If I Had The Money To Bring MLS To STL...

It seems like Collinsville is probably a done deal, but while we wait for the official response I was thinking about my "perfect" MLS situation in the St. Louis area, if I had the sway to make things happen. Basically, the premise here is what I would do if I could influence Jeff Cooper.

POINTS:

1) I'm like just like just about everyone here not from Illinois in that I would prefer the stadium be located in Missouri, specifically downtown. To me, the perfect location would be to tear down St. Louis Centre mall and build the stadium there. This location is not only scenic; it features an eclectic and vibrant surrounding environment. This is the center of the recent downtown development. It is right across the street from the convention center and has plenty of surrounding hotels and tourist attractions. It features a Metrolink stop on-site on Washington Avenue and plenty of parking spots. (Metrolink means a non-automobile option is viable.) With all of the people moving into lofts, there will be plenty of people within walking distance of the stadium. Also, the people living in that area are mostly young, diverse, have good jobs, and are well-educated - the perfect group to create a lively game atmosphere. Plus, even as is, there is an outdoor plaza being built right next to Old Post Office that would be great for fan gatherings and the Dubliner and other hangout spots are within blocks. The game could be part of a great night/day out. As for the view, if you remove the St. Louis Center, the surrounding architecture is incredible. This would be the PERFECT location! It would really show off the city and region.

2) Yes, I know that that location is going to be turned into lofts in the future, but I would have loved for it if Cooper and Pyramid (the new developer) could have partnered as the Cordish Company has teamed with the Cardinals on Ballpark Village mixed-use project. If you include the mall parking lot you would have from Broadway to 7th Street and from Locust to Washington to work with, minus the Stifel-Nicolaus Building. So, the longest part of the stadium could go from Broadway to 7th while using Locust to the Stifel-Nicolaus building width. That leaves 6th, Washington, 7th and the northern side of the stadium for mixed-use development. Since it is right next to the convention center/dome, as well as a Metrolink stop, it could be very valuable property even on non-soccer game days.

3) "St. Louis Centre has been a dark spot in the otherwise bright downtown development picture. With other properties in the heart of downtown undergoing revitalization, St. Louis Centre is currently the core's biggest problem property," said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay in a statement last year. I imagine the soccer-friendly Mayor would have had an interest in at least discussing a proposal involving a soccer stadium at that location.

4) For the loft development, Pyramid has requested $34.3 million in TIF from City of St. Louis for the redevelopment of St. Louis Centre, while $8 million in federal New Markets Tax Credits has already been set aside. Wouldn't that money be nice for the development of the stadium? That's over twice the money that Collinsville is proposing.

5) Dan McGuire has been working to try and get the Bottleworks development off the ground in an area nearby. I wonder if he would be interested in such a joint venture with Cooper. After all, Cooper has said he would like to bring in more investors, and such a plan would be a lot more attractive to an investor, one would think, at such a choice location over the higher risk and lower reward of Collinsville. Also, at such a choice location, one could charge higher advertising and naming rights simply because more people will see the stadium and it will have a higher profile.

6) I wouldn't want to leave Collinsville complete out. If I were Cooper, and if I could get the deal done at St. Louis Center, I would consider putting the team's training facility in Collinsville. Yes, I know that the city isn't going to give $20 million for a soccer equivalent of Rams Park. It should be noted, though, that Rams Park does pump money into Earth City. I would think of the training facility development as a means of saving face with the Collinsville officials, while including Cooper's Metro East. If you sell it as Rams Park without the city having to contribute tax money, I don't think they would complain too loudly. Also, even without building a training facility in Collinsville, if Cooper went through and moved his taxable multi-million dollar law practice to Collinsville, I'm sure he could convince the leaders of Collinsville to not bash him in the media for opting out of the deal.

7) As for the roster, it's pretty obvious where the emphasis should be placed. Area players should be the premium. Taking crappy local guys just because they are local is not the way to go, but there are a lot of good St. Louis players and they need to play for St. Louis.

8) With the redevelopment of downtown, the region as a whole seems to be enjoying a newfound pride. Continuing the St. Louis theme of the last point, I would LOVE to see that same approach taken with other aspects of the team, specifically with the stadium. Instead of selling the concessions sales to Sportservice where they can sell crappy food and drink for ridiculous prices, I'd love to see individual stands throughout the interior where local breweries such as Schlafly, O'Fallon and Square One can peddle there wares. And how about letting Bob Cassilly or one of the other local artists to work on the interior of the stadium to give it a unique "St. Louis" look instead of the generic norm of cold concrete? This could all contribute to the niche of this MLS team with the city. That is, Cooper's team could be seen as a symbol of St. Louis pride. While the other local teams have out-of-town owners and, mostly, have a corporate feel, Cooper's team could be marketed as local, distinctive, and personal. And isn't pride the best ingredient when trying to create that great soccer crowd "atmosphere"?

