Businesses Ready to Match Rams Money Spent Downtown
Date Posted: November 21, 2024
Posted In: Discussion,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The chief of the region’s main business lobby says the private sector is prepared to more than double a $100 million public investment in downtown infrastructure and buildings outlined in new legislation to allocate the city’s $250 million share of the Rams relocation settlement.
The commitment was included in a letter Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall sent to St. Louis Board of Alderman President Megan Green on Monday as part of an ongoing back-and-forth between the two leaders over how to distribute the Rams settlement windfall. While much of the letter defends Greater St. Louis’ plan to quickly invest the money, the commitment from the private sector adds another wrinkle to the political negotiations heating up against the backdrop of a looming race for mayor.
“As we have been doing, the business community is prepared to match an investment of Rams dollars in downtown by at least two-to-one to expand the catalytic potential of these funds,” Hall wrote in his letter, which mostly pushed back against Green’s criticism of the plan and reiterated its concern that the board of aldermen was ignoring its proposal.
The private spending commitment was news to Green’s office.
“This is the first time we’ve heard them suggest they’d come to the table with a match,” said Green spokesman Yusuf Daneshyar.