By Linda F. Jarrett
When St. Louis City Treasurer Larry Williams took office in April 1981, he knew a formidable task lay ahead—not only to assure adequate parking, but also that of revitalizing his City.
He also knew that this task would take a lot of money.
The Parking Division, under the auspices of the Treasurer's Office, was created in 1951 through the Missouri Revised Statutes for the purpose of managing public parking spaces and enforcing payment.
"For the next 39 years, the Division missed numerous opportunities to assist in enhancing the City," Williams says. "Revenues during this period were stagnant, and, according to available records, the Division gave an aggregate $1.5 million in support of city services."
"I thought we could do better than that," he says. "No one had the vision at that time in 1989 when I was trying to get this off
the ground."
When he went to the International Parking Association's national conference in Chicago in 1984, he realized how stagnant the Division had become. Meeting parking operators from other parts of the country, Williams says he was "particularly struck about what was going on in San Francisco.
"At that time, San Francisco's population and the City's were not far apart, and while San Francisco was taking in about $6 million a year, we were only taking in $300,000," he says.
Williams, who had been a licensed real estate broker for 35 years, was no stranger to development, and when he returned from Chicago, he knew what he would do.
"I had two visions. One, that the Parking Division could do better, and two, we could put it into a position to be the bridge between the public sector and private sector, and that's how it kicked off.
The First Step
Williams started with the Missouri Legislature, where the Parking Division
was born in 1989.
"That was the only place that I could go to get permission to do some of the things I wanted to do," he says. "I told them the City needed help with its revitalization.
"I said I see a lot of empty buildings filled with pigeons, with no one wanting to be in the City," he says. "I told them that one of the ways we could do this is have the Parking Division step in and be the bridge between the private sector and public sector.
"I wanted the Parking Division to issue its own debt, and be run like a private entity, not like a government entity, supported by the tax payers," he says. "Let me write tickets on anything except moving violations, which we'll leave to the police."
He also asked for the ability to issue
revenue bonds, backed up by his Division's own revenue and its own credit rating.
"This means that we operate as an enterprise account," he says. "We are outside of the normal budgeting process of the City, and like a private business. We're responsible for our own mistakes. We take our money and put it to the best use possible to enhance the City of St. Louis.
"I also asked to hold onto the real estate that I'm doing as an agent of the City," he says. "That way it made me look like a
private entrepreneur operation under the City umbrella, because I was then able to go out, cut these deals, buy the land with our own money, and if someone else wanted to come in, I could sell the land. The Parking Division is the only office in the City of St. Louis that can legally, by State statutes, joint venture with a private entity.
"I knew we could make money, but making money was never my primary goal," he says. "My primary goal was to assist in the revitalization of St. Louis. When businesses want to come downtown, there's going to be a gap between the public and private sector. We could step in and bridge the gap by providing the parking."
The Second Step
About two years after Williams' talk with the Legislature, things started happening.
"I got a call from Mayor (Vince) Schoemehl, who said the developers were having a problem at Kiel trying to keep the Blues Hockey team in St. Louis."
Williams met with the Kiel Center Partners, all members of Civic Progress, and the result of that meeting was a partnership to construct a $23 million 1,272-car garage at 1515 Clark Street. Besides the garage, the project included main truck ramps, loading docs, and the mandatory facade connecting the new facility to the historic opera house.
This venture, completed in 1994, kept the St. Louis Blues from being sold and moving out of St. Louis.
"The money came out of parking revenues," Williams says. "Meaning the ticket revenues, certain off-street lots and the meters. So, the first year I was $600,000 thousand in the red, the second year was $300,000, and the third year was $38,000.
By the fourth year, I was in the black and that quieted down the naysayers."
Onward & Upward
Williams' second project was the redevelopment of the City Hall lot with ornate wrought iron fixtures and user-friendly entrances.
"From there we went to Broadway and Fourth Street, and built a garage there to help facilitate the renovation of the Marquette Building," he says. "That did not come to fruition (initially), so we wound up selling that garage to keep the Federal Reserve Bank in town."
After acquiring the garage and agreeing to stay in the City the Federal Reserve initiated an $80 million redevelopment plan to construct additional office space and a new pocket park—plus the Marquette Building was renovated into 82 condominiums and 40 apartments.
Following that endeavor, Williams turned to the Argyle Library and the 465-car garage at Lindell and Euclid. This was the result of a unique joint venture between the St. Louis Public Library and the parking division.
