Editorial
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 24, 2007

The proposal by lawyer Jeffrey S. Cooper and his partners to build a $402 million mixed-use development near Collinsville anchored by a new professional soccer stadium has a familiar ring to it: Sports stadium, shops, offices, hotel, residences, developed by a public-private partnership, paid for in part by tax increment financing and opening, perhaps, in 2009.

It's like Ballpark Village East, except that the ball is bigger and neither the stadium nor the team that would play in it exists yet. In that sense, there are echoes of the plan that resulted in what's now the Edward Jones Dome: Build a new stadium and hope a team can be found to play in it.

The 18,500-seat stadium itself would cost $125 million and be privately financed. The infrastructure supporting it, as well as the surrounding development on 400 acres at Interstate 255 and Horseshoe Lake Road, would cost about $277 million and eventually require about $80 million in public financing. All of the public money would come from tax dollars generated by the project itself.

It's an intriguing proposal, but most key details have yet to emerge. Still there is some urgency to it, because the 13-team Major League Soccer has said it intends to add three expansion teams by 2009. One already has been awarded to San Jose, Calif. The two others are expected to be awarded later this year.
The MLS is riding a wave of popularity, thanks to the signing by its Los Angeles team of David Beckham, the former captain of England's national team and tabloid superstar.

Mr. Cooper, a partner in the East Alton law firm of SimmonsCooper LLC, hopes to persuade Collinsville city officials to approve on Sept. 10 a tentative "pre-annexation plan" for the stadium site. That plan would not commit the city or the developers unless a franchise is awarded. If and when that happens, a final development plan would be submitted for the consideration of the City Council.

"I'm not going to proceed until people have had a chance to study all the details of this project," Mr. Cooper told Post-Dispatch editorial writers and reporters Wednesday. "I have to live there, and I'll have to defend it. And I can, because I think this plan is good not only for Collinsville and the Metro East, but for all of St. Louis."

In addition to 500,000 square feet of office and retail space, Mr. Cooper's development would include a hotel and up to 1,600 residences. The development would be anchored by the stadium and include eight youth soccer fields along a mall affording views of Downtown St. Louis. Mr. Cooper, who grew up in Granite City, envisions the project as a magnet for not only professional soccer fans, but also for youth teams from the entire region.

"Illinois has always been a stepchild for the metro area," he said. "For too many people, the Mississippi River might as well be the Pacific Ocean. This project will make us a bonafide part of the metro area."

Boon though it might be for soccer fans, the question is whether it makes sense for Collinsville taxpayers. The financing plan calls for two packages of tax increment financing. The first would dedicate future real estate taxes generated in the project area to retiring its debt. The second would capture a yet-to-be determined portion of the ancillary taxes generated in the area — sales taxes, ticket taxes and amusement taxes among them — to underwrite construction bonds.

Most of the public revenue would be devoted to building roads, sewers, lights and other infrastructure on what are now farm fields. Mr. Cooper estimated the private-public split to be "about 80-20," meaning some $80 million in public money would be devoted to the project.

That's a big number for a city of 32,000. The city must move carefully, weighing the opportunity — about $6 million in new annual revenue, according to Mr. Cooper's estimate — against the demand for services that new development would create. The city should seek to limit its exposure in case the project's revenues don't meet expectations. It must insist that local schools, libraries and other institutions that depend on property taxes be made whole if those tax revenues are diverted. And because the project would be of regional significance, the city also should explore participation by Madison County and state governments.

That may be too much to do in too short a time. But St. Louis is a terrific market for soccer. Sooner or later, it you build it, they will come.