9) Toronto has done a nice job of involving the community with their efforts in drawing in the pub crowd. For St. Louis, I believe it is important to follow the example of the old St. Louis Steamers during their heyday. To do this, I would make an appeal to Catholic schools. The sport of soccer in St. Louis has largely been driven by the Catholic grade schools and high schools, as well as the Catholic Saint Louis University. Most of the top St. Louis players, both amateur and professional, are Catholic and developed their games Catholic schools. So, like the Steamers, I would actively promote the team by sending players out to the various Catholic schools to visit with the kids. No, I am obviously NOT suggesting that the team should only value Catholics. What I am suggesting is that the team try and engage a potential large segment of the population that is likely to respond favorably. Likewise, similar appeals to the Bosnian population of Bevo and the Hispanics of Cherokee street should also be pursued. Some may suggest that appealing to kids will bring out a crowd filled with soccer moms and the like. I disagree, you do see children at international matches and developing them as fans is important in not only making them potential ticket buyers as adult fans, but it helps raise the profile of the game and, hopefully, will lead to more and more players developing into great soccer players.

 

Brian, thanks for the response. However, downtown St. Louis is very different than downtown Philly. Outside of Detroit, I've never been to a downtown as bad as St. Louis. Downtown St. Louis has made amazing strides in the last decade, but it still has a long way to go. There are still empty lots and boarded up buildings throughout downtown St. Louis. How bad is it, still? The city and state offer developers huge tax incentives to even buy a building at below market cost in nearly any other city. For instance, an associate of mine bought a building for about a fifth of the price he would have paid for a comparable building in Chicago AND he received millions in tax credits. The tax credits covered all of his renovation costs. He also was cut a deal by the city for additional tax breaks. That is the only way St. Louis has been able to spur the recent developments downtown. Plus, construction costs in St. Louis are significantly lower than most other cities of a comparable population.

A group called Downtown Now! recently offered to help pay for the tearing down of St. Louis Center. They were willing to foot the bill to tear down part of the structure all by themselves. I wrote of the excellent location if a soccer-specific stadium and mixed-use development were placed there, but if you have seen the area you will see plenty of still abandoned buildings and empty businesses. Again, while Washington Avenue is beginning to develop, it would only be a footnote in cities like Philadelphia at this point. All of St. Louis' established destination spot neighborhoods, such as Soulard and the Central West End for instance, are outside of downtown.

I would just be interested in the response of the St. Louis region if the idea of putting a SSS in place of the albatros that is St. Louis Center were made public. That mall is an embarrassment to a lot of people around here, and the SSS would have had a perfect location in a perfect spot. The full Collinsville plan is for about $400 million. I've talked to associates and, as you may have suspected, I do volunteer and put some of my own money in trying to help downtown progress, so I don't believe I'm just playing with Monopoply money here. But there would be an interest in such a development and it would be significantly cheaper than the $400 million. Now we're not talking about 1,600 residental units and two hotels, but I'll be watching closely to see if Collinsville actually supports such a bold development when they have a total population of 25,000 people. That's a LOT of residental for such a small area in this sluggish housing market. Plus, if you were going to move to Collinsville wouldn't it likely be because of a job opportunity nearby? Well, where are the significant well-paying jobs in or near Collinsville that will attract such a significant increase in the population?

I've spoken informally with some important people here and they each were at least superficially interrested in the idea. Stadiums always lose money, but the mixed-use development in that location, plus the potential for the soccer-specific stadium helping these developers sell lofts to upscale young professionals could prove a success.

I realize that Collinsville is probably going to pass this deal. That's fine. I just wish Mr. Cooper had come up with a private plan for downtown St. Louis, where this development would work best. If he had, or if he does in the future if the Collinsville deal doesn't go through, put forth a St. Louis Center plan with a mixed-use development, from everyone I have talked to he would almost certainly be able to get tax credits that exceed what Collinsville has offered to pay. The problem for Mr. Cooper when he tried to negotiate with the city in the past, as I understand it, was that he was so vague and given to hyperbole. He wasn't specific about much and he couldn't show how the city would benefit nor properly address the question of risk. That is why the mixed-use development in such a location would be so important. The city was dying to get the Bottle District plan off the ground, but it hasn't come to pass. A mixed-use for the SSS would clinch the deal by showing where significant taxable revenue would come from. Plus, the city is looking for destination attractions and so the SSS would have additional appeal.

Finally, don't forget that the whole point of the city approving the new Busch Stadium was the Ballpark Village development. As Mayor Slay and others have commented on many times, that is the real appealling development to them.

If the Collinsville thing fails, maybe I will try and contact Mr. Cooper and see if I can do anything to help. I'm not looking for any money or fame out of this at all, but I would love to see this work. The thought of having a team downtown with an excellent atmospshere and fan support would be reward enough. In particular, a feasibility study would be neccessary.

 

Thanks for your comments. While I do agree that their is a noticible Mexican community in parts of the Metro East, I wonder if it is significant enough to really make a real difference. We're talking about very small Illinois towns to begin with. Plus, and I mean no disrespect to anyone, but we are talking about run-down communities. Lots of trailer parks and abandoned businesses in these Metro East neighborhoods that we are referring to here. MLS tickets are not cheap and so I wonder if many will be able to afford significant amounts of tickets. Finally, other areas that have seemed to rely on blind support from hispanics have been disappointed. We can probably assume that many of these Mexican-Americans are soccer fans, but will that translate into ticket-buying MLS fans?