Aerial view of Busch Stadium
(J.B. FORBES/P-D)
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The Cardinals owners and Mayor Francis Slay apparently are confident enough of big dividends from a new ballpark that they plan to ask St. Louis County officials for a loan instead of a subsidy.
The Cardinals and Slay want the county to put up $45 million of the $402 million cost of tearing down and replacing Busch Stadium.
In return for the loan, the county - after 29 years - would get back $200 million to $250 million, and possibly partial ownership of the ballpark. The city and state also might jointly own the new ballpark after 29 years.
In addition, if the team were to be sold, the county could share in the profits, said Jeff Rainford, chief of staff to the mayor. The team has pledged that the city also would share in the profits if the Cardinals were sold.
Busch Stadium is 36 years old. Team owners say they need a more modern stadium and additional luxury boxes to bring in enough revenue to stay competitive.
Members of the County Council have been invited in recent weeks to private meetings with the Cardinals. Although a formal plan has not been proposed, the loan idea has near unanimous support among the seven council members.
"If we're an investor and we get something in return, I'm in favor of that," said Councilman John Campisi, R-south St. Louis County. He opposed an earlier plan to subsidize the ballpark with county dollars. "From what we were told, it looks pretty good."
"It's a much better deal," said Councilman Richard "Skip" Mange, R-Town and Country. "Before we were just literally writing them a check and there was no return for us."
Mike O'Mara, D-north St. Louis County, and Kathleen Kelly Burkett, D-Overland, also appeared to support the loan.
Council Chairman Greg Quinn, R-Ballwin, said the county "would be protected to a large extent" under the latest proposal. And while the plan appeared to have the Council's support, Quinn said it still would hold public hearings.
"We do need to give the public an opportunity to have a say," he said.
The county loan would formally be made to the Land Clearance and Reclamation Authority, the city agency that would own the stadium site. Private investors would build and own the stadium structure.
The county likely would sell bonds to raise the $45 million. It would pay back the investors with the county's growing surplus of hotel tax revenue. The bulk of payments would begin after the county finishes paying off the Edward Jones Dome in 2021.
Voters approved a 3 1/2 cent tax in 1990 to help build the dome. The county pays $6 million a year in hotel-motel taxes to retire debt on the football stadium, but the tax is generating millions more than that. The extra money generally has sat in a bank account, earning more than $500,000 a year in interest.
The Cardinals long have wanted to tap into the hotel tax money. The baseball club's earlier financing proposal, which failed to win legislative approval, would have had the county making annual payments from the hotel tax fund, eventually totaling $95 million.
The hotel tax was approved to pay for a sports facility, which was one reason Councilman Charlie Dooley, D-Northwoods, said he supported the idea of a loan to the Cardinals.
The team's owners expect much of the project to be financed by private investors, although the state and city have agreed to kick in tax credits and tax breaks.
The Cardinals have offered to pay $50 million up front and $14 million a year for at least 29 years to lease the stadium, which would be owned by private investors. The team is looking for those investors now and has not disclosed whether any have signed on.
After 29 years, the private investors would be required to pay back the county loan. That could translate to cash plus interest, or transferring ownership of the ballpark to the county, or both. The Cardinals would continue to pay rent, which would be split, possibly, among the city, county and state.
"The county will actually receive in payment substantially more than its original investment," said Rainford. Slay will formally ask the county Tuesday for the loan.
Private investors "would know going in and that would be part of the equation," Rainford said. "It seems only fair the county has something in the end."
Mark Lamping, the Cardinals president, did not return a phone call Monday.
Reporter Eric Stern: Email: estern@post-dispatch.com Phone: 314-727-6234
