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St. Louis Outlet Mall Site in Line For Nation’s Largest Sports Complex
By Bob Lindsey
A decision will be made before Spring on which location the massive Big Sports POWERplex development would be built. After Chesterfield backed out last year, the location has come down to the St. Louis Outlet site (formerly Mills Mall) or an undeveloped location off Highway 370 in St. Peters. Financing of the proposal became a little clearer after a meeting of St. Louis County committee on Wednesday and moved the decision closer on the which location will be chosen.
Big Sports Properties,LLC is led by Dan Buck, a former TV broadcaster, who was chief executive of the St. Patrick Center downtown. Buck seems to favor the Hazelwood site and spoke to invited elected officials at a meeting Saturday, Feb. 17 held at a meeting room at St. Louis Outlet Center. North County Inc., along with Hazelwood Mayor Matt Robinson and Bridgeton Mayor Terry Briggs, joined area elected officials and community leaders at an informational private meeting hosted by Big Sports Properties.
“The turnout was great with many area dignitaries attending to learn about potential POWERplex development,” said North County Inc. Executive Director Rebecca Zoll. “This development would be a great addition for North County. It can generate tax revenue, along with bringing visitors to the community for great recreational opportunities.”
Meeting with St. Louis County Officials
Buck and his group also made a presentation to the St. Louis County Economic Development Committee at a special meeting on Wednesday (Feb. 21) on the plans highlighting the plus factors of the Hazelwood location. Reasons include that the infrastructure is already in place because of the mall, which can be redeveloped for the sports campus amenities. Except for a few anchor stores, most of the mall is vacant now. Discussion included the need of St. Louis County to put in $8 million to make the project work and the City of Hazelwood buying the outstanding Transportation Development District (TDD) bonds.
The Saturday meeting offered projections of the economic boom that could result and the increase of property values that would follow from building this sports complex, which will include both indoor and outdoor facilities. Plans call for the construction of two domes–-a smaller, 54,000 sq ft space to house part of Volleyball zone and the larger dome of 225,000 sq ft, which will put three baseball/softball fields under roof for year-round, weather-resistant play. The campus will have multiple playing fields and indoor courts capable of hosting simultaneous baseball, basketball, volleyball, and softball tournaments, as well as dance and cheerleading clinics.
“So why is this so exciting?’ asked Mark Behlmann, who attended the Saturday meeting as a school board director.
“They are anticipating more than 600 full-time jobs and 800 part-time positions, with nearly 150 high level management jobs. Construction will require over 1000 jobs during development,” Behlmann said, citing the information presented at the meeting.
Many Big Names Interested in POWERplex
Showing interest in this project are the St. Louis Cardinals, Larry Hughes Basketball Academy, Gateway PGA , Circus Harmony, and the BASE Foundation, (Baseball and Softball Education Foundation). It would be the biggest indoor/outdoor sports complex in the country. The cost would be more than Chesterfield’s original $30-$36 million because the scope of the project is much bigger.
Bridgeton was included in the Saturday meeting as the city’s softball/baseball complex, considered one of the best in the metro area, would be part of Big Sports softball and baseball tournament use. The Bridgeton Sports complex is viewed as a natural tie-in because it is located just across Highway 370 and St. Louis Outlet Center.
POWERplex was considered by Chesterfield originally, but the city dropped out of the competition last year, opening the way for consideration of Hazelwood/Bridgeton and St. Peters. Both became the finalists for the development after beating out 11 other communities. Once approved, construction could start by spring at the Hazelwood site. If St. Peters got the site, it would take at least a year to build the infrastructure needed off Highway 370 in St. Charles County and the cost would be the same with fewer amenities.
Hazelwood has most of the infrastructure in place already, plus the former St. Louis Mills location could be updated for a lot of the indoor sports venues and other considerations such as a hotel, restaurants, retail and an urgent care center. There are several anchor tenants that will remain including The Regal 8 Theater, Cabela’s and The Ice Zone.
Although TIF funding should not be part of this, there are still a lot of the financial aspects to negotiate. “We need to be clear in regard to this project,” Zoll said. “While we’ve been told that we are a favorite, it is not a done deal. It will take a lot of effort on all of our leadership to make this happen.”
The TDD bonds, which came with the Mills construction, and other financial matters that have to be cleared up to make the project financially feasible. Hazelwood could buy the TDD bonds thus opening the door for Buck’s group to buy the mall property and the city offsetting the bond purchase with new revenues from the large number of visitors who would come to the complex. The POWERplex expects to bring construction jobs and permanent jobs. They say it would mean about 600 permanent jobs and $13 million in estimated tax revenue. The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission could also contribute to the project.
Big Sports Properties, LLC, the nonprofit BASE Foundation and the Buck Innovation Group LLC — led by Dan Buck and Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny — were listed as the developers of the original project on 30 city-owned acres east of the Chesterfield Valley Athletic Complex. Matheny sent a record video from Florida Wednesday supporting the project.
