Jamestown Mall Redevelopment Forced Back to Square One
Date Posted: February 6, 2017
Posted In: Projects,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The redevelopment of the bedraggled Jamestown Mall returned to square one Tuesday night with the rejection of a measure its sponsor hoped would give the St. Louis County Council control of the project.
Council legislation to blight the Black Jack site — the first step toward developing the site for residential, retail and commercial business use — must now be reintroduced to county lawmakers.
“We unfortunately have to start all over again,” County Executive Steve Stenger told reporters following the 5-2 council vote to defeat amended legislation to remove decisions on the future of the mall property from the Land Clearance Redevelopment Authority and place oversight with the council.
The LCRA has a state mandate to oversee the blighting and development of projects using public funds.
An arm of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, the LCRA has over the past two years negotiated the sale of a mall owned by the real estate divisions of the five major retailers that once occupied the site.
The amended bill sponsored by 4th District Democrat Rochelle Walton Gray would have superseded a proposal to allow the LCRA proceed with the process of blighting the 142-acre mall site.
Gray believes the power should reside with the council, specifically the councilwoman representing the district where the mall is located — hers.
“For me to have no say in what happens makes no sense at all,” Gray told council members during a testy Tuesday afternoon caucus. “It’s my district.”
Fellow Democrat Hazel Erby supported Gray’s position, reminding county lawmakers, “It’s her district. I’ve never (before) seen everyone jump in with both feet about what is happening in someone else’s district. She should be the navigator, the driving force — not us.”
Other council members sought to assure Gray the process guarantees the North County councilwoman and her constituents a say in the site redevelopment.
Zoning of the property and other particulars must ultimately be approved by the council.
“It’s your district, I understand that, and you will have the final say,” 5th District Democrat Pat Dolan told his council colleague.