The Gateway South redevelopment project, which aims to establish a construction innovation district near the Arch grounds, has secured funding to begin initial renovations.
The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority Board voted Tuesday to authorize $155 million in industrial revenue bonds for the project, which has a total price tag around $1.2 billion.
“This will be for the Crunden-Martin buildings, which we envision being the innovation hub, kind of the heartbeat of this building industry collaboration district,” said Mike Fletcher, partner and general counsel of Good Developments Group.
Fletcher made the comments during the board meeting and added that it’s the first part of the first phase of construction at the 95-acre site. The Crunden-Martin buildings represent about 500,000 square feet of space that will be rehabilitated, he said.
“It’s seven buildings that kind of present as two buildings,” Fletcher said.
Doug Rasmussen, the founder of Steadfast City Economic and Community Partners, added that this phase of construction is meant to catalyze the bigger construction innovation district.
“[It] will include industrial, office, lifestyle, retail in future phases,” he said. “This is up to a 10-year project, so those bigger pieces are coming later on.”
In addition to the bonds, the development project has found other funding and incentive sources, Fletcher said. The project has received brownfield tax credit agreements to help with environmental remediation, and it’s secured federal historic tax credits, new markets tax credits and some state tax credits, he said.
“Our goal is to create the preeminent construction innovation district that creates economic opportunities for residents of the St. Louis metro area as well as products for the region and beyond,” Fletcher said.
He added the development team is exploring ways to ensure the project is integrated into the community by exploring workforce development opportunities and other community initiatives, along with a new nonprofit that will also create programming.