Another Central West End development, the 28-story Park East Tower and Lofts built by Opus Northwest LLC at Laclede and Euclid, was built on land owned by the Parking Division. This project, started in 2002, was a joint venture between the Parking Division and the private sector.
"When BJC was expanding, at that time I had a tremendous amount of parking meters inside the BJC campus," Williams says. "I told them we couldn't give them the meters, we would have to get something in trade. So they said they had some property at Euclid and Laclede they would like to exchange for me vacating the meters. So I said, 'It's a deal.'"
Williams then sold the southern half of the property to Opus.
When the Downtown Now! plan was conceived, the Division raised and contributed $250,000 to help get it off the ground.
"I suggested that Mayor Harmon, rather than doing more studies of downtown, bring in one consultant to look at the information and come up with a plan," Williams says. "That ended up being Downtown Now!, and after we jumpstarted it with $250,000, the Danforth Foundation and others came to the table."
When Joe Edwards wanted to build the Pageant Theater, he chose the ground owned by the Parking Division on Delmar.
"He gave me a price and I said, 'Sold!'" Williams says. "As part of that transaction, the Parking Division provided additional off-street public parking and increased the number and usage of metered parking along Delmar."
A joint venture with 7th and Pine LLC and Sterling Equities resulted in the Central Downtown Parking and Retail Facility. The area features 19,000 square feet of retail development and 760 new parking spaces.
Latest
Civic Venture
Last January, groundbreaking was held for the parking division's newest endeavor, the $16 million Justice Center Parking Facility at the northeast corner of Tucker and Clark.
This development incorporates 19,000 square feet with approximately 350 parking spaces on eight levels, and features 10,000 square feet of ground level retail space. The exterior will have diamond vision boards and lighting to celebrate the St. Louis Cardinals, Blues and Rams, as well as holiday and community events.
"We hope that this will serve as the linchpin for sports parking and a catalyst for further revitalization between the Cardinals and Blues up and down Clark Street," Williams says. "It is scheduled to be online in January 2009."
A project in the works, the Missouri Valley Conference Headquarters, located at the corner of 15th and Spruce, should hold their ground breaking "in the next six months," Williams says.
A Vision
in the Works
Far from resting on his laurels, the entrepreneurial Williams is still working to sustain St. Louis as a major player.
When he first took office, he sat back and saw "the lay of the land," as he put it. He took his time to understand his job and how he could fit in with others.
"From 1981 to 1987, we didn't make a move," he says. "Then we started talking to elected officials and people in the community, saying we could do better and how we can do better. That's how we sold ourselves.
Williams says he has a "difficult time" explaining what his office does. "They ask if I just raise money and turn it over to the City? I say, 'Not exactly.' We operate on a cash accrual basis. We buy real estate and that's an asset for the City. We pay off that real estate so the City makes money in more ways than one. Right now we're servicing the debt on $80.7 million in real estate that goes to the City, and that's where working with the private sector comes in." Williams believes he can make a difference, and he added that he has been told by many
people in this town that we've played a major role in attracting people to this City.
"We live and breathe rebuilding St. Louis, and that's what it's all about, is people working together," he says. "My campaign slogan says working together works. And that's what it's all about."
"Other" Projects
The City Treasurer's office has also spearheaded other projects, termed "ancillary," which are smaller, more neighborhood-oriented projects.
Attorney William Kuehling, attorney with Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC law firm, representing the TreasurerÕs office, said, "These projects are not really revenue-producing, you put more of your governmental hat on instead of your propriety hat. These are projects that government is looked upon to do at the time, and not looking to make revenue. They donÕt involve bond issues or major construction."
These projects include:
The Abrams Building, acquired from the Federal Government for city office space and parking.
Bevo Neighborhood Parking and related support services.
Bohemian Hill — a joint venture with Land Clearance Regional Authority to create parking for local retail businesses.
Chippewa Business District
Cupples Station Garage — a 720-parking space facility acquired from Bank of America to facilitate the Cupples Station Area redevelopment.
Ritz Theater — Purchased and demolished to create available parking for local retailers in the South Grand/Tower Grove Park area.
Signage Program — a joint venture with the St. Louis Convention and Tourism Board to create user-friendly signs for available parking.
Thomas Dunn Lot — a joint venture with the Thomas Dunn Educational Center and various city entities to create parking for the Marquette Recreation Center.
Williams Paper Company — A 258-space lot created for the Scottrade Center patrons and patrons for the Gateway Transportation Center. |
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