A Dallas-based developer’s plan to stack three taxing districts on its Downtown West redevelopment of the Jefferson Arms building moved forward Thursday, putting it on track to boast the highest sales tax rate in the city.
St. Louis City Port Authority commissioners approved the measure to create a port improvement district for the hotel at a meeting Thursday.
Alterra Worldwide seeks approval for three taxing districts that would each add a 1% sales tax to purchases made at the development. The proposed taxing districts include a port improvement taxing district, a community improvement district and a transportation development district.
Previously, members of the commission expressed trepidation over creating a port improvement district on behalf of the nearly completed Alterra Worldwide development at 415 N. Tucker Blvd.
But the motion passed 4-3 with Ward 3 Alderman Shane Cohn and Commissioners William Kay and Taunia Mason voting against the measure after a lengthy discussion.
If the other two taxing districts are approved, customers who make taxable purchases will pay a 12.67% sales tax. At a previous meeting, Commissioner William Kay Jr. noted that if all three districts are approved, the Jefferson Arms building would have the highest sales tax rate in the city.
“I do not think the Port Authority needs to get into the business of subsidizing these projects,” he said in August.
At Thursday's meeting, Cohn pushed back on approving the tax during the meeting, repeating his concerns from the month prior. He criticized the developer for returning to seek tax incentives when the project is nearly finished.
“We already started the project, the project’s underway, and here we are coming back to the trough, so to speak,” Cohn said. “I really get frustrated and struggle with this.”
During the discussion, Cohn asked St. Louis Development Corporation Director Otis Williams to explain why the commission should approve the district. Williams declined to weigh in and urged the commissioners to vote with their conscience but said the city needs to embrace developers if it wants to see a reversal downtown.
“The city has to make a decision about the investments that are needed to help with changing the trend that we are in at this moment,” Williams said. “We have to tackle crime, we have to address the infrastructure that we have, and we have to work with the finance and investment community to make sure that these opportunities are attractive.”
Nick Hartzler of the development and planning firm Steadfast City spoke on behalf of Alterra. He said the developer expects the Jefferson Arms apartments to open by the end of October and the hotel sometime this winter. The ground-floor retail stores are headed for opening in early 2026, he added.
