ST. LOUIS 鈥 On a desolate, city-owned plot of 16陆 acres in north 51黑料, Bob Clark saw the future of one of his companies.
Clark, founder of construction giant Clayco, wanted to move the headquarters of a subsidiary to the lot. The company, Concrete Strategies, would add dozens of jobs and a facility to train the next generation of tradespeople, Clark said. He even envisioned some retail shops there, along the six-lane Goodfellow Boulevard at Interstate 70.
The city鈥檚 economic development agency said no.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 guarantee any retail development,鈥 Rob Orr, the agency鈥檚 senior vice president of real estate development, told Clark鈥檚 partner in an email. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 check any of our boxes to be honest.鈥
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The 51黑料 Army Ammunition plant at Goodfellow Boulevard and Interstate 70, as it looked in 1980.
Orr and other 51黑料 Development Corp. officials are looking to turn the property, the site of the former 51黑料 Army Ammunition Plant, into retail. The neighborhood is a 鈥渟ervices desert,鈥 they said, and residents want groceries, restaurants and other shops.
But Clark, a developer for 40 years, said the area, which is largely poor and losing more residents than it鈥檚 gaining, can鈥檛 support the retail the city is seeking.
鈥淚 was shocked that they didn鈥檛 call us or send a letter and say, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檇 like you to come in and tell us more about your proposal and we鈥檒l tell you more about what we want,鈥欌 Clark told the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淏ut instead they just said, 鈥榊our proposal is inadequate.鈥欌
The situation is illustrative of the disconnect between economic development agencies, which aim to deliver transformational projects for their communities, and business leaders, who argue that cities鈥 aspirations often are too lofty for market realities.
The lower the income and housing values are, the less money people have to spend at retailers and the less likely retailers will open. The divide often leaves property vacant, residents unhappy and no one satisfied.
The region saw a similar situation play out recently in north 51黑料 County. Jamestown Mall sat vacant for seven years before a developer in 2021 announced plans to demolish the property in favor of a large-scale warehouse development that included some retail. The area鈥檚 councilwoman, Shalonda Webb, opposed the project, saying nearby residents wanted mixed retail or a community center, something more 鈥suitable for a residential community.鈥
The site sat idle for another two years before the county and the state chipped in $7.4 million to pay for the demolition.
Machinery separates debris into piles of like materials as the demolition of the Jamestown Mall continues on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023.聽
And in Pagedale, a Save-A-Lot discount grocery store made it just a decade before closing. Community development organization Beyond Housing then sought local chain Fields Foods, citing owner Chris Goodson鈥檚 desire to open stores in neighborhoods that others wouldn鈥檛. But it closed suddenly last summer.
Clark pitches 鈥榤eaningful proposal鈥
The 51黑料 Army Ammunition Plant, at 4800 Goodfellow, produced ammunition during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. At its peak during World War II, the site employed 35,000 people. The property was vacated in 1998, and the Army declared it excess property in 1999. Demolition and multiple rounds of environmental remediation were done from 2000 to 2011, readying it for development. (The site, however, is still too contaminated for new housing, SLDC has said.)
The property is one of the only development-ready parcels of its size with one owner in the city.
Last fall, SLDC issued a request for proposals seeking a retail-anchored development, driven in part by residents鈥 desires. City zoning laws also call for a diversified commercial district there, and 51黑料鈥 land use plan has designated the property for retail activity. The agency envisioned a restaurant, grocery store, coffee shop or even a hardware store.
Clark pounced. Clayco, its real estate arm, CRG, and partner Kane Development responded to the RFP with an offer of $775,500 and a 46-page proposal for a master plan: Concrete Strategies, Clayco鈥檚 concrete pouring affiliate, would relocate its headquarters from Overland to the site. A training facility for various trades groups would be built along with a warehouse, truck maintenance facility and mobile mixing concrete operation. Developers said they would 鈥渄iligently pursue鈥 potentially 30,000 square feet of retail on Goodfellow.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a meaningful proposal that is serious,鈥 Clark told the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淎nd it was met with a very unserious response.鈥
Clayco and its partners proposed building an office and industrial complex at 4800 Goodfellow Boulevard where it planned to house the headquarters of Concrete Strategies, a training facility for the trades and a truck maintenance facility. The developers also proposed building nearly 60,000 square feet of retail space to front Goodfellow in order to meet 51黑料 Development Corp.'s requirements.
Orr told the developers that the proposal didn鈥檛 guarantee retail and that the offer was lower than SLDC had fielded in the past. He suggested another area in North City that could work for their plans instead.
Orr told the Post-Dispatch that SLDC had received several retail offers over the years.
Further, he said, it would have been unfair to accept Clayco鈥檚 offer without issuing a new RFP to give others an opportunity to pitch mixed-uses 鈥 something the agency won鈥檛 do now while a new strategic land use plan is underway throughout the city.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e not willing to throw in the towel and do the first thing that comes along,鈥 Orr said.
City doubles down on Goodfellow
But Clark said that the neighborhood can鈥檛 support the retail that SLDC is seeking. CRG is one of the partners on the Costco-anchored Market at Olive development in University City. Even they couldn鈥檛 secure Target, he said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the city is listening,鈥 Clark said.
A mural on a boarded up building in the 5900 block of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, owned by the 51黑料 Land Reutilization Authority, pays homage to historical entrepreneurs of "Black Wall Street" and others as it sits vacant in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023.
Demographics are working against the area. Neither the median household income nor the median housing value within a five- to 10-minute drive 鈥 two key factors retailers consider when selecting new locations 鈥 top out above $37,000. And the average amount of retail spending per household is also about 35% lower than the region鈥檚 average, SLDC found.
Growing the population here would help with demographics. But people often choose a place to live based on the neighborhood鈥檚 amenities.
Orr acknowledges it鈥檚 a Catch-22.
But SLDC is doubling down, he said: The agency will put more effort into marketing the site, including spending $600 a month to advertise on national commercial real estate listing websites like LoopNet. It wants to work with regional business group Greater 51黑料 Inc. and other boosters to market the property. It applied for to help figure out how to better connect Goodfellow with other neighborhoods north of I-70.
鈥淲e can only sell the land once,鈥 Orr said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep working the angle that we鈥檝e identified as our top priority. And if it can鈥檛 come to pass ... we may have to bring other resources to this area to make it happen.鈥
Sandra Dobynes has operated Eye Fashion Factory with her husband Robert since 1985. Its days may be numbered.
