concluded that this Empowerment Zone is the best, given the
resources they have and the impact they have made with these resources.
The empowerment zone is dedicated to improving the quality of life
and economic sustainability of its target area, which includes the
most severely distressed neighborhoods in St. Louis City, Wellston,
East St. Louis, and Lemay in St. Louis County. Created in 1999,
it’s one of 30 similar groups throughout the nation, the result
of urban revitalization initiatives launched by the federal government
in the 1990s.
“What’s unique about this enterprise zone versus others in the U.S.
is that ours covers two states and three political jurisdictions,”
says Executive Director Michael Jones. “Given the fragmentation
that’s common in the St. Louis area, winning this designation was
a major achievement of local governmental cooperation.”
The St. Louis zone is made up of 13.7 square miles, 22 census tracts,
more than 49,500 residents, and 2,000 acres of developable land.
Its board is made up of 21 individuals who represent diverse educational
and professional backgrounds, civic experiences, and geography.
The mayors of St. Louis City, Wellston, East St. Louis, and the
St. Louis County executive each appoint board members for a total
of 14 to serve three-year, staggered terms. They also select seven
regional board members.
“The quality is exceptional,” says Jones, former deputy mayor for
development in the City of St. Louis during Clarence Harmon’s administration.
“In my 25 years in government and public policy, it’s the best put
together board I’ve ever seen, and that helps overcome the challenges.”
Adds board Chairman Debra Moore, executive director of the Institute
for Urban Research at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville,
“The board represents an honest effort to reflect the diversity
that exists in our region, and also represents an understanding
of the range of need that exists in our urban area.”
The board’s main job is to determine how to allocate $100 million
authorized in federal grants over the10-year lifetime of the zone.
To date, $18.9 million has been appropriated and applied to numerous
projects in the board’s four priority development areas: community,
business, industrial/commercial sites, and workforce.
To start the process, the zone’s 30-citizen Community Council reviews
project applications and recommends them to the appropriate board
committee.
“We have specific categories and criteria,” Moore explains. “Our
goal is to promote the expansion of employment opportunities in
the zone, or the establishment of new businesses within the zone.
So there are limitations on how we will spend the resources we have.”
Jones says the Empowerment Zone board looks at deals in two ways:
“First, if it’s an issue of public infrastructure and the city can’t
pull it off, then we’ll look at that part of the deal as grant assistance,”
he explains. “Otherwise, if the project will create value, we’ll
provide a low-interest loan. If the project is successful, we’d
like to be repaid, so we can help someone else.”
Regardless of the size or location of a project, Moore says, “The
greatest deal for us is one we can close, where we can be that piece
to make that project happen, and it will result in jobs for zone
residents.”
Recent zone-assisted projects include: In the area of commercial/industrial
development, the board granted $500,000 to the St. Louis Economic
Council for pre-development of the River South Recreation Area in
Lemay, to remediate contaminated soil on the National Lead Site.
Also, the zone board granted $400,000 to the St. Louis Develop-ment
Corporation for the North Riverfront Master Plan, “the first effort
to effectively connect the East St. Louis and the St. Louis riverfronts,”
Moore says.
In the area of business development, the zone board granted $750,000
to the St. Louis Enterprise Center and St. Louis County Land Clearance
for Redevelopment Authority to improve property for a business incubator
in Wellston. Also, Wicks Mobil Plaza received a $150,000 grant for
public improvements needed to develop a gas station/convenience
store complex in East St. Louis.
The board granted $1.1 million to Parson’s Place LP, a partnership
between McCormack Baron & Associates and Emerson Park Development
Corpora-tion to complete infrastructure improvements for 174 recently
opened housing units in East St. Louis, “the first new housing here
in 25 years,” Jones notes. “There’s a waiting list a mile long to
get in.”
Other housing initiatives include a $300,000 grant to Volunteers
of America National Services to finance 40 units of senior housing
in the Darst-Webbe HOPE VI redevelopment in St. Louis.
For workforce development, the St. Louis Empowerment Zone board
granted $500,000 to St. Louis Community College to purchase equipment
for the Midwest Telecommunciations Preparatory Academy in Wellston,
which will train individuals to meet area telecommunications companies’
high demand for skilled employees.
Finally, there’s the convention hotel, the Renaissance Grand, for
which the zone board leveraged a $95 million tax-exempt bond financing
package.
“We supplied the ‘but for’ piece,” Moore says. “But for the empowerment
zone, that project would not have become a reality. We are thrilled
to be part of a project that will generate so many jobs,” 35 percent
of which will be filled by zone residents.
With numerous projects in progress and many more in start-up mode,
the St. Louis Empowerment Zone board has plenty of work ahead—at
least in the short term.
The long term, however, is a different story.
“There’s some question about the government continuing to fund the
initiative during its 10-year lifespan,” Jones notes. “Currently
there’s a lot of talk about tax credits in the Bush Administration.
We have a number of good add-on tax credits, but they’re not sufficient.
Cash is king. The cash puts us in the position to get the deals
done. We have the money to do some good things, but for how long?
That’s a function of continued funding.”
Pam Droog is a frequent contributor to St. Louis Commerce Magazine.
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