By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – St. Louis city officials approved a financing plan Wednesday to redevelop an office building Mayor Francis Slay calls a cancer on downtown.
The Board of Estimate and Apportionment approved a $14.5 million dollar tax-increment financing plan for a developer who wants to buy One City Centre. The building sits atop the failed St. Louis Centre mall.
However the plan different from most other TIFs. That's because the city would be on the hook if the deal fails.
Mayor Slay voted for the plan. He said it's not the best deal, but is the city's only option for fixing up the building.
"This is what we felt was necessary to make it work," Slay said. "It is one of very few times that this has ever been done in the city's history. But it's something that I think warrants this additional risk that the city has taken."
Comptroller Darlene Green voted against the plan. She said if the project fails, it could cost taxpayers more than $1 million per year.
Green said a similar plan failed once before, with the St. Louis Marketplace shopping center on Manchester Road.
"Marketplace, at the time, was thought to be a smart deal," Green said. "We backed it with the city's credit, the safeguards failed and now we're paying.
Developer John Steffen already owns the mall. But the owner of the office building wants nearly $36.7 million for it.
The TIF would not go into effect unless the building is sold